Angle - Where Policy and Politics meets Science and Engineering

About Angle

Tackling global challenges, one issue at a time. From energy and the environment to economics, development and global health, our expert contributors look at all angles. ANGLE focuses on the intersection of science, policy and politics in an evolving and complex world.

Brought to you from the team at Imperial College's A Global Village.

Forced Displacement

Big data for understanding mass migration trends

Samuel Heroy University College London (UCL), Isabella Loaiza Saa & Alex Pentland Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Recent mobile phone-based technologies can provide new insights into the effects of large-scale migrations as they happen.

The Gathering Storm

Steve Trent Environmental Justice Foundation

A rights-based approach to protecting victims of climate-induced displacement is needed; one which recognises entitlement to assistance and protection, and leverages opportunities for safe and dignified migration.

Research

Removing barriers for displaced academics

Miguel Antonio Lim University of Manchester, Rebecca Murray University of Exeter & Andreina Laera Marie Curie Alumni Association

Researchers displaced due to conflict face a range of barriers when attempting to continue their professional pursuits in the country they have migrated to, removing these barriers is crucial for alleviating suffering and unleashing the potential of academics and students with unique backgrounds and perspectives.

Ending the time of waste

Stephen Matlin Imperial College London, Henning Hopf Technical University of Braunschweig, Alain Krief International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development & Goverdhan Mehta University of Hyderabad

1 November 2019

We are the last generation that can prevent irreparable damage to our planet, let's clean up, catch up and smarten up.

Engineering Life

Nano-bionic life

Joseph J Richardson University of Melbourne & Kang Liang University of New South Wales

Astronauts survive in space by utilizing protective and augmentative suits. Space suits can act as self-contained and self-cleaning environments, that protect and help the astronaut from the harshness of space. Scaling analogous suits down to the nanoscale allows for simple organisms to survive and even thrive in normally toxic environments. These augmented organisms are termed “bionic lifeforms” as they combine the promise of nanomaterials with life.

Opinion

Gene therapy

Alexander Jares Stony Brook University School of Medicine, New York

50 years after it was first proposed, gene therapy - the modification of DNA to treat disease - has gone from science fiction to clinical reality. However, as prices for gene therapies are released, widespread sticker-shock is raising questions about affordability and fair pricing.

The logic of synthetic biology: turning cells into computers

Matthew R. Bennett Rice University

For years scientists have been studying E. coli as historians would an ancient tome. Biologists, biochemists, and geneticists have dissected, poked, and prodded E. coli until it gave up its secrets: the basic principles of cellular life. Synthetic biologists, on the other hand, look at E. coli and think to themselves: “let’s make a computer”.

Taking back control over academic publishing

Denis Bourguet, Thomas Guillemaud & Benoit Facon Institut national de la recherche agronomique

25 June 2019

To break the monopoly of expensive paid journals, we should make use of free journals and free platforms of editorial boards evaluating preprint articles.

PUBLIC HEALTH

An Evolutionary Arms Race

Charlotte Kerr, Laura Higham FAI Farms, Oxford & Øistein Thorsen FAI Farms

Around 700,000 lives are lost worldwide due to antimicrobial-resistant infections every year. Without viable antibiotic treatment options we are likely to return to a relative dark age of medicine – a time when common infections or injuries could kill, and common surgeries and immunosuppressive therapies may become unfeasible.

Latino Kids and Autism. Why Are They Diagnosed So Late?

Ranit Mishori Georgetown University School of Medicine, Jeanine Warisse Turner Georgetown University's Center for Communication, Culture, and Technology (CCT), Alisse Hannaford Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai & Matthew Biel MedStar Georgetown University Medical Center/Georgetown University School of Medicine

Moving the borders into healthcare

Fozia Hamid & Lucy Jones Doctors of the World UK

A political drive in the UK is leading to undermining of access to primary and emergency care for many vulnerable groups despite evidence of potential harm to individual and public health. Bringing little if any economic benefit, the policy to introduce charges for primary care and A&E for visitors and migrants is progressing at pace while critics of the policy are side-lined.

Research

Reading the Path of Antibiotic Decline in Bacterial DNA

Nicola J Fawcett & Louise J Pankhurst University of Oxford

DNA sequencing is an exciting modern technology, that has vastly improved our ability to treat infections. However antibiotic resistance is a growing problem and DNA sequencing is revealing the challenge we face as bacteria are rapidly evolving resistance to antibiotics.

Should we use science fiction to plan a path towards our low-carbon future?

Ajay Gambhir Imperial College London

6 May 2019

How we can create a more ambitious, more radical (and maybe even more optimistic) view of the low-carbon future.

Future of Academic Research

What's next for the 'Lost Generation' of academics?

Sara Ricardo Instituto de Biología Molecular de Barcelona & Gilles Mirambeau Sorbonne Université

The 'lost generation' refers to mid-career researchers that, after completing many temporary positions, find themselves largely excluded from research careers. How do we address this growing issue?

Outnumbered and Surrounded: Women Working in Male Dominated Research Fields

Malin Kylander Stockholm University

What challenges do women in male dominated research areas face and what can we all do to increase the presence of women and other minorities in these fields?

Redefining excellence to overcome geopolitical imbalances in research

Angela Bellia National Research Council of Italy

European research funding is unevenly distributed. The success of the upcoming funding programme Horizon Europe hinges on how well it manages to overcome the geopolitical differences around the continent that have created this inequality. To realize Europe's full research potential, diverse contributions and widening participation must be recognized as an integral part of research excellence.

Opinion

Promoting women in science in Latin America and the Caribbean

Jana Rodriguez Hertz Southern University of Science and Technology

If Maria Emilia is a Latin American scientist, half of her colleagues are probably also women, but her chance of being admitted to the National Academy or National Agency is much lower than for her male colleagues. What are the main challanges women in science face in Latin America and the Caribbean? And what policies would (or should) support them?

Towards a sustainable transport system

Pavlo Bazilinskyy TU Delft, Claudio Beretta ETH Zurich & Roberto Merino-Martinez TU Delft

15 October 2018

Transport accounts for a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions and remains one of few sectors where emissions are still growing. A key challenge is determining the relative importance of pursuing a technological or a sociological solution: should we change transportation or the behaviour of people?

European Relations

Opinion

The New EU

Eoin Gahan

The new EU27 must look beyond itself and focus on relevant global challenges, which are greater than internal difficulties.

Brexit: the UK in the departure lounge

Eoin Gahan

If Brexit happens, the UK will not be in a strong position to face global challenges. Lagging in trade openness and innovation, and facing a divergent regulatory environment and declining foreign investment, the UK will struggle to re-negotiate trade deals with global partners. Conversely, as the influence of the EU moves east, increased political coherence could benefit the Euro and EU financial sector.

Opinion

European Trade and Investment

Eoin Gahan

The rules no longer apply. The biggest challenge facing the new EU is the growing threat to the international economic order. From banking to free movement of people and goods to international law and trade, bilateral alliances and unilateral moves have undermined existing structures. As Brexit heats up, a new 2-part series from trade expert Eoin Gahan will explore its trade and investment prospects.

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