Science vs ... Not Science Archives - The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University

Media censorship is always a contentious issue, but recently, the battleground has moved to scientific research.

According to an Economist article, “Influenza and its Complications,” the U.S’s National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) asked the world’s two leading scientific journals, Science and Nature, to censor research on the H5N1 flu virus.

Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre, in Rotterdam, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been working on a strain of the avian flu that can be transmitted person-to-person and were on the verge of publishing their results. Fearing that the details of their work may be used as a bioterrorism blueprint, the NSABB asked for a moratorium on the publication of this work.

Continue reading “Bioterrorism 1, U.S Censorship 0?”

A proposed bill in Romania states that licensed witches could end up in jail if their predictions turned out to be false.

I know, curses!

But wait a second, what? If you have time, read through this super short report and after you’re done fretting over how the Romanian government officials are going to fight off the spells that are currently being placed on them, let’s take a second and think about this.

And yes, Professor Trelawney would be totally done for.

But, should this law also apply to weatherman? Sports announcers? Advisors? Marketing consultants? Why or why not?

Should a sports announcer be punished if her projections of the game outcome didn’t come true? Should a weatherman go to jail if his predictions turned out to be false? Or if a consultant’s advice turned out to be useless?

Continue reading “Witches in Jail”