Editorial – Pugwash : Physicists, nuclear weapons and scientists’ responsibility
Born during the Cold War, the Pugwash movement gathers physicists who promote the peaceful use of science.
Many scientists were shocked by what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, even among those who had supported or taken part in the Manhattan project. In 1955 Einstein teamed with mathematician and Nobel Prize laureate in Literature Bertrand Russell to sign and promote a manifesto encouraging scientists to work for a peaceful use of science and attach more importance to the survival of the human species rather than political beliefs: …
Editorial: The responsibility of scientists in the economic crisis
Science is extremely rewarding for its players. We undertake our careers pushed by curiosity and the need for understanding, and we have the possibility of being at the forefront of human knowledge in a specific area. We are revealing pieces of the unknown, we see our achievements become useful technology, our ideas made reality, that save lives, bridge the world. This year we have seen the first evidence of a particle that has never been measured before, thanks to the huge amount of data collected by LHC experiments, and this event has resonated around the world as an accomplishment for all humankind. And we have seen the first treatment of a cancer patient with carbon ions…
