Fracking: a technological innovation too far?

Provisionally 30 September

James Woudhuysen, Joanne Green and others will help introduce a discussion on the ethics of fracking and a second dash for gas

Although the UK government has been mindful of the looming energy crisis for the last decade, it has responded like rabbits caught in the headlights. Finally, there is some political will to start resolving the matter with more than a few solar panels or wind turbines on the roof. In the 2012 budget, George Osborne approved the construction of new gas-fired power stations, and established the Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil, to join up responsibilities across government and provide a single point of contact for investors and streamline the regulatory process for deploying technologies like fracking.

Alongside the introduction of some more developed techniques to extract gas and oil from previously hard to mine sources, fracking is the latest of these technologies to pose a serious option for governments and industry to invest serious levels of resources into. This isn't a technique without its critics though, and the political climate set against high-tech solutions hasn't gone away, even though the wind has been taken out of its mills recently. So how much of a change has there been in the climate of political opinion in this second dash for gas?

Discrimination in music: can science really help?

Monday 28 October 2013, 7:00pm start

Why do we value art? For Hegel, its value was as an expression of truth, beauty and the sensuousness of the human spirit. But any aesthetic definition, based on a conception of artistic excellence, raises the further question of what artistic excellence is. Is it possible to apply more objective measures of value to the arts? This question bears down on institutions looking to justify why they should be valued by society and consequently funded, through whatever means. Some instrumentalist approaches try to define the value of the arts in terms of their ability to deliver real world outcomes like making you happier, healthier or a better citizen. There are many problems with this, however, including the fact that art can make you sad as well as happy (or leave you cold for that matter), and that more direct methods such as a better diet may be much more successful in achieving the desired outcomes.

The ethics of biomedical enhancements

May 2013, 7:00pm start

The speakers will help introduce a discussion on the ethics of medical experimetation

A dog or your child?... A dog and your child.
What role does animal testing play in the 21st century?

The requirement that animals be used in research and testing in order to protect humans was formalized in the Nuremberg Code and introduced into subsequent national and international laws, codes, and declarations in August 1947. But even before then, the issues surrounding the use of animals in medical research have always been highly controversial and emotively charged. Some scientists believe that the use of animals in medical research is essential due to their ability to test new drugs and research upon the whole biological system, which is irreplaceable.