The UK’s Royal Society celebrated its 350th anniversary a few days ago on November 30th. The anniversary year has been celebrated in spectacular fashion over the last 12 months, with hundreds of lectures, exhibitions, discussions and outings over the whole of the UK.
The celebrations came to a finale on Tuesday with the publication of Science Sees Further, a new report looking at 12 of the most exciting and challenging issues facing science and the world today.
The 12 chapters include extra-terrestrial life, biodiversity, the aging process, green house gases, new vaccines and uncertainty in science.
The Royal Society has also carried out a poll of the British public in connection with this report, to find out their opinions these matters, and their view of what science should be focusing on.
Apparently nearly half of Brits believe in aliens, and over a third thinks scientists should be out looking for them. However people are not so keen on funding space exploration – fewer than one in 10 think this should be a top priority.
Two thirds think disease control and eradication should be a top priority and nearly 80% thought scientists should be looking for a vaccine for cancer.
And 53 percent said they would like science to help them extend their lifespan.
”There can be no better way to celebrate the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary than to look to the future of science, built on the foundations of today’s cutting-edge research,” said Martin Rees, the outgoing president of the Royal Society.
The new president Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse has just started in his post (1st December).
// Esther Crooks
