Since the last decade, wearable technology moved from developers’ drawing boards to stores, with barely a whisper of disquiet about data privacy. Yet, the implications for data privacy should not be underestimated. There is growing interest in the potential of wearables to mitigate, treat or prevent chronic conditions which put a strain on health economies–ranging from chronic back pain or physical stress injuries to mental health issues like work-related stress. EuroScientist investigates how the latest regulatory framework could secure people’s privacy as they strive to prevent chronic conditions through wearable technology. Read more […]
Public databases of the toxic effects of chemicals that have been registered under the REACH directive have been sitting idle for too long. In an opinion piece, Thomas Hartung explains how the development of software by his team at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, at Johns Hopkins University, USA, helps make sense of the large volume of chemical database content. Now that they made such data machine readable, expectations are that it will soon be possible to provide open access to such public database. Ultimately, this could substantially decrease the number of animal tests. Indeed, the database makes it possible to do so-called read-across, allowing to infer toxicity of heaps of untested chemicals from existing data on chemicals of similar structure, which have already been tested. Read more […]
This year we celebrate the 10th annoversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. We now observe new issues arising that no-one could have ever anticipated 10 years ago, which are currently not dealt with by the Convention. The potential for rehabilitation of persons with disabilities is such that now we can enhance our capabilities beyond those of people without disabilities. Read more […]
The movement to promote open-access to information published in journals is now well established. However, much of the information we present at conferences is either missed or fails to reach the wider community. Conferences are traditionally closed affairs, limited by time and location, despite recent efforts to stream some of the keynote speeches on the internet. Yet, at large events vast amounts of information are presented through oral papers and posters. However, this communication is mainly linear and the interactive engagement of delegates is proportionally minimal. Read more […]
To date, most toxicology tests have not been validated but they are still mandated by regulatory agencies. The question is to find suitable ways of modernising toxicology testing in the 21st century in a structured, consistent, transparent way. In this article, Thomas Hartung, Founder Evidence-Based Toxicology Collaboration (EBTC), at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and colleagues, examine what remains to be done to address the mounting pressure exerted on industries and food and drug regulators worldwide to bring their decision-making process up-to-date with modern science. This calls for the use of a rigorous appraisal of the value of past studies under the umbrella of what has been dubbed evidence-based medicine (EBM), to be adapted in toxicology, to guarantee the safety of drug and consumer products. Read more […]
The case of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving
The global pact between science and society in the 21st century is much different than it was in the middle of the last century. Back then, science enjoyed access for decades to research funding in Read more […]
Science may be opening up, but there are still areas that researchers would like to see remain private. Indeed, under the auspices of open science, scientists are increasingly expected to present a virtual projection of who they are. Appearance has gained an unprecedented level of importance. Scientists who do not play along open themselves to being mistreated or misunderstood. Living in a world of social media network means that scientists’ every utterance is recorded, dissected and analysed. Unfortunately, researchers have come to this game unprepared and without the type of training that politicians typically benefit from. Nobel Laureate Tim Hunt has had a bitter experience in this new era. Read more […]
What is unique about research in the era of Science 2.0? For one, it opens up important new methods of discovery. But the potential gains offered by technology can only be fully realised if research becomes open. This requires scientists to share more than ever before. And this calls for a system where all contributions, down to the most minute, are given proper credit. Welcome to the era of the fourth paradigm of research! Read more […]
One day, we can imagine that science will truly be open. Before we reach that stage, however, a number of issues have to be tackled. Particularly, when it comes to transparency, more suitable evaluation giving adequate credit for researchers involved in contributing to all aspects of the scientific process, most of which were unaccounted for until now, and optimum use of the availability of very large sets of data. Ultimately, life as a scientist in the era of web 2.0 is bound to change beyond recognition. Read more […]
Scholarly publishing is moving towards increased openness and transparency. Yet, scientists face many choices when publishing their work in academic journals—particularly with the rise of mega-journals—and this is changing the dynamic of the ‘publish or perish’ game. In fact, the recent developments make it easier for researchers to publish all their work with wider reach and improved lifespan, so that the science community make optimal use of all findings. This ultimately will only increase an article’s overall impact. Read more […]
Latin America is a land of many opportunities. Particularly, in the field of publishing as open access encompass 25% of the research published there. This is due to the remarkable work of SciELO, which has provided a methodology and technological platform to make it possible for national open access journals to be federated across the region. Besides, it has contributed to make that research more easily discoverable via the likes of Google Scholar. Abel Packer tells the story of SciELO and his refreshing Latin American perspective of the world of publishing and his initiative contributes to further developing Open Science. Read more […]
Crowdfunding is on the rise. And experience shows that it may not coexist independently of more traditional funding mechanism. Rather, crowdfunding could soon be one more feature among the many combinations of funding sources sought to do research. But there is plenty of details to iron out before scientists can make the most of crowdfunding. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
