what’s on the horizon in the world of science? #icca11 wednesday 26/10/11
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Presentation on What’s on the horizon in the world of science? by Angela Saini Science journalist & author. Held during the 50th ICCA Congress. #icca11 WEDNESDAY 26/10/11TRANSCRIPT
What’s on thehorizon in the
world of science?
Angela SainiScience journalist
& Author
Biologists areteaming up withengineers to helpbuild the growingfield of synthetic
biology
The aim of syntheticbiology is to build
‘living machines’ froma biological toolkit of
parts, including bits ofDNA… just like anengineer builds a
computer
In 2009, Cambridge University undergraduatesgenetically engineered E.Coli bacteria, normallyfound in the gut, enabling it to produce a variety
of rainbow colours.
It could be used to give you “colour-coded poo”.
At Imperial College London, biologists andengineers have teamed up to create biological
devices that behave like electronic circuits
Unmanneddefence systems
could makeintelligent robots
a reality
Artificial intelligence research happening inthe defence industry could also help todesign safer and smarter machines for
civilian use
The next Mars rover could be equipped withthe kind of sensors and gauges that will help
it fix and charge itself
Open-sourcescience,
BIG collaborationsand
citizen science
Tuberculosis is one of the world’s oldest diseases. Itaffects two billion people around the world, mainly
in the developing world.
Open source drug discovery pools researchfrom thousands of different scientists in
different fields, for one end goal.
In September 2011, the Planet Hunters projectreported that its members had discovered two
possible new planets
Global science is becoming more collaborativeand slowly shifting to the East
The OECD Science, Technology and IndustryScoreboard 2011 released on 20 September shows thelatest trends in global science…
• The biggest research hotspots are still the US,Europe and Japan, but China is growing fast, withother BRIC nations following.
• When it comes to clean energy research,materials science is the largest field.
• All nations are also ramping up the proportionof research that is done in partnership withother nations.
Thanksfor listening!
You can find me at:www.angelasaini.co.uk
@AngelaDSaini