Winter 2015

Feature articles cover: science and engineering for war; shale gas and fracking; risks of nuclear weapons use; chemical weaponry and World War I; controlling global carbon emissions; UK domestic energy efficiency programmes; corporate influence on research on genetically-modified crops

Feature articles

• Challenging the mindset of war
  Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, critically assesses new UK and Western military initiatives, and how engineers and scientists can be involved in challenging the cycle of violence.

• Shale gas and fracking: examining the evidence
  Gwen Harrison MSc and Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, summarise SGR’s recent briefing which finds numerous causes for concern regarding the planned extraction of shale gas in the UK.

• Too close for comfort: cases of near nuclear use and options for policy
  Sasan Aghlani MSc, Chatham House, outlines just how close the world has come to the inadvertent use of nuclear weapons in the last 60 years – and suggests some immediate measures to reduce the risks.

• The struggle to ban chemical weaponry: lessons from World War I to the present
  Prof Peter Nicholls, University of Essex, examines the development and use of chemical weapons over the last 100 years, especially during World War I, highlighting some of the ethical debates involving scientists and policy-makers.

• CapGlobalCarbon: a global response to a global problem
  John Jopling, Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, argues that a radical addition is needed to the international system for curbing carbon emissions.

• UK household energy policy: another fine mess
  Dr Philip Webber, SGR/ Yorkshire Energy Services, describes the recent string of failures in the government’s home energy efficiency programmes and what needs to be done about them.

• Scientific publication in peril: the Séralini affair
  Dr Eva Novotny discusses the controversy surrounding an academic paper showing health problems in a feeding trial of a GM crop – and what it says about corporate influence in this field.

SGR News

• A few words from the Director
  Has the Coalition government been promoting ethical science, design and technology?

• New SGR report on fracking
• SGR is now hydro-powered!
• New science education work
• Updates on other SGR activities on:
  - Militarisation of science
  - Climate change
  - Nuclear weapons

• Obituaries – Prof Peter Nicholls, Prof John Westergaard and Rick Mather
• Sponsors news – updates on Prof Tom Kibble, Prof Keith Barnham and Prof Stephen Hawking

Reviews

• SGR conference: Living within environmental limits – from science to practice
• Breaking the frame: a gathering on the politics of technology
• Book: Sustainable infrastructure – principles into practice
   

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