Universities are traditionally organized as discipline-based departments: physics, chemistry, biology, etc. Looking forward, some long-sighted universities have already noticed the trend that science is becoming increasingly interdiciplinary. Bioinformatics is a great example: mixing computer science, biology and statistics. Stanford, Harvard and Arizona State are pioneering to set up interdisciplinary centres, based not on discipline, but on a clear societal goal. It actually paints an encouraging picture of unity: a team of physicists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists and economists actively engaged in issues that concern all of us: poverty, hunger, disease. Scientists are no longer stuck in their little ivory tower trying to make a living out of petty questions.
By the end of this year, China will likely overtake the United States as the number one country in greenhouse gas emissions, sad... (though per capita speaking, the US is still far ahead). The good news is that the Chinese government is actually very concerned about this, because global warming will affect China significantly (lower water supply leading to lower crop yields, floods and droughts, and Beijing 2008 reputation). If it weren't for these consequences that people take heed, the world would have already exploded. One more argument for why God allows bad things to happen in this world; if actions did not have consequences, where is the motivation to do anything at all?
By the end of this year, China will likely overtake the United States as the number one country in greenhouse gas emissions, sad... (though per capita speaking, the US is still far ahead). The good news is that the Chinese government is actually very concerned about this, because global warming will affect China significantly (lower water supply leading to lower crop yields, floods and droughts, and Beijing 2008 reputation). If it weren't for these consequences that people take heed, the world would have already exploded. One more argument for why God allows bad things to happen in this world; if actions did not have consequences, where is the motivation to do anything at all?
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