Science ethics across the board   Science in the Pub Number 63 With panelists Margaret Wertheim and Kirsten Benkendorff Compered by David Ellyard Tuesday, July 10th 2001, 7:00-9:00pm Harlequin Inn, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont, Sydney Science in the Pub ponders over some of the ethical issues that are being raised about science in our society. Why are some in our community fearful of science? When scientists apply for government funding for their research and one attracts some millions of dollars while another attracts not a brass razoo, does the latter have no value to society? Who are the value judges? Are they driven by science or are politics and economics the driving forces? Should the community have more involvement in the decision-making processes when it comes to scientific research? These and many more issues will be discussed by our two starry scientists, Margaret Wertheim, science writer and commentator, and Dr Kirsten Benkendorff, Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong. Our compere for the evening is none other that former ABC meteorologist and physicist, David Ellyard, who has the happy task of keeping our scientists on the hop. With ethical issues being 'hot' on the current school science syllabuses-as 'values' for Stages 4 and 5 and 'ethics' for Stage 6-CONASTA delegates please have your questions and comments ready. Also, ask David about 2001: A Science Odyssey! Tonight's session has been commissioned especially for CONASTA 50, the 50th Conference of the Australian Science Teachers Association. Margaret Wertheim is an internationally noted science writer and commentator. She is the author of "Pythagoras' Trousers", a history of the relationship between physics and religion and "The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet". Her articles have appeared in many magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Los Angles Times, The Sciences, New Scientist, Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and the LA Weekly. She is a senior science reviewer for The Australian's Review of Books, and writes a monthly column on science and society for The Age. She has also written and produced television documentaries, including the PBS special "Faith and Reason" about science and religion. Margaret has lectured widely at universities and colleges across America and also internationally. She lives in Los Angeles where she is a Fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and is also a Research Associate to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. She is currently working on a documentary about "outsider physics". Kirsten Benkendorff is an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong, where she coordinates the "Marine Bioprospecting Initiative" aimed at conducting research into the ecologically sustainable development of novel marine antibiotics. In 2000, Kirsten was named the Young Australian of the Year for Science and Technology, for discovering a novel antibiotic in an Australian marine snail. She also undertakes research on the biodiversity and conservation of intertidal molluscs and is currently the 2001 NSW Young Australian of the Year for the Environment. She has published a code of ethics for chemists of natural products and represented the NSW branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Society at the 2000 Science Meets Parliament day. Kirsten also coordinated a position statement on ecological factors in environmental impact assessment for the Ecological Society of Australia. She is a strong advocate of community education and has actively pursued media attention, as well as conducting voluntary intertidal tours and public seminars. She spends all of her spare time in her organic vegie garden with her partner (Carlo), dog (Kaos), two snakes (Stripey and Gomez) and a continually growing family of chickens. True to the tradition of Science in the Pub, Kirsten and Margaret have written their abstracts in verse. From Margaret, with lots of help from sister Katherine Wertheim: When Forces Collide Who's to decide whether particles collide and quarks become on with gluons? Whose interest is served when proton beams swerve and what is the cost of each nuance? We're riding the beams of physicists' dreams back to the dawn of creation, But is it a dawn, or simply a yawn? Do you really feel much elation? Is this supercollision or supercollusion -or Lederman's superdelusion? Will the forces unite if the price is right -or is superforce superillusion? In a momentary flash the consumption of cash exceeds most scientists' conceiving What could each of them do with only a few of the dollars one boson's receiving? The billions in cash that enable the crash of the mans and leptons and bosons Could be fruitfully spent on the environment or anything else we suppose on. From Kirsten: Science-Destiny When science discovers something more, Shall we be happier than we were before? Knowledge for the sake of knowledge alone, Or a way of understanding, demystifying the unknown. When science is funded by the public purse, Should we consider the benefits first? The consequences of science can be so far-reaching, So perhaps it's the public we should be teaching. Science in the Pub™ is the Eureka Award winning initiative of the Australian Science Communicators (NSW). Regular sessions are generally staged from 7-9pm on the last Wednesday of every even month (February - October) at the Harlequin Inn, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont in Sydney.   Admission costs $5 worth of raffle tickets, your chance to win one of many excellent prizes! We can organise Science in YOUR Pub anywhere in Australia, or the world, when commissioned! Please contact Robyn Stutchbury, phone: 02 9427 6747; fax: 02 9427 6767; email: Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@bigpond.net.au.  Visit our website at http://www.scienceinthepub.com/. Future Science in the Pub sessions (see the website for full details): September 2001, as part of the Australian Science Communicator's annual conference, 2001 A Science Odyssey: Chance for Change. This session has been organised by ASC NSW for the 50th Conference of the Australian Science Teachers Association (CONASTA 50). Thanks to Marian Haire for all her hard work in helping to get this session launched.
Science in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M.