May 2018 Ideas and Innovation
Read the articles selected in May 2018
Pablo Jensen “Transformer le monde en chiffres, c’est une opération très subjective”
By Erwan Cario
Source: Libération, 5 May
That the quantitative indicators on which is based the decision-making represent the objective reality is a belief, linked with the bureaucratic needs of the centralized State. But numbers simplify and are the outcome of hypotheses, that answer to someone asking questions formulated in a given direction.
How to save the high seas
By Olive Heffernan
Source: Nature, 9 May
So far, no treaty allows protecting ecosystems in high seas, that make up two-thirds of Earth’s oceans. To fill this gap in international law, ten governments have begun negotiations for a United Nations treaty to lay out rules for the safeguard of the international waters.
Consulta l’articolo:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05079-z
How to change emotions with a word
Source: The Economist, 3 May
A study published in Psychological Science by two Israelian psycholinguists argues that not only words but also grammatical structures if appropriately used help to manage emotions and diplomacy. In particular, employing nouns instead of adjectives plays down a judging attitude, and reduces anger.
No death and an enhanced life: is the future really transhuman?
Source: The Observer Domestic, 6 May
The last frontiers of the technology shift further the human limits. In a next future, the machines will become part of our body and mind, but the logic of empowering our capacities in sight of the best performance is the logic of the inequalities, also when the price of devices plummets.
Universal healthcare, worldwide, is within reach
Source: The Economist, 26 April
Although universal public-health insurance requires people to pay for others, universal health care is a liberal goal. It helps, like education, to develop the full potential of individuals and is pro-growth. Inaccessible health services have enormous costs, while universal health care is everywhere feasible and affordable.
Read more:
Stephen Hawking’s (almost) last paper: putting an end to the beginning of the universe
By Adrian Cho
Source: Science, 2 May
In the last paper in cosmology, co-authored with the theoretical physicist Thomas Hertog and published in the Journal of High Energy Physic, Stephen Hawking attacks the eternal inflation theory and the singularity of the creation, criticizing also the hypothesis of multiple universes.
Read more:
Water filter inspired by Alan Turing passes first test
By Mark Zastrow
Source: Nature, 3 May
Researchers have developed a nanostructure of tubular strands reproducing Turing’s mathematical model with a process which can be synthesized in 3D. This membrane, which is an efficient water filter, can have applications also in regenerative medicine.
Read more:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05055-7
L’empathie est aussi une affaire de biologie
By Paul Molga
Source: Les Echos, 30 April
According to recent studies, the ability to understand the others’ emotions relies on the genes, beyond the principal role played by education and experience. Furthermore, different brain’s regions are accounted for empathy, which stems from a network of widespread and interconnected neurons.
See attached
Info
- Pubblicato il : 04/06/2018 Modificato il : 04/04/2019