Research and Science prove profitable for Australian Economy Study commissioned by chief scientist, Ian Chubb, found that Science and mathematics boost Australia’s economy by $145bn a year and also advanced physical sciences and maths employ 760,000 people. Professor Chubb, whose term was recently extended until the end of the year, told the National Press Club that the government had “got it wrong” when it cut about $380 million from science spending in its first budget. He said Australia should learn from the UK, which had “ring-fenced science and research from austerity cuts, in the belief that those investments were critical to their future”. A report co-commissioned by Professor Chubb, also released today, estimates that the earth sciences, maths, physics and chemistry directly contribute $145 billion to Australia’s economy. “I’m often asked to put a number on (the value of science) by the people who like having numbers to tell them what’s important,” he said. “(But the economy) is a means to an end, not an end in itself. The end has got to be something bigger than the subtotal of the things we think we can afford at any given time. The public might like to think about the future in something other than budgetary terms. We ought to aspire to leave credits as well as debits on the national balance sheet.” Professor Chubb conceded that it was unfair to “borrow from the future
Cooperation on Research between EU and China
Jianru Cao, First Secretary of the Mission of China to the EU, spoke at the recent conference on Chinese research initiatives and the EU. According to Jianru Cao, EU-China collaboration will continue to thrive in the coming years. He pointed to China’s recently published reform strategy which will address current institutional arrangements and economic policies that suppress innovation, as well as improving market competition order and enhancing judicial protection for intellectual property right. It will also see the national S&T programme becoming more open to foreign countries. On the ground, vibrant collaboration projects are ongoing between EU and Chinese researchers, particularly in areas like health, environment and transport. Mr Cao noted and the area of space is particularly important: ‘Space cooperation with EU is one of the pillars of China-EU cooperation. In Brussels, we even have a space office in the Chinese Mission to EU.’ ‘China is open to the outside and all national programmes will be open to foreign institutions,’ Mr Cao concluded.
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to fund the lifestyles of today. But … it would be unfair of us to dawdle along on the sidelines while infectious diseases turn from outbreaks to pandemics, exhausting today’s therapies without breaking open new pathways to treatments in the future. “(And) isn’t it unfair that some students leave school with no grounding in science and technology, to confront a labour market that puts a premium on these things?” Yesterday he told the Press Club he was confident that the federal government would accept “most if not all” of the recommendations. He also backed South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill’s move to establish a royal commission into the nuclear industry. “It’s getting safer and safer all the time — more sustainable, more secure,” Professor Chubb said. “It’s hard for us to have a sensible discussion about future and secure energy supplies from Australia, without putting the options on the table for mature, sophisticated, civilised debate. “We ought to be grown up enough to be able to say … let’s talk about how we might come to some common purpose understanding.” The report did not take into account the impact of biology or life sciences, which will be examined in future studies. The report breaks down the value of science and maths by industry. Resource management, mining and general insurance industries are the big winners of discoveries and innovations in the science and mathematics fields.
Polar Bears headed to extinction
Polar bears face starvation as their frozen habitat shrinks because they will not adapt to land-based foods. As the sea ice around the Arctic declines, scientists had theorised that the great bears may adapt to forage and hunt on land. But in a report published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology, researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said it was doubtful polar bears could find salvation in the caribou, goose eggs and berries of the north. Steven Amstrup, chief scientist at Polar Bears International, said the research supported his previous findings that “as the sea ice goes, so goes the polar bear”. “We generally expect to lose two-thirds of the world’s bears by mid-century and possibly the rest by the end of the century if we don’t mitigate the rise in greenhouse gases.”
EU Research