Eco-tricity (by sarah)

I realised from Alaric's post on heating that I had yet mentioned our new Electricity company Ecotricity. We decided to move to this local company as they sit with our green ethics better than any of the larger companies plus they are just up the road and they sent us stickers!

It’s not a case of Art Verses Science (by sarah)

I am aware that there are funding cuts all around and that some people view the problem as art verses science and argue things like art never took part in war. But a) this is wrong art very much does take part in war - in the form of writing or visual arts - think propaganda and b) the whole concept of there being an art/science dichotomy is blatently wrong. They are not opposites, they are not diametrically apposed things.

Art and science are subdivisions of Creative, they both use similar processes in creation of new things and more over one fuels the other. Now the issue with limited finding is - how much does it cost for paint brushes verses and MRI scanner? In an ideal world there would be no limitations but that is not the case. And the thing about science funding cuts is that is going to cost lives in the short and long term. Now don't get me wrong art does save lives but it is more of an enrichment thing (not that science doesn't enrich lives but you know what I mean!).

Of course I am biased in this due to the fact I chose to study science at university when I could have studied art - the deciding factor was that I could do art anywhere anytime but for science I needed access to machines - expensive machines.

This I suppose does mean the artists have to take more of an initiative in getting themselves going which due to social constraints means it sometimes doesn't happen.

Something else I have been meaning to blog on is how 'normal' people view both artist and scientists and too my suprise it is basically the same - but more on that later!

Rally – Science Is Vital (by sarah)

Today there is a rally where scientist and anyone passionate about science are going to march over the funding cuts to their fields. I can not be there not least because I am on crutches - this probably wouldn't have stopped me normally but baby has to come first!

Information can be found here.

And you can sign the petition here.

If you feel it's too late for today you can still join in the lobbying of our government on the 12th! Info on that is here.

And then there is always the ol' Write To Your MP.

Why is Science Vital (by sarah)

Science is threaded through out the modern world, everything is affected by or initiated by science. Shouldn't the money be spent on health care? I hear you cry - what do you think is at the bases of the treatments? What allows the equipment to function and be used? SCIENCE!

What about the environment? Surely that was caused by science? No it was caused by ignorance and mis-management and what do you think allowed us to see what was happening? SCIENCE - what do you think will allow us to drag ourselves and our planet out of it? SCIENCE.

Then there is our transport systems, heating for our homes, clean water, foods and hygien. The cloths we are wearing - all those nice washable colours and enduring fabrics? SCIENCE was at the root of all of these.

The artists pigments and the fact they don't die as much from accidental substance abuse - SCIENCE.

Even trying to sort out the mess of the financial crises comes from SCIENCE. Because you know what Maths is SCIENCE. And on that subject we plunge straight into the humanities from war anylises to domestic abuse statistics.

What about business? I hear you cry - shouldn't we be concentrating on strengthening the private sector and let nessecity drive invention?

Ok but you see modern business is reliant on computers - weather it is running their e-bay shop or because they use a bank and where do software engineers get the tools to be able to make these boxes of lights do such amazing things? SCIENCE. Yep sorry guys but even if you only take the logic part of programming into account here - computing is a SCIENCE.

(For the purpose of Research and Development - Science, Engineering and technology in general are all far too interlocked to be seperated out - though I do have views on this aswell but that is beyond the point being made here.)

And to those who say - ok but get rid of all non-vital research - I say that without blue sky research you hamstring the entire scientific entity. Things crop up in unexpected places leading to major breakthroughs - just look at some medical history 😉

I was horrified over the proposed funding cuts in science - how to spiral a country into a social war of attrition as all our initiative and endevours - business start ups etc.... disappear - in other words - all the sorts of things you need to bump a country out of recession.

Looking at other countries it appears that those who invested in science regardless clawed their way up whilst those who didn't dwindled and became weaker.

All of our global equivalents are currently increasing science funding so this is pure madness which is why I have chosen to write yet another blog post about it. Please please check out ScinceIsVital and sign their petition at the very least.

Science is Vital Poem Rap – The Video! (by sarah)