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The ethics of geoengineering – comments welcome
Should we encourage or avoid large scale environmental manipulation, for example in order to reduce climate change? Measures such as carbon dioxide capture or ocean iron fertilisation have the...
View ArticleWould the End of the World really be so Bad?
As always, we sentient beings on earth are at risk of being wiped out by some global catastrophe. Some of the risks – diseases or meteorites – are old; others – nuclear weapons or global warming – are...
View ArticleFerretting out fearsome flu: should we make pandemic bird flu viruses?
Scientists have made a new strain of bird flu that most likely could spread between humans, triggering a pandemic if it were released. A misguided project, or a good idea? How should we handle dual use...
View ArticleExperimenting with oversight with more bite?
It was probably hard for the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) to avoid getting plenty of coal in its Christmas stockings this year, sent from various parties who felt NSABB...
View ArticleH5N1: Why Open the Stable Door?
Professor Paul Keim, who chairs the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, recently recommended the censoring of research that described the mutations which led to the transformation of...
View ArticleASSASSINATING CITIZENS: How not to fight terror
By Brian Earp See Brian’s most recent previous post by clicking here. See all of Brian’s previous posts by clicking here. In this ‘hour’ of danger: Civil liberties and the eternal threat of terror...
View ArticlePersonalised weapons of mass destruction: governments and strategic emerging...
Andrew Hessel, Marc Goodman and Steven Kotler sketches in an article in The Atlantic a not-too-far future when the combination of cheap bioengineering, synthetic biology and crowdsourcing of problem...
View ArticleEnlightened surveillance?
New York City contemplates using aerial drones for surveillance purposes, while North Korea buys thousands of cameras to spy on its impoverished population. Britain has so many cameras they cease being...
View ArticleIn defense of the double standard for chemical weapons
As the US and other nations gear up for war in Syria, the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against civilians has received great, perhaps inordinate attention. A little over a year...
View ArticleEthics of Ebola and Potentially Life-Saving Experimental Treatment
Summary: Patients potentially infected with Ebola have the right to experimental treatment outside of randomised controlled trials. Consent should be sought while they are competent if it is...
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