SPECIAL FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine conflict impacts on science and diplomacy

Research community

> Global research community condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine // 01.03.2022, Nature

> Scientists in the line of fire (editorial) // 04.03.2022, Science

> War in Ukraine poses stark choices for scientists // 04.03.2022, Science

> Ukrainian physicists call for Russia’s ouster from CERN // 04.03.2022, Science

> Journal editor explains ban on manuscripts from Russian institutions // 04.03.2022, Retraction Watch

> Communiqué from the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) on the current situation in Ukraine // March 2022, IAP

> Open letter of Russian scientists and science journalists against the war with Ukraine // 26.02.2022, Trv-Science.ru

> #ScienceForUkraine: rencontre avec la chercheuse lettone qui veut mobiliser les universités // 28.02.2022, Heidi.news
 

International and institutional agreements

> What future is there for Russia’s foreign science collaborations? // 05.03.2022, The Economist

> The science world should keep talking to Russia (opinion) // 02.03.2022, Science|Business
As a former EU diplomat, James Moran believes that cutting Russians out of European scientific collaboration entirely will make change even harder

> Head of Ukraine’s research agency calls for international help // 28.02.2022, Science|Business

> Europe divided on whether to isolate Russia scientifically // 01.03.2022, Science|Business

> EU suspends research payments to Russian partners // 02.03.2022, Science|Business

> German academics told ‘not to cut ties’ with Russian counterparts // 03.03.2022, Science|Business

> Le CNRS suspend toutes nouvelles formes de collaborations scientifiques avec la Russie // 02.03.2022, CNRS

> La science n’avait pas de frontières… jusqu’à aujourd’hui // 03.03.2022, Le Temps
 

Polar science and diplomacy

> Arctic Council “in pause mode” as seven of eight member states condemn war // 03.03.2022, The Barents Observer
None of the other member states will travel to Russia for meetings in the Arctic Council, which for the current two-year period is chaired by Moscow.

> Ukraine asked for donations in crypto. Then things got weird // 03.03.2022, The Washington Post

> ‘It looks like Iron Curtain 2.’ Arctic research with Russia curtailed after Ukraine invasion // 04.03.2022, Science

> How Russia’s future with NATO will impact the Arctic // March 2022, Foreign Policy
Three critical ways the crisis in Ukraine will determine the region’s future.

> These Ukrainians are stuck in Antarctica as war rages at home // 07.03.2022, WIRED

Space sciences and policy

> Russia cancels joint experiments on the ISS with Germany in response to sanctions // 03.03.2022, The Independent
Related article: German Space Agency DLR terminates bi­lat­er­al co­op­er­a­tion with Rus­sia // 04.03.2022, SpaceWatch.Global

> Space ‘order of battle’ a top priority in U.S. defense budget and strategy // 03.03.2022, SpaceNews

 

Digital science and technologies

> Why ICANN won’t revoke Russian internet domains // 05.03.2022, WIRED
The organization says cutting the country off would have “devastating” effects on the global internet system.

> U.S. vs Russia for the future of the internet // 03.03.2022, Axios

> Stéphane Duguin: «Le pire est à craindre de la part des pirates russes» // 06.03.2022, Le Temps

> Ukraine: Timeline of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and civilian objects // 04.03.2022, CyberPeace Institute
Against the backdrop of the military invasion of Ukraine, the CyberPeace Institute is tracking how cyberattacks and operations are, and have been, targeting critical infrastructure and civilian objects. The tracking of cyberattacks and incidents as they become public is important in order to record these attacks and identify – where possible – the harm and risks for civilian populations.

Energy

Geopolitics

> In one week of war, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have veered history in a new direction // 02.03.2022, The Washington Post

> The war in Ukraine could change everything: interview with Yuval Noah Harari // March 2022, TED

SPECIAL FOCUS: GESDA reconducted

> Science diplomacy: Swiss Federal Council continues to support GESDA Foundation after successful pilot phase // 04.03.2022, admin.ch/Swiss Federal Council
At its meeting on 4 March 2022, the Federal Council decided to extend the mandate of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) Foundation by ten years and to maintain its financial support for the Foundation. After a three-year pilot phase, the Foundation has carved out its profile in International Geneva as an important global governance player. GESDA identifies trends in science and technology, evaluates their impact on and potential for people, society and the planet, and reinforces Geneva as a vector enabling exchange among all actors of the international community.

Detailed information on GESDA’s website.

FOCUS 3

> How artificial intelligence can help us figure out how life began // 02.03.2022, New Scientist
How did Earth turn from a sterile ball of rock into a lush, green world of living things? This question of how life got started is one of the hardest of them all. Still, we are inching closer to answering it. Several scientists have created things that approximate life. Late last year, a team led by Josh Bongard at the University of Vermont reprogrammed frog skin cells into “xenobots“. These groups of cells can swim and reproduce, working together to corral loose cells into new versions of themselves. But if you drill right down to the heart of this question, you reach a bedrock of chemistry. How did a selection of inanimate molecules start joining together and replicating themselves? There are billions of ways this could have happened. Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow, UK, is employing robots to hunt through vast swathes of chemical space to see if any self-replicating systems emerge. Cronin thinks this automated strategy could overcome the biggest hurdle facing chemists in this field: “To remove the bias from the experimenter and see how evolutionary principles manifest in simple chemistry.”

Related article: The uncanny valley of xenobots // 25.02.2022, Nautilus

FOCUS 4

> Data Altruisme : une initiative européenne. Les données aus service de l’intérêt général (rapport) // March 2022, Human Technology Foundation
Le data altruisme est, en l’état, un concept encore plastique et désincarné. L’ambition du présent rapport est de permettre de participer à sa définition, d’en mieux saisir les contours, mais aussi de mettre en avant les opportunités et les limites inhérentes à ce nouvel outil. Il propose des possibilités réglementaires et d’actions pratiques de ce que la notion de data altruisme peut apporter à un partage et une exploitation éthique des données. Le rapport comprend une analyse des modes de partage de données actuels et inspirants en vue de l’élaboration de modèles data altruistes. Des recommandations sont ainsi détaillées pour permettre la mise en œuvre et le développement de ces modèles et d’en assurer véritablement le caractère altruiste.

FOCUS 5

> Nine recommendations for the governance of AI systems // 28.02.2022, International Risk Governance Center
Some governance functions traditionally performed by humans are increasingly informed and sometimes automatically executed by machine learning algorithms (governance by machine learning) to benefit society. Therefore, it is necessary to think also about the governance, or regulation, of digital technologies. This is the path that the EU has taken in a sequence of policy initiatives, with important milestones including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the proposal for a legal framework on AI. The context is marked by a desire to stimulate innovation while recognising that the digitalisation of society comes with risks that must be attended to. 

Related article: Europe is in danger of using the wrong definition of AI // 02.03.2022, WIRED
Some intelligent systems are at risk of being excluded from oversight in the EU's proposed legislation. This is bad for both businesses and citizens.

FOCUS 6

> Better cities // March 2022, Horizons (Swiss National Science Foundation)
A ten-minute walk from home to the office or to the supermarket. This is life in the ideal city. How can we achieve this goal and why urban centres also develop in the countryside.

FOCUS 7

> Spurred by pandemic, U.S. government will revisit federal policies on risky virus research // 01.03.2022, Science
Advisory panel asked to examine whether definition of certain gain-of-function studies should be expanded.

FOCUS 8

> Knowing your true age requires more than a swab and calendar // 02.03.2022, Psyche

GOOD READS ABOUT GESDA'S PLATFORMS THEMES

Platform 1: Quantum Revolution & Advanced AI

Quantum and physics 

> NATO Cyber Security Centre reports success on post-quantum cybersecurity test // 02.03.2022, The Quantum Insider

> Quantum sensor could detect SARS-CoV-2 // 26.02.2022, Physics World

Artificial intelligence and robots 

> Web3 threatens to segregate our online lives // 01.03.2022, WIRED

> Why we built a neuromorphic robot to play foosball // 27.02.2022, IEEE Spectrum

> Yann LeCun: AI doesn​’t need our supervision  // 22.02.2022, IEEE Spectrum
Meta’s AI chief says self-supervised learning can build the metaverse and maybe even human-level AI.

> Lawmakers express "extreme concern" over border robot dog plan // 01.03.2022, Axios

> I am still not convinced that we need androids // 02.03.2022, IEEE Spectrum 
Robots that play active roles in our lives don’t need to look like us.

Platform 2: Human Augmentation

Genomics  

> CRISPR’s Nobel Prize winners defeated in key patent claim for genome editor // 01.03.2022, Science
U.S. patent office ruling upholds Broad Institute claim its scientist first showed editing of cells that are key for developing therapies.

> Genetic databases are too white. Here’s what it’ll take to fix it // 01.03.2022, WIRED

> Genes stolen from marine organisms may help us digest seaweed // 01.03.2022, Science

Longevity and health

> The Human Organ Atlas: a ‘Google Earth’ for our bodies // 02.03.2022, Physics World

> Functional, metabolic and transcriptional maturation of human pancreatic islets derived from stem cells // 03.03.2022, Nature Biotechnology

> Organoids reveal the tipping point when kidney damage turns irreversible // 02.03.2022, STAT

> Glitchy protein production may hasten aging // 02.03.2022, Science

> Robotic pill can orally deliver large doses of biologic drugs // 02.03.2022, NIH

> Waiting for the unicorns of sh*t // 03.03.2022, NEO.LIFE
Microbiome research has huge implications for the very sick. But can startups get healthy people in on the action?

Neurosciences

> Researchers uncover how the human brain separates, stores, and retrieves memories // 07.03.2022, NIH

> A gut-derived metabolite alters brain activity and anxiety behaviour in mice // 14.02.2022, Nature

> Scientists watch a memory form in a living brain // 03.03.2022, Quanta Magazine

> A data-driven approach to understanding how the brain works // 24.02.2022, HAI Stanford University

Platform 3: Eco-regeneration & Geoengineering

Resources

> Amsterdam plans the Netherlands’ first modern-day wooden neighborhood // 28.02.2022, Bloomberg

> Food protectionism is spreading as Hungary bans grain exports // 05.03.2022, The Economic Times

> Soil microbiota as game-changers in restoration of degraded lands // 04.03.2022, Science

Energy

> The shipping giant banking on a greener fuel // 04.03.2022, BBC News

> Artificial leaves: Bionic photosynthesis as good as the real thing // 02.03.2022, New Scientist

Biotechnologies

> New DNA computer assesses water quality // 02.03.2022, NSF

> Breeding future crops to feed the world through de novo domestication // 04.03.2022, Nature Communications

> Sustainable manufacturing with synthetic biology // 21.02.2022, Nature Biotechnology

Space

> Trademarks in outer space: supporting the off-world economy // December 2021, WIPO Magazine

> Unmanned spacecraft which gets oxygen from moon rocks could lead to 'lunar village' // 27.02.2022, Mirror

> NASA descends into chaos as Moon program revealed to be way behind, over budget // 01.03.2022, Futurism

Climate and environment

> Can the world meet global climate targets without coordinated global action? // 01.03.2022, MIT News

> G20’s US$14-trillion economic stimulus reneges on emissions pledges // 02.03.2022, Nature
Analysis of pandemic economic recovery packages from the 20 largest economies reveals that governments are not spending on emissions cuts despite promises to ‘build back better’.

> Innovation in the future can’t slash emissions now (opinion) // 03.03.2022, Nature

> World leaders agree to draw up ‘historic’ treaty on plastic pollution // 02.03.2022,  Financial Times

Platform 4: Science & Diplomacy

> Could an IPCC for chemicals save us from poisoning the planet? // 04.03.2022, Geneva Solutions

> US Air Force Secretary: We’re worried about Russia but China is a bigger strategic threat // 03.03.2022, SpaceNews

> Seven nations join to release Combined Space Operations Vision 2031 // 23.02.2022, Airforce Technology

GESDA Platform: Knowledge Foundations

> Future evolution: how will humans change in the next 10,000 years? // 03.03.2022, The Conversation

OF INTEREST

> Studying the human body to drive scientific progress // 03.03.2022, EPFL

> These climate scientists are fed up and ready to go on strike // 01.03.2022, The New York Times
Evidence on global warming is piling up. Nations aren’t acting. Some researchers are asking what difference more reports will make.

TOOLS, RESOURCES AND PARTNERS

> Science competitions can help to catapult your science into the real world // 28.02.2022, Nature

>  Wanted: better systems for turning evidence into action // 28.02.2022, Nature

> La neutralité de la Suisse // 04.03.2022, admin.ch
La neutralité est un instrument efficace de la politique étrangère et de sécurité de la Suisse. Elle bénéficie d'un large soutien au sein de la population suisse. La neutralité de la Suisse est assumée et durable. Elle est aussi armée et reconnue à l’international. Dans une nouvelle brochure, le DFAE et le DDPS expliquent la signification de la neutralité de la Suisse et la manière dont elle est mise en œuvre.