Science and Technology Innovation Program
Events
Geoengineering for Decision Makers
Geoengineering invloves large-scale and deliberate techniques or interventions used in combination with civil engineering to affect the earth's climate, oceans, soils, and living systems, specifically to counteract global warming. This 2011 report from the Science and Technology Innovation Program reviews the challenges of geoengineering governance and argues for giving much greater attention to upstream governance strategies. Ten concerns about geoengineering are outlined including the potential for unintended consequences, the potential for ineffectiveness, the risk of sudden catastrophic warning and equity issues, among others.
New Life, Old Bottles
In New Life, Old Bottles: Regulating First-Generation Products of Synthetic Biology, Michael Rodemeyer examines the benefits and drawbacks of using the existing U.S. regulatory framework for biotechnology to cover the new products and processes enabled by synthetic biology. The safety of early applications of synthetic biology may be adequately addressed by the existing regulatory framework for biotechnology, especially in contained laboratories and manufacturing facilities, according to the report. But further advances in this emerging field are likely to create significant challenges for U.S. government oversight.
Nanotechnology and Public Attitudes
A new study released by the Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, a project created in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts, reveals that while Americans welcome new potential life-saving and -enhancing applications promised by nanotechnology, they voice concern over its potential long-term human health and environmental effects and the ability of government and the private sectors to manage such risks.
Can Gaming Address Serious Issues?
Games are a great way to explore policy options because they allow the player to see both intended and unintended consequences of decisions, said Diane Tucker who directs the Center’s Serious Games Initiative. Tucker described important updates coming this fall with the Election Edition of the serious game Budget Hero.
Why We Need a Corporation for Public Gaming
April 2006 - In this article, David Rejeski argues that computer and video games are the new mass media and the time has come to apply these technologies for the public good, as we have done with radio and television.
Gaming Our Way to a Better Future
As today’s policy challenges become more complex, it has become clear that American media — online news, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines— are not up to the task of explaining the problems underlying them or providing
citizens with all the information they need to engage in public conversations about them. Democracy cannot function properly without those conversations. But one new medium - videogames — may well fill the gap.
What We Know and What We Might Know About the Brain
Dr. Jordan Grafman, Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Grafman talks about how discoveries in cognitive neuroscience may change our understanding of memory, addiction, and attention deficit disorder. He discusses how and why we need to better prepare for the ethical and social implications of these advances. Learn more about Dr. Grafman's work at: http://intra.ninds.nih.gov/Lab.asp?Org_ID=83 The ideas presented here do not represent the official view of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Deparment of Health and Human Services, or the U.S. Government.
