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SGR Newsletters

SGR produces its Newsletter twice yearly, usually in Summer and Winter. This is distributed FREE to all members and is available to non-members at a cost of £3.50 - see ordering.

This interesting and influential publication contains articles on controversial issues in science and technology, conference and book reviews, and updates on SGR activities. If you are interested in writing an article for the next newsletter, please contact the Newsletter Editor <newsletter@sgr.org.uk>.

Recent issues of the Newsletter are listed below and, with the exception of the current issue, are available electronically as PDF documents which can be downloaded free of charge from our Downloads Page. When an article is highlighted it means that it is available elsewhere on the site (eg SGR conference reports).

In October 2005, SGR and Architects and Engineers for Social Responsibility (AESR) merged and now produce a combined Newsletter. Before that, both issued their own Newsletters (see below).

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999


2009
 

NL37: Spring

Feature articles include...

  • Time for global responsibility in the global economy.
    Dr Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility) looks at the potential for a sustainable, low-carbon economy to be created through efforts to tackle the current global economic problems.
  • Key principles in making sustainable buildings and places
    Prof Sandy Halliday (Gaia Research) traces the evolution of the principles behind sustainable design, and argues for their much wider use.
  • Social housing projects could learn from past successes
    Past collaborative efforts of architects and policy-makers have produced elegant social housing solutions. Kate Macintosh MBE Dip Arch (Scientists for Global Responsibility) reflects on two examples and how their lessons could help the housing crisis.
  • The MOD Grand Challenge: war games for young engineers?
    Phil Chamberlain (University of West England) discovers some disturbing activities on Salisbury Plain.
  • President Obama and a world free of nuclear weapons
    US campaigner, Dr David Krieger (INES) is hopeful about future progress on global nuclear disarmament.
  • Deterrence irrelevance: Trident, Britain and nuclear weapons
    Dr Nick Ritchie (University of Bradford) outlines the serious flaws in the logic of nuclear deterrence upon which the proposed replacement of Trident is based.
  • Could we have safer medicines through non-animal testing?
    The use of animals in medical research is an emotionally charged topic, but the scientific rationale behind their use is rarely questioned. Dr Margaret Clotworthy (Safer Medicines Trust) describes an initiative doing just that.
  • And three articles outlining the contrasting positions on the issue of low-carbon energy in the UK:

  • Responsible energy solutions can power Britain - when its leaders switch on
    Nick Reeves (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) questions whether ministers can be trusted on the environment if they say that nuclear power and coal are a major part of the answer to Britain's energy needs.
  • Should we 'call the coal thing off'?
    Alasdair Beal CEng (Scientists for Global Responsibility) questions whether it will be straightforward to avoid building new coal-fired power stations.
  • Low-carbon, non-nuclear electricity scenarios for the UK
    Dr Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility) discusses the implications of some recent UK energy modelling studies.

    News from SGR includes...

  • A few words from the Director
    Executive Director, Dr Stuart Parkinson, comments on early positive signs for the Obama presidency, the importance of the UK's new Climate Change Act, and the disappointing choice for the UK's new Minister of Science.
  • Updates on SGR's advocacy work on climate change, militarisation of science & technology, nuclear power, renewable energy, nuclear weapons, and science policy and ethics.
  • Also: SGR's incoming National Co-ordinating Committee; SGR recruits its 1000th member; Obituary: Wendy MacLeod-Gilford; members' fundraising activities.
  • Reviews: SGR annual conference; seven book reviews

PRICE: £3.50 plus p&p - order here

N.B. Free copies are available to members and associate members of SGR

2008
 
NL36: Autumn

Articles

  • High-alert nuclear weapons: the forgotten danger
  • Behind closed doors – military influence at UK universities
  • UK climate strategy – are we making progress?
  • New campaign to achieve global nuclear disarmament
  • The St Athan Defence Training Academy: the future of British education?
  • Out of their depth? Uncertainties in nuclear waste management
  • Reducing carbon emissions from housing
  • Expanding renewable energy in the UK
  • [Download PDF, 1.08MB]

NL35: Winter

Articles

  • Military R&D 85 times larger than renewable energy R&D
  • Could one Trident submarine cause 'nuclear winter'?
  • The employment benefits of not replacing Trident
  • Peak oil: why it will not help the climate change problem
  • The CO2 and H2O costs of bathing
  • Undermining democracy in the planning process
  • Measures of success: two steps closer to ending the arms trade
  • US 'missile defence' in Europe: who needs it?
  • The grim reality of robots at war
  • Can large-scale biofuels be sustainable?
  • The universal ethical code for scientists - how good is it?

[Download PDF, 1.44MB]

2007
 

NL34: Summer

Articles:

  • Iran’s nuclear strategy: civil or military?
  • The potential of power from deserts
  • Vision Zero: time to put an end to death and serious injuries on our roads
  • GM trials return to the UK
  • Patents and conflicts of interest: are scientists acting ethically?
  • Climate change ­ the latest findings of the IPCC
  • Common climate myths
  • Building hope: global network tackles humanitarian problems
  • Walking in minefields
  • Biofuels for transport: how far can we go?

[Download PDF, 1.2MB]

NL33: Winter

Articles:

  • Sustainable Energy at the Local Level - Making it Happen;
  • Predators, Drones and Robofly: Robotics and the military;
  • Moving beyond terrorism in the security debate;
  • Biofuels for transport - a dangerous distraction?;
  • Skills shortages - will nuclear or renewables lose out?;
  • Right to Choose?

[Download PDF, 1.04MB]

2006
 

June: NL32

Articles:

  • Recent developments in the nuclear weapons and nuclear power debates;
  • Imbalance between military resources and those devoted to meeting basic human needs;
  • Energy payback of nuclear power compared with other sources;
  • Openness in the nuclear debates;
  • Renewable energy resources available for meeting energy demand in the UK;
  • Policy for managing the risks of nanotechnology;
  • Collapse of UK clinical research and its consequences;
  • Modern manifestation of empire;
  • An ethical pledge for graduates

[Download PDF, 1.29MB]

2005
 

December: NL31

Articles:

  • News From SGR and AESR;
  • Elsewhere in the News;
  • New Orleans - a tragedy waiting to happen?;
  • Torture Technology;
  • Science, technology and GM;
  • Aldermaston's nuclear weapons project;
  • Summer 2005 - Portents of things to come;
  • Hurricanes and climate change

[Download PDF, 953KB]

February:     Special Joint Issue with Architects and Engineers for Social Responsibility (AESR)

Articles:

  • News From SGR;
  • News from AESR;
  • Elsewhere In The News;
  • Challenging the Military Involvement in Science and Technology;
  • Slow Cities;
  • Energy, CO2 and Economic Growth;
  • Keeping Cool, Keeping Dry;
  • An Issue of Science

[Download PDF, 320KB]


SGR Newsletters

AESR Newsletters

 

2004

 

July:   NL29

Articles: News From SGR; Elsewhere In The News; SGR Makes The Case For An Ethical Science Policy; Pesticides to Permaculture; Science Aid; GM Maize; The GM Debate [Download PDF, 449KB]

June

Articles: A Scenario For Fossil and Nuclear-free Electricity for the UK; Top-Up Fees for TNCS (Roy Butterfield); Engineering: Rising to the Modern Challenge (Bill Cranston) [Download PDF, 1.04MB]

January

Articles: Yorkshire Renewable Energy Network; GATS, A Weapon of Social Destruction; Integrated Transport In London and Tower Hamlets; Water Management In The Ancient World; Regional Disparities Without End? [Download PDF, 980KB]

 

2003

 

November: NL28

Articles: A Few Words From The Director; The Risk of Nuclear Terrorism; Nuclear Weapons Awareness Programme; An End to the UK's Nuclear Weapons; Stormy Times for Climate Research; Sociobiology of Vaccination [Download PDF, 533KB]

July:   NL27

Articles: A Few Words From The Executive Director; Help Recruit New Members; 'Ask An Expert'; SGR Recruits Its First Executive Director; Nuclear Winter; Nuclear Waste; Strategic Viewpoints Of Responsible American Scientists [Download PDF, 324KB]

February: NL26

Articles: From The Chair; GM Matters; Knowledge: Common Heritage not Private Property; Another Knowledge, Another World; Science, Knowledge, Wisdom & Public Good; Responses to the Convention; Why Not Commercialise Biomedical Research; Vested Interests in Science; The Future of Science in Relation to the Patenting; The Human Genome; Open Knowledge; Knowledge Bank [Download PDF, 354KB]

September

Articles: Knowlege - Common and Open - An Essay On 'Open Knowledge' by Alan Cottey; Understanding the Military Influence on Science and Technology (SGR Research Project) [Download PDF, 1.00MB]

June

Articles: Energy: Security and Sustainability; Intellectual Property Rights, Food Security and Farmers' Rights; GATS Attack - The Effect on Education; The Effect of GATS on Local Government [Download PDF, 1.48MB]

 

2002

 

July:   NL25

Articles: From The Chair; Can scientists be trusted?; The US-Russian Nuclear Arms Treaty, Battling for Monsanto, The Chardon Hearing, Nuclear Threats Against Iraq, Summary of INES/SGR ‘New Security - Global and Regional Priorities’ Seminar
[Download PDF, 226KB]

February: NL24

Articles:From The Chair; Terrorism and the Arms Trade; Could Terrorists Turn the UK into a Nuclear Wasteland, Response to September 11th, Media Lens, Eugene Rabinowitch, "Myth of Chernobyl"?, Nuclear Proliferation [Download PDF, 322KB]

November

Articles: A Balkan Peace Park in the Making; Report on MOD Objections to Onshore Wind Farms; Seed Bank: Report by Imperial College, London; Cities Are Good For Us: Urban Governance - Thinking Globally, Acting Locally (Molly O'Meara Sheehan) [Download PDF, 1.18MB]

July

Articles: Coin Streen Housing, London: Social Housing Development; The Energy Review; Sustainability Fatigue Syndrome [Download PDF, 1.12MB]

February

Articles: The UK and Star Wars; Sustainability - the Impossible Dream?; Global GM Crop Plantings Top 120 Million Acres; "Sustainability" - What Does It Really Mean For The Civil Engineer? [Download PDF, 2.37MB]

 

2001

 

July:   NL23

Articles: Weapons in Space; Star Wars - Space Control and Domination; A Few Words From the Chair; Alan James Mayne, an Obituary; Your Website; Activity on Genetic Engineering of Crops; New SGR National Coordinating Committee; Make Space for Cooperation; Announcing SGR's Issue Groups; Elsewhere In The News; Star Wars - The Next Generation: The Space Based Laser; How Should UK Science Be Funded [Download PDF, 272KB]

February: NL22

Articles: Moving into the New Millennium, International Week of Science and Peace 2000, SGR Presents Evidence to GM Maize Hearing, David Willey 1931 - 2000, How Green is the Media Jungle?, Slight Lifting of Israel's Nuclear Secrecy, So What Did Happen at the Climate Negotiations?, India's Nuclear Doctrine - the Responsibility of the Other Nuclear States [Download PDF, 203KB]

September

Articles: The Government's Energy Policy Review; The Fight Against Corporate Plunder; The Environmental Impact of the Motor Car [Download PDF, 1.64MB]

May

Articles: Making Effective Use Of Fuel Taxes; Vehicle Fuels Allocation: The Key To Social Justice In Transport Planning; Market Forces Rule OK? [Download PDF, 1.34MB]

 

2000

 

Autumn: NL21: Special Issue on Information Technology

Articles: Strategic Routes to Greater Influence, Raising the Game: a Strategy for Modernising SGR, Careers Which Don't Cost the Earth - Project Update, Media Mergers Give Cause for Concern, IT - the Key to Taking Open Science Forward, Emerging Information Systems Present New Views, Why Nuclear Reprocessing at Sellafield Must Stop [Download PDF, 266KB]

Spring: NL20: Special Issue on Climate Change

Articles: Slow Progress at Climate Change Negotiations, The Clean Development Mechanism - Opportunity or Loophole?, IPCC - an Update, What Future for Fusion Power?, Forestry & Climate Change, The Climate Care Label, Information Technology, Transport  & the Environment, Nuclear Arms Reduction - a Glimmer of Hope?, Reprocessing at Sellafield (Pt 2), Hague Appeal for Peace (review), Genetic Engineering & You (review) [Download PDF, 232KB]

December

Articles: ZED Cars - (Zero Emissions Development); Poverty and Globalisation [Download PDF, 911KB]

June

Articles: Bedzed Development; Consequences of Engineering; Climate Change - UK Programme; Why Free Trade Is A Myth; Sustainable Development and Integrated Transport - A Practitioner's Perspective [Download PDF, 2.03MB]

 

1999

 

Summer: NL19: Special Issue on Nuclear Issues

Articles: Global Nuclear Stockpiles, A Disarmament Role for Aldermaston?, Nuclear Power in Eastern Europe, The Compleat Gamekeeper - Nuclear Safeguards in Britain, US Holding Plutonium from UK Civil Stockpile, Reprocessing at Sellafield (Pt 1), Akkuyu Nuclear Plant in Turkey [Download PDF, 226KB]

 

December

Articles: AGM Report; Extracts from INES Newsletter 26 (Tree Planting in Scotland, Monsanto Monopolies); WTO Services by Susan George [Download PDF, 1.65MB]

 
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