Obama's Speech on Science

President Obama gave a speech today regarding science research, funding, and education. This speech gives a very broad plan for the future of our country’s scientific research and development. When compared with the American Competitiveness Initiative (that I spoke about in the group presentation), this plan does focus more on the education and research aspect instead of the profit-driven science and technological advancements. Yet, there are many similarities between them as well, which focuses on intertwining education, science, and the economy. While all of the points in this speech sound like they can help the country advance in many areas of science, there continues to be a strong tie between science and the need for economic growth (the "profit" of the government). There are many, MANY issues addressed in the speech, so if you have some time, check it out!

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/04/27/obamas-strident-support-of-science/

(The transcript of the speech is a few paragraphs down on the page)

Science Funding Difficulties

Things are looking pretty dark these days for many researchers: A sobering news feature from Nature.

"Altered Goats"

Here's an interesting case (go blogger news ticker!) about a vaccine secreted in the milk of genetically modified goats. I hope for consistency's sake all you Kantians out there who object to using these goats merely as a means don't like feta in your salad. . . .

Recent octuplet story

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:084412bd-de5b-4e2c-8d86-ec8c7416843f&showPlaylist=true&from=IV2_en-us_lifestyle_yourlife_department&fg=gtlv2

Interesting story about a single mother of 6, now 14 using in-vitro fertilization to have more children. Asks many ethical issues regarding both the doctors involved in the procedure as well as the mother. As far as from the doctors perspective, is it ethical for the doctors involved to go through with the procedure and implant the harvested eggs? Do the fertility doctors involved have the right to deny her access to these eggs?

As far as the mother, there are several ethical issues at hand. For one, being a single mother, is it ethical for the mother to have several more children? Are these children being cared for properly and not merely an obsession for the mother? Also, the story also brings up issues of why she is having these children. Is there a financial incentive that is involved that is enticing the mother to continue to have children?

Personally, I believe that it is very selfish of the mother to continue this behavior. I feel that it is impossible for a single mother to care for and develop relationships with these children. It seems to me that no single person is capable of providing the care and affection to 14 children. As far as the doctors are concerned, it is a difficult question to answer. I feel that it is wrong for the doctors to allow this to happen, but it is a very difficult issue to deal with. I would like to hear what all of you feel about this issue.

NYT: "Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy"

Intriguing article from the New York Times yesterday: "Elevating Science, Elevating Democracy" by Dennis Overbye. More evidence that the social psyche is creeping into the practice of science...