• Question: the society is changing everyday. how are you trying to improve your work's results?

    Asked by rubyfernfern to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 21 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      Hi ruby,
      you’re right society is changing everyday and science is trying to change to keep up with it!
      I think one of the changes is that people would like to take care of the environment a bit more and know where their food is coming from.
      Part of what I do is reducing the amount chemicals we use on our food dso hopefully making them more healthy for us and better for the environment!
      Eoin

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      Hi rubyfernfern.

      Science has to stay up to date with society, but society also has to stay up to date with science. I think that is one of the things that scares a lot of people about science – we can now do things that were previously not thought possible, and a lot of society struggles to keep up.

      DNA sequencing is a great example. It took more than a decade to sequence the first human genome. The technology has recently massively changed, and we can now sequence hundreds a year. It won’t be too far off before it might be possible to sequence everyone’s genome. This could have massive health benefits – allow doctors to tailor treatments to you, for example, because drugs can often work on some people but not others. But is is also a bit scary too, and society at large needs to be educated about what is and is not possible, and they need to have a say about what is done.

      That is why science education is so important – teaching the next generation of citizens how science works, even if they don’t go on to be scientists themselves.

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      Hi Ruby
      One of the big changes in society is that we’re all living longer. At first this seems like great news, but I remembering once hearing Billy Connelly (v. funny Scotsman) asking what’s the point of having an extra ten years when you’re 80 years old and too knackered to do anything? Why can’t we have those extra years when we’re 20 and full of life? So one thing we’re trying to do is find ways of preventing sight loss in old age, which is when it becomes a real problem for a lot of people. The most common problem is that people lose their central vision, which stops them reading and driving. If we can help prevent that then we can go some way towards making those late years more fun.

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      hi ruby thanks for your question!
      How do my results help society?? is that the question you’re asking? If not please comment on this Q, and i’ll answer your real question!
      Well i am testing some small rockets, that can be used to propel tiny spacecraft. This will allow these small spacecraft to many more different things in space, as you can tell them to point in a certain direction using these thrusters. This things can be imaging the earth from orbit, searching for climate change signs, and much more! So although my research doesn’t directly improve society, there will hopefully be something positive from it eventually!

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      I’m trying to improve my works results in order to find new ways of treating terrible diseases such as Alzheimer’s and depression. You are right, the needs of society are constantly changing, and although the major goal of science is to find out how our world works, it’s also vital to keep in mind that we must be current and relevant to the needs of society as a whole, ultimately these are the people we serve.

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