| Leadership candidates leave scientists in dark Party and union members have begun voting in the Labour leadership election, but Imran Khan is none the wiser about the candidates' intentions for science and engineeringThe ballot papers are out and the Labour leadership election is entering its final straight. What will the result mean for science and engineering?To find out, the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) teamed up with Scientists for Labour (SfL) to ask the five leadership candidates a series of questions focusing on science and the economy, the use of expert advice, and training the researchers of the future. This followed CaSE's own examination of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg just before the general election.As well as giving us a new leader of the opposition, whose role it will be to hold the coalition to account, the contest will potentially give us a future prime minister. So it's vital that whoever wins appreciates the role of science and engineering to the economy and society.The bad news is that three of the candidates – Diane Abbott, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham – failed to respond to Scientists for Labour, despite having seven weeks in which to do so. The fact that SfL are a highly engaged group for scientists within the Labour party makes the unanswered questions all the more disappointing.But the responses from David and Ed Miliband were promising – if a little vague. You can read the full answers here.David clearly understands the "multiplier effect" of spending on research, development and education, whereby private-sector spending is leveraged by public spending, and he talked up schools specialising in science and engineering.Ed also gets the "false economy" of cuts in research funding, recognising the importance of science and engineering to economic growth, and said he wants to ensure that "policy is thoroughly evidence-based".There will be more specific issues that Labour will have to deal with in detail. Does it still want all students to be able to study GCSE physics, chemistry and biology as three separate subjects? Is it committed to raising the proportion of GDP that the UK spends on research and development?Largely thanks to the efforts of two former science ministers, the widely respected and independently minded Paul Drayson and David Sainsbury, Labour has enjoyed a reputation of being friendly to science. This was tarnished by the sacking of Professor David Nutt towards the end of Labour's final term, but it's a reputation that CaSE hopes the new Labour leader will reinvigorate.Imran Khan is director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering and blogs at The Science Vote Labour party leadershipDavid MilibandEd MilibandScience policyImran Khanguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
US-born panda gives birth to her 8th cub in China By 2010-09-19T06:47:11ZBEIJING (AP) -- An American-born panda gave birth to her eighth cub in southwest China, a rare accomplishment for the endangered species known for being poor breeders.... hosted.ap.org |
Research not jeopardised by staffing numbers A senior CSIRO manager says researchers at regional laboratories are doing administrative duties - but that is not neccessarily a bad thing. abc.net.au |
Green: Bedbug Rider Looms in Real Estate Deals In recent weeks, some lawyers representing co-op and condo buyers have made bedbug disclosure a part of contract negotiation. feeds.nytimes.com |
Starwatch: The December night sky It is not just the weather that has turned wintry. That icon of our winter's sky, Orion, now stands clear of the ESE horizon at our star map times and climbs to dominate the S sky by midnight. The sparkling constellations that surround Orion include Taurus, above and to the right, and Gemini, above-left.The Moon lies just N of Orion, where Orion, Taurus and Gemini meet, when it passes through the N part of the Earth's shadow in a total lunar eclipse on the morning of the 21st. The Moon begins to enter the shadow's central dark umbra at 06:33 as it stands low in the WNW. Between 07:41 and 08:53 it lies in total eclipse in the umbra but may be hard to spot in the twilight as it sinks to set in NW shortly after sunrise.Just N of Castor in Gemini is the radiant of the Geminids meteor shower which lasts from the 7th to the 16th and is likely to peak on the morning of the 14th. Someone under a dark sky may see 100 slow meteors per hour as they diverge from the radiant and rain down in all directions.Jupiter, conspicuous (mag -2.5) and due S two hours before our map times, lies to the S of the Square of Pegasus and near the 1st quarter Moon on the 13th. Telescopes show it as 41 arcsec wide at midmonth and may already be revealing early signs of the return of the main dark cloud band in Jupiter's S hemisphere.Saturn, 10° above-right of Spica in Virgo and mag 0.8, rises in the E six hours after the map times. Venus is a dazzling morning star to the E of Spica. Rising at about 04:00, it dims from mag –4.7 to -4.5 as its crescent shrinks from 42 to 27 arcsec in diameter. The Moon is below-right of Venus (and below Spica) on Thursday and below-right of Venus again on the 31st. Mercury may be glimpsed very low in the SE just before dawn during the final week of the year.December diary1st 18h Moon 8Ëš S of Saturn; 16h Mercury farthest E of Sun (21Ëš)2nd 21h Moon 6Ëš S of Venus5th 18h New moon7th 09h Moon 1.8Ëš N of Mercury13th 14h First quarter14th 02h Moon 7Ëš N of Jupiter; 04h Mercury 1.0Ëš N of Mars; 06h Peak of Geminids meteor shower 20th 01h Mercury in inferior conjunction21st 08h Full moon and total lunar eclipse; 23:38 Winter solstice28th 04h Last quarter29th 03h Moon 8ËšS of Saturn31st16h Moon 7ËšS of VenusSpaceSatellitesAlan Pickupguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |