Matt James offers some thoughts and reflections on a new TV series which promises to introduce us to new developments in science and technology and get us thinking about the future.
Billed as a “glimpse of the future”, Brave New World with Stephen Hawkingis a new Channel 4 series on Monday evenings and aims to showcase the latest in science, technology and innovation.
Environment
Due to an unexpected change to the C4 schedule, BNW took a brief leave of absence for a week and returned with the fourth episode in this five part series. This genre of TV programme can often frame the advances in science and technology it seeks to showcase with such a futuristic slant that it can appear to have no immediate link with the situations and questions we face today and can appear self indulgent. However this week’s episode of BNW helps to recast our perspective by getting us to think about how new advances in science and technology can help us with some of the pressing problems we face today in terms of the environment in which we live and share with other species.
David Attenborough visits Longleat and helps to collect the DNA of an elephant as part of the Frozen Ark project. This genetic biobank has been set up to help save the entire world’s species from extinction by building up a comprehensive bank of genetic material. Whilst the practical and systematic method by which the bank is being formed is commendable, as Attenborough points out, given the rate at which extinction of many species is taking place, the urgency of the matter cannot be underestimated.
Perhaps the more novel features of the programme are covered by Mark Evans who visits Maastricht University and examines the work of one scientist who is growing pork in a petri dish. With an ever growing number of people on the face of the planet which is in turn leading to pressure on land availability for grazing animals, food shortage is becoming a serious matter. It is quite incredible to see what the work to date has achieved by creating muscle fibres through a delicate combination of cells, collagen and Velcro! Yet one key problems remains: it does not taste like meat yet. Consequently there is much more work to be done if this can be taken as a feasible way of feeding people, particularly as it is an incredible expensive procedure. However the work has attracted sufficient attention and support that next year plans are being made to create a burger worth 250,000 EUR which the scientist says he is ‘reasonably confident’ of achieving.
Turning from food to energy and the environment, one issue which can be guaranteed to be upper most in our minds when you think about these issues is fuel consumption and in particular fossil fuels. Jim Al–Khalili visits the National Ignition Center in the USA where they are making steady progress in following the sun’s method of creating energy: nuclear fusion (atomic nuclei fused together as opposed to being split) as a potential answer to our energy needs.
Keeping with the environmental theme, one of the more devastating risks associated with our consumption of fossil fuels can be oil spills. Surfactants, chemicals which act as detergents and dispersants, are often used in order to help clean up after catastrophic instances but at the same time can have equally detrimental effects on the ecosystem. With this in mind, Al–Khalili visits scientists in Louisiana who believe they have found a natural microbe who would do this same job but cause less damage to the environment.
Humans and the environment
Whilst watching this episode one key point kept coming to mind which was voiced by David Attenborough at the beginning of the programme. Quoting various statistics about species extinction he mentioned that there has been no other time in our history where one species has been responsible for the extinction of so many others. This resonates with the sentiments and comments of others including that of Dr. George L. Small, who wrote in his book, The Blue Whale, “What is the nature of a species that knowingly and without good reason exterminates another?”.
As Prof Winston reminded us earlier on in the series our inquisitive, questioning nature sets our species aside from others and acts as one of the drivers behind the discoveries and advances that we as a human race have witnessed in the fields of science and technology. We are programmed to ask questions, it is part of our nature.
But what is also revealing is the manner in which we then go about answering these questions and the impact our decisions and application of science and technology has on the biosphere and other species. In order to do more than we could without it, does our use of science and technology actually have a detrimental effect on the environment and biodiversity?
Consider the following statistics and facts. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity review (TEEB, 2008) stated that in region of £40bn–worth of damage is made to land ecosystems each year. “Urgent remedial action is essential because species loss and ecosystem degradation are inextricably linked to human well–being,” said the TEEB report’s author Pavan Sukhdev. Furthermore, 50% of synthetic drugs have a natural origin. On the global scale, forestry provides 60 million work years of employment, 80% in the developing world . Some estimates propose that up to 30% of species will be extinct by 2050[1]. In addition when you consider issues such as deforestation and desertification to name but a few, our relationship with the environment clearly needs to be reconsidered as it strongly promotes independence over interdependency with the natural world around us.
A term coined in the 1980s, biodiversity refers to the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem. More often than not the term has been misused and misunderstood but is recognised at four levels: ecosystem, genetics, molecular, species. It is agreed that this loss in biodiversity is Man–made and is likely to lead to massive problems for humankind in the future.
Not only is this increasingly recognised at a popular level but also at the level of international governance as well. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) mentions in its preamble that it is “Conscious of the intrinsic value of biological diversity and of the ecological, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic values of biological diversity”. Furthermore it goes on to say in article (1) that:
The objectives of this Convention, to be pursued in accordance with its relevant provisions, are the conservation of biological diversity. the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding.
As I watched this episode of BNW I recalled recent environment disasters such as Deepwater Horizon and Fukushima nuclear plant. I was challenged afresh to consider the environmental dimension of our ethical framework which is perhaps not given as much thought as it should and would serve us well to consider as we enter the brave new world. In assessing and appraising new emerging technologies we need to think about the following:
a) Long term strategic thinking in terms of the implications for human welfare as well as and perhaps more importantly than the short term ‘economic’ gains.
b) Spark fresh thinking and debate on the human alternatives to the dominant and prevailing consumerist desire that seems to permeate our western culture.
c) Long term consideration of the impact that our decisions today will have on tomorrow including future generations and the finely tuned interdependent relationship we have with all living things.
d) Developing an alternative to the typical dualist approach to the environment which runs contrary to this interdependency approach, which prefers to perceive nature and the environment as something ‘out there’ for us to do with it what we wish with no consideration of the implications.
Like never before, the challenge of the Brave New World seems to be either one of making brave new decisions now or living bravely in the future with the consequences of poor decisions made today.
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The fifth and final episode of Brave New World airs next week – Monday 21st November– at 8pm, Channel 4 and focuses on the topic of biology.
As the series progresses Matt is intending to write a short comment and set of reflections on each of the programmes which will be available online on BioCentre’s website and mailing list.
[1] I am grateful to Dr. David Plackett for this data.
