Big Data – Consumers or Consumed?

Big data is here and the question is whether we will consume it, or it will consume us? Likely, the answer will be a bit of both. The dystopian view of our big data future is somewhere between those imagined in George Orwell’s 1984, 2002’s Minority Report, or Gattaca from 1997. The Star Trek series […]

Science in the Public Eye

Science is a common topic in the news today – the new Cosmos series, climate science, STEM education, genetically modified crops, stem cells, new drugs and vaccines, exploring Mars and beyond, evolution, pollution, nuclear waste, dinosaurs, even the President’s proposed 2015 Federal Budget. What do we know about Science? The PEW Research Center in concert […]

Choose A Nightmare

Choices. Decisions. At the highest level they can be classified as either easy or hard ones.  On a wholly separate plane are the difficult decisions that need to be made where the option to choose the “right” thing to do over the “wrong” is not presented because there is no perceived right or wrong and […]

Philanthropy Shapes Society And Culture

Pro Bono Australia recent showcased Australia’s Top 50 Philanthropic Gifts of All Time. It was a celebration of Australia’s most significant philanthropic achievements from the 1800’s until today. The list made interesting reading as most of those recorded played substantial roles in helping to shape Australian society and culture. Areas such as the arts, environment, […]

Educational Resources for Patients, Advocacy Groups, Research Investigators and Drug Developers regarding Rare Diseases

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently published a list of “Educational Resources for Patients, Advocacy Groups, Research Investigators and Drug Developers”.  These resources are available from the FDA’s “Developing Products for Rare Diseases & Conditions” page, in the “Resources for You” section.  Rare Disease research is supported by the Orphan Drug Designation […]

House Subcommitte Votes to Reduce NSF Funding for Social and Climate Science Research

The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the US House of Representatives will soon vote on legislation dealing with NSF funding that was passed by one of its subcommittees earlier this week. Once again, Republican members of the Committee have focused their energies on efforts to micromanage NSF awards by proposing significant cuts to […]