Archive: Science

The land of unicorns: How magical thinking conquered British politics

Brexit has triggered a dangerous new trend where political debate comes unhinged from objective fact.

BHA: Science and Pseudo Science

What distinguishes real science from pseudo-science, flim-flam and bullshit? Is parapsychology a science? Is Young Earth Creationism science? Is pseudo-science on the rise in British schools? Join speakers Chris French, Andy Lewis, James Ladyman and Stephen Law for the answers.
Today's science, tomorrow's medicines

Whether it’s a glance at your bathroom cabinet or a trip to the dentist, pharmacology is all around us! This animation from the British Pharmacological Society provides an introduction to the science of pharmacology and the charity's activities as a global community at the heart of pharmacology.
What is social science?

The social sciences are all about understanding the way humans behave and interact with each other - helping to make our society a better place to live.
BHA: The Forgotten Legacy of Arabic Science

The British Humanist Association is pleased to announce theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili as the 2013 Holyoake honorary lecturer, taking a look at the rich scientific heritage of Arabic science, focussing on the period when it was at the forefront of innovation and advance.

What's actually going on with the BBC and Brexit bias?

There is no plot inside the BBC to push for Brexit, but something just as pernicious is happening.
Euratom is the perfect test case for revoking Article 50

We urgently need to change course on Euratom - and doing so will prove Brexit can be reversed as well

The LSD experiment: This is what it's like to trip inside an MRI machine

This week, the findings from Britain's first LSD test for 40 years were released. This is what it was like to be one of the subjects doing the experiment
This is your brain on drugs: Landmark study sidesteps Home Office censorship

Remarkable new findings show the need for more research into the effects of LSD

Legal highs bill puts medical research at risk

New treatments for depression and experiments which might help explain human consciousness will be put at risk if the bill banning legal highs is passed, researchers have warned.
Playing God: MPs will defy the science in Tuesday's genetic modification vote

Britain could become the first country in the world to legalise human genetic modification next week. It's a watershed moment for humanity - but is this a step we want to take?

Why can't science and politics get along?

Politicians have a patchy record on paying attention to scientists – to the detriment of us all.
Coalition has been 'worse for science'

"Particularly weak ministers" struggling to get to grips with the basics

Swindon, we have a problem: UK 'underfunding' galactic-sized space ambitions

MPs have expressed concern after discovering Britain's booming space sector, which the government hopes will grow fourfold by 2030, is being overseen by just 44 staff - mostly based in Swindon.
Comment: The badger cull is an act of deceit and neglect

People who should know better have given up on scientific research.

Comment: The government's backing of GM foods is short-sighted and wrong

A senior scientific adviser to David Cameron has called for rules on GM crops to be relaxed, but it is nothing more than an expensive blind alley that will leave the UK trailing behind the rest of Europe.
Comment: Let's keep politics out of climate change education

The place of climate change in science education could fall by the wayside. Let's keep politics out of the curriculum.

Comment: MPs either don't understand – or care about - science

Heathrow and the badger cull suggest government and MPs remain entirely uninterested in science.
Comment: Tabloid scare stories and the end of the world

Why do tabloids get so hysterical over swine flu and the millennium bug, but downplay the risks of climate change?

UK immigration policy 'deeply damaging' to science

Plans to limit non-EU migrants to five years in the UK have been branded "deeply damaging" to Britain's scientific community.
The decline of the Bunsen Burner

Scientists of the future are being discouraged by over-zealous health and safety concerns at school, a committee of MPs has said.

Research regulator? MPs demand peer-review watchdog

A new watchdog should be created to ensure the integrity of scientific research in the UK, an influential committee of MPs said today.
Michael Gove on mathematics and civilisation

Full text of Michael Gove speech at the Royal Society on maths and science.

Spending review: Science backed amid cuts

Funding for Britain's science sector has avoided cuts in the comprehensive spending review.
Willetts defends science funding against his boss

David Willetts made the case for continued science funding today in his first major speech in government.

Government keeping scientists at 'arms length'

The government is treating science as "a peripheral policy concern," an influential committee of MPs has said today.
Lord Sainsbury resigns as minister

Lord Sainsbury has resigned from his role as science minister, citing personal reasons.

Govt should not 'disguise' policies with science

Ministers should not disguise policies based on their beliefs as being based on scientific evidence, the science and technology committee has said.
Science 'will change the world'

Britain must become a more "scientifically literate society" if it is to remain competitive and tackle key challenges such as climate change, Tony Blair urged today.