Wolltest du den USA schon immer mal sagen, wie sie ihre Forschungsgelder einsetzen sollen? Von Montag bis Donnerstag kommt nun die Möglichkeit. Formulier in deinem Blog – oder hier als Kommentar – , auf deiner Facebook-Seite oder in Twitter deine Wunschliste und füge den Hashtag „#whgc“ ein. Expert Lab sammelt dann sämtliche Kommentare weltweit – etwa so soll das funktionieren. Die genaue Anleitung erscheint Montag auf Expert Lab.
Barack Obama hat schon mal seine Liste der grossen Herausforderungen präsentiert – und bittet nun um Kommentare und Ergänzungen. Hier sind sie:
- Complete DNA sequencing of every case of cancer; smart anti-cancer therapeutics that kill cancer cells and leave their normal neighbors untouched; early detection of dozens of diseases from a saliva sample; nanotechnology that delivers drugs precisely to the desired tissue; personalized medicine that enables the prescription of the right dose of the right drug for the right person; a universal vaccine for influenza that will protect against all future strains; and regenerative medicine that can end the agonizing wait for an organ transplant.
- Solar cells as cheap as paint, and green buildings that produce all of the energy they consume.
- A light-weight vest for soldiers and police officers that can stop an armor-piercing bullet.
- Educational software that is as compelling as the best video game and as effective as a personal tutor; online courses that improve the more students use them; and a rich, interactive digital library at the fingertips of every child.
- Intelligent prosthetics that will allow a veteran who has lost both of his arms to play the piano again.
- Biological systems that can turn sunlight into carbon-neutral fuel, reduce the costs of producing anti-malarial drugs by a factor of 10, and quickly and inexpensively dispose of radioactive wastes and toxic chemicals.
- An “exascale” supercomputer capable of a million trillion calculations per second – dramatically increasing our ability to understand the world around us through simulation and slashing the time needed to design complex products such as therapeutics, advanced materials, and highly-efficient autos and aircraft.
- Automatic, highly accurate and real-time translation between the major languages of the world – greatly lowering the barriers to international commerce and collaboration.
Auffallend, wie hier biologische Forschung instrumentalisiert und nur im Hinblick auf nützliche technische Innovationen genannt wird.
Die Leistungen, die intakte Ökosysteme sozusagen umsonst erbringen, sind schwer zu beziffern (Ende der 90er geschätzte 33 Billionen US Dollar pro Jahr, Costanza et al. 1997), aber zweifellos von absoluter Notwendigkeit um die Umwelt in einem für Leben geeigneten Zustand halten zu können.
Gerade für uns Menschen mit einer Bevölkerungszahl, die die Aufnahmefähigkeit der Erde längst bei weitem überschreitet.
#whgc
Quantification of the necessary and sufficient global area that must be exempted from anthropogenic activities and let be occupied by natural ecosystems, so that the latter have enough power to regulate and sustain an environment which is suitable for human life.