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Quitting Europe would leave UK science high and dry
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LOCATIONS UK Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 AUSTRALIA Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £150 CONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU Syndication Tribune Content Agency Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588 [email protected]
© 2014 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Bicester)
Science sans frontières Don’t let new boundaries cut off UK science WHEN Louis Pasteur remarked will vote on whether they want that science knows no country, he their country to secede from the clearly wasn’t thinking of research UK. As we report on pages 12-15, funding. In principle, scientists science and technology would don’t pay much attention to the play important parts in shaping nationality of their collaborators: an independent Scotland’s future, they simply seek out people who just as they have shaped its can help advance their studies. history: think of Alexander In practice, the choice of research Graham Bell, James Clerk partners is constrained by Maxwell, James Watt and Lord migration policies, funding Kelvin, among others. regimes and political will. Today, But today’s Scottish science is the potential choices are greater rarely done by lone geniuses. than ever – which is why it is “Ungainly though it is, the frustrating that the constraints European Union is good for may now be tightened. science, and particularly Ungainly though it is, the for science in the UK” European Union is on balance good for science, and particularly Rather, it is conducted at worldfor science in the UK. That is now leading research institutes, such threatened by the surge in support for Eurosceptic parties in as the Roslin Institute, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre last week’s elections (see page 6). and the Higgs Centre for If the UK Independence Party Theoretical Physics, where (UKIP) gets its way, and the UK researchers from around the steps away from the European globe can come together to Union, the country’s researchers may find themselves cut off from collaborate. Again, it is unclear how cross-border access to their former collaborators (see funding and facilities will be page 28). There is no sign that UKIP is bothered about this: it has arranged if Scotland goes it alone. This is worth thinking about, failed to respond to New Scientist’s particularly because UK leaders repeated requests for comment. have recently been vocal in their That is not the only question support of a resurgence in science mark over the future of UK and technology in pursuit of a science. In September, the Scots
more balanced economy. Last month, chancellor George Osborne outlined a plan to encourage the development of research clusters – including one stretching across southern Scotland – and pledged to invest £7 billion in science infrastructure over the next parliamentary term. This avowed enthusiasm for science, from so close to the top of government, is encouraging, even if the details remain to be thrashed out and opinions differ on how big an economic benefit such a strategy might yield. But if UK science is to succeed, Osborne, his colleagues and his successors must address its international dimensions too. So far, science has gone unmentioned in both the Scottish and European debates. That needs to change. Once, nations guarded the prowess and achievements of their researchers jealously. But forgoing narrow definitions of national interest in favour of collaboration has proved hugely productive. It would be a setback if scientists found themselves facing those barriers again, when their ideas so clearly benefit from being taken up by anyone, anywhere in the world. As Pasteur also said, knowledge belongs to humanity. ■
Don’t kill the painkiller
from accidental overdoses annually, it was big news. The drug is now facing further problems over safety and effectiveness (see page 34), leading some to call for it to be withdrawn from over-the-counter sale. That would be an overreaction. As the British experience shows, people can understand and act on nuanced messages. Paracetamol doesn’t need to be banned: people simply need to be made aware of its limitations and dangers so that they can make the right call. ■
WHOEVER first described the UK and US as two nations divided by a common language probably wasn’t thinking about a molecule called N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. But there is possibly no better example of the cultural divide. Brits call it paracetamol; Americans call it acetaminophen. And attitudes towards the painkiller are equally divergent. People in the UK are aware that
a paracetamol overdose can kill. That goes back to 1998, when the government restricted the number of tablets that could be bought in one purchase and ran an information campaign explaining the change. The measures prevent an estimated 1000 deaths a year. US awareness is much lower. When investigative journalism group Propublica revealed last year that 1500 Americans die
31 May 2014 | NewScientist | 5
LOCATIONS UK Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 AUSTRALIA Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £150 CONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU Syndication Tribune Content Agency Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588 [email protected]
© 2014 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Bicester)
Science sans frontières Don’t let new boundaries cut off UK science WHEN Louis Pasteur remarked will vote on whether they want that science knows no country, he their country to secede from the clearly wasn’t thinking of research UK. As we report on pages 12-15, funding. In principle, scientists science and technology would don’t pay much attention to the play important parts in shaping nationality of their collaborators: an independent Scotland’s future, they simply seek out people who just as they have shaped its can help advance their studies. history: think of Alexander In practice, the choice of research Graham Bell, James Clerk partners is constrained by Maxwell, James Watt and Lord migration policies, funding Kelvin, among others. regimes and political will. Today, But today’s Scottish science is the potential choices are greater rarely done by lone geniuses. than ever – which is why it is “Ungainly though it is, the frustrating that the constraints European Union is good for may now be tightened. science, and particularly Ungainly though it is, the for science in the UK” European Union is on balance good for science, and particularly Rather, it is conducted at worldfor science in the UK. That is now leading research institutes, such threatened by the surge in support for Eurosceptic parties in as the Roslin Institute, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre last week’s elections (see page 6). and the Higgs Centre for If the UK Independence Party Theoretical Physics, where (UKIP) gets its way, and the UK researchers from around the steps away from the European globe can come together to Union, the country’s researchers may find themselves cut off from collaborate. Again, it is unclear how cross-border access to their former collaborators (see funding and facilities will be page 28). There is no sign that UKIP is bothered about this: it has arranged if Scotland goes it alone. This is worth thinking about, failed to respond to New Scientist’s particularly because UK leaders repeated requests for comment. have recently been vocal in their That is not the only question support of a resurgence in science mark over the future of UK and technology in pursuit of a science. In September, the Scots
more balanced economy. Last month, chancellor George Osborne outlined a plan to encourage the development of research clusters – including one stretching across southern Scotland – and pledged to invest £7 billion in science infrastructure over the next parliamentary term. This avowed enthusiasm for science, from so close to the top of government, is encouraging, even if the details remain to be thrashed out and opinions differ on how big an economic benefit such a strategy might yield. But if UK science is to succeed, Osborne, his colleagues and his successors must address its international dimensions too. So far, science has gone unmentioned in both the Scottish and European debates. That needs to change. Once, nations guarded the prowess and achievements of their researchers jealously. But forgoing narrow definitions of national interest in favour of collaboration has proved hugely productive. It would be a setback if scientists found themselves facing those barriers again, when their ideas so clearly benefit from being taken up by anyone, anywhere in the world. As Pasteur also said, knowledge belongs to humanity. ■
Don’t kill the painkiller
from accidental overdoses annually, it was big news. The drug is now facing further problems over safety and effectiveness (see page 34), leading some to call for it to be withdrawn from over-the-counter sale. That would be an overreaction. As the British experience shows, people can understand and act on nuanced messages. Paracetamol doesn’t need to be banned: people simply need to be made aware of its limitations and dangers so that they can make the right call. ■
WHOEVER first described the UK and US as two nations divided by a common language probably wasn’t thinking about a molecule called N-acetyl-p-aminophenol. But there is possibly no better example of the cultural divide. Brits call it paracetamol; Americans call it acetaminophen. And attitudes towards the painkiller are equally divergent. People in the UK are aware that
a paracetamol overdose can kill. That goes back to 1998, when the government restricted the number of tablets that could be bought in one purchase and ran an information campaign explaining the change. The measures prevent an estimated 1000 deaths a year. US awareness is much lower. When investigative journalism group Propublica revealed last year that 1500 Americans die
31 May 2014 | NewScientist | 5