Science and Technology

Only a little more than a year ago, not a single woman held a Rector’s chair at an Austrian university.  Now there are four. 

The doors of cyberspace are open – for information, support and occasional dangers. The doors to research, however, particularly in psychology, have been ripped from their hinges, via technological advances and the Internet.

What makes us human? In the age of artificial intelligence and concern for animal rights, it is a question whose importance is back at the center of public debate. What is it exactly that makes us different from machines or animals? Is it a capacity for self-awareness, feelings or empathy? Our social competencies and social emotions?

“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me… sustainability.” Such might have been the opening lyrics of Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz, had she seen what the automotive industry is up against today.

On sunny days, you can ride the waves of email, instant messaging, and social media websites like a surfer cruising in onto Santa Monica Beach; it’s fun and easy to use forums for networking, doing business, or just staying in touch. But increasingly there is a dark side, when the ride can be upset by the threat of a stalker harassing you online.

Anyone who uses the Internet can be subjected to Cyberstalking, the use of information technology, particularly the Internet, to harass another person. It can take many forms: People send threats and make false accusations, spy on people, steal their identity, and damage data or equipment. They solicit minors for sexual purposes and gather information to harass or blackmail.

Let's face it: most students despise science. Though unfortunate, in fact, science and technology are among the least favorite fields of study. The latest study reports by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, concluded that a mere 11.7% students enrolled in science programs at Austrian Universities.

This has not escaped the attention of the European Union who met in Lisbon in 2000 and established a set of goals 'to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, focusing on boosting research and development,' with a supporting study to measure the interest in scientific research in all of the EU's 27 member states. Austria, it turns out, is part of the problem and may be impeding the successful achievement of that goal.

Louise Brown, the first person to be conceived outside a human body, turned 30 last year. The birth of a “test-tube baby,” as the headlines described in vitro fertilization was highly controversial at the time. Leon Kass, who subsequently served as chair of President George W. Bush’s Council on Bioethics, argued that the risk of producing an abnormal infant was too great for an attempt at IVF ever to be justified. Some religious leaders also condemned the use of modern scientific technology to replace sexual intercourse, even when it could not lead to conception.

There was a flurry of press coverage when the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland was turned on, and again when it was shut down by a technical problem shortly afterwards. The collider’s operation was a much-anticipated event in science, one that could confirm or undermine the most successful theories about how the universe is structured. The public attention that it has received is rare for scientific news, perhaps owing to concerns that something celestially dangerous is being cooked up in our backyard.

The lead-up coverage was accompanied by hype about the potential risks. So, when the test did not seem to go as planned, it was natural to wonder if the fabric of space-time had been bruised. Some of the initial rumors about what could happen were extreme.

Here's a concept you've probably never heard of: 'viral sovereignty.' This dangerous idea comes to us courtesy of Indonesia's minister of health, Siti Fadilah Supari, who asserts that deadly viruses are the sovereign property of individual nations -- even though they cross borders and could pose a pandemic threat to all the world's peoples. Political leaders around the world should take note -- and take very strong action.

The vast majority of avian flu outbreaks in the past four years, in both humans and poultry, have occurred in Indonesia. At least 53 types of H5N1 bird flu viruses have appeared in chickens and people there, according to the World Health Organization.