In Europe obstetricians advise women to start taking folic acid (AKA vitamin B9) at least two months before trying to get pregnant. Isn't the same advice given in America?
Well I don't know about you guys, but in America the father is typically a male.
why oh why are scientists wasting time on this? one step at at time, for now figure out how to cure cancer before worrying about the big picture. you must unzip your pants before worrying about how much piss comes out
Really???? If all "scientists" thought like that then we wouldn't be in a position to even KNOW what *cancer* is. We'd be stuck on a problem prior to that hundreds of years ago.
Science is all about looking far and wide for answers. Sometimes things are immediately applicable to your specific problem/condition/annoyance/life, but sometimes they aren't.
Applied science / engineering is more about solutions to your specific problem. Perhaps you can go ask the bio-medical engineers to hurry it up, but leave the scientists alone!
So you are asking me if we should halt all technological development related to 3D-printing because you fear that you could potentially print viruses?
History is laden with people whose hindsight on future technological trajectories was later laughed at. Consider Lord Kelvin who said:
"I can state flatly that heavier than air flying machines are impossible."
To directly answer your question: No, I think engineers have a moral obligation to invent and better the world not though aiding the restriction of technology but perfecting it, or if need be, inventing a new technology that makes the old "bad" one obsolete.
Legislating policy that hinders innovation will do more harm than good, of which will unfortunately only become apparent in hindsight as well.
How about weapons of mass destruction?.
As others have pointed out, the items are merely 'tools' and the application the tool is where the morality lies.
Could you imagine a world where we routinely use nuclear weapons to relieve stresses in the Earth's crust and prevent large earthquakes and their devastating effects? What about stopping large oil spills quickly?
Using a nuclear weapon on an oil spill.
Unfortunately, many helpful adaptations of large scale explosives are not being utilized due to the political implications, but even a 'weapon of mass destruction' can be a useful tool to save lives (and money).
I try to get my family to stop using gmail, and instead use a local mail program which they can then use for end to end encryption, private non-cloud storage of their old emails, etc, but they don't want to bother.
People have always been like this as long as civilization has been around. Some people fully understand a technology and take the details of it into their own hands, while others are more comfortable with someone else providing the expertise. Take your argument above and say:
I try to get my family to stop using [the local mechanic], and instead use a [wrench from the garage] which they can then use for end to end [repair of their car, maintenance of essential parts, and general peace of mind for their family members that ride in the vehicle], but they don't want to bother.
While this type of behavior has always been around, but we have yet to have it applied so forcefully to information. Therefore, I think to properly address the problem you have to see that this is not unique to mankind. The unique element, however, is the topic that these people are choosing not to gain deeper understanding of.
A few months ago - when all of this was starting - I read a comment here on Slashdot about how the only thing holding back this sort of NSA spying over the last two hundred years is technology - not the Constitution. We are now only at a point that technology is beginning to no longer be the barrier to this type of activity, and we will have to see how these enabling technologies apply to the Constitution. Viewing the problem from it's root cause (not a unique case of people being "lazy") is the first step in the right direction.
I can't speak for all demographics, but as a 25-year-old, a large amount of people in my age group across different professional disciplines use GTalk throughout the workday. So from my perspective, who isn't using GTalk?
As a graduate TA in the Spring 2013 semester at a [Major American University] who will be teaching a course at a [Large Community College] in the Fall 2013 semester, I can assure you I made more money per course as a graduate TA than I am currently as a community college instructor.
Take that for what it is.... a sample size of '1' isn't helpful, I know.
if it were ever damaged and the nuclear material released, it would create a cloud of hazardous radioactive shit raining down over a wide area
If you are a military agency, your goal would be theft of the radioactive material. The nuclear weapons-grade material Plutonium is an artificial material and cannot be found anywhere on Earth. You either have to make it yourself in a reactor or steal it from someone else.
A cloud of radioactive waste is just ridiculous, because even if that were the goal, it wouldn't do anything because the site is in the middle of nowhere...
has a shitty operating system
I don't need to use it to know that it isn't a OS made for me.
Ah O.K., that's more civil and fair of you to say.
I've been using GNU/Linux exclusively
no curiosity or interest in using latest version of Windows.
Where do you work?? Asking for a friend...
If the surface or Windows RT were such great devices, then explain me the ridiculously low sales?
Are we talking about the device or the operating system? The device never had a market at its initial price point.
Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. -- Frank Hubbard
