• Question: What makes science so amazing to you?

    Asked by anon-188701 to Warren, Shanti, Pizza Ka Yee, Paul, Nadine, Alex on 6 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Alex Reid

      Alex Reid answered on 6 Nov 2018: last edited 7 Nov 2018 3:53 pm

      Without getting too mushy I think science (when it is done ethically) is one of the better angels of human nature. The collaboration between countless people to understand the natural world is both amazing and useful. Scientists across many fields work hard to make the world a better place by focusing our understanding on questions that matter. The outputs are both broad and beneficial to potentially billions of other people. To name just a few things off the top of my head this includes ways to deal with climate change, developing new technology, cures and treatments for diseases and exploring space! Also, one of the best things about science as a process is that it both works and gets better all the time. For all these reasons I find science truly amazing and I would encourage anyone to engage with it 🙂

    • Photo: Paul Matusz

      Paul Matusz answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      I think Alex has provided a fantastic, in-depth answer to this question. We are living in very exciting (curing cancer, dementia, etc.) – but also very dangerous times (global warming, the increase of neo-fascistic movements and governments). I think that by combining science and the scientific method of answering questions, and working with experts from different areas, like doctors, teachers, etc., we can really improve the world we are living in.

    • Photo: Nadine Mirza

      Nadine Mirza answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      Piggy backing on what Alex and Paul have said, it’s just the fact that science has always and continues to find the answers to the world’s greatest mysteries and create solutions for its greatest problems. We live in an age of all sorts of problems which Paul highlighted like incurable diseases , climate change, war and political discord! But this isn’t the first time there have been problems!
      Look at everything science has managed to overcome. Within health alone, diseases that used to wipe populations out, like the Black plague, are now easily treated. When we see things like polio, whopping cough and measles, which used to cause an immense amount of pain, irreversible damage and death, now easily tamed and disappearing from populations again- science! It’s also the methods we have learnt from research eg. transfusions, transplants, technology that has improved quality of life such as those with disabilities, medication for physical and mental health problems.
      Then think about outside of health! The fact that I’m lounging on my sofa right now yet still managing science outreach with you guys right now! That I’m sitting in England but can speak to my parents in Pakistan, my fiance in Australia, my best friends in America and Canada, because of scientific technology. Or all the work going into recycling and producing earth-friendly goods and trying to source renewable energy and healthier food options.
      And science gave us role models such as Alan Turing and Marie Curie, who faced great adversity in their time, but who we can learn so much from.
      Science is basically the framework of our past but also the blueprint for our future! It underlies everything.

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