Dear PSI-COM colleagues: Thought you might be interested in this ...
Cheers,
Wilson da Silva
Editor, Cosmos Magazine
----------------
Luna Media press release - Friday 29 April 2005
AUSTRALIAN ENTREPRENEUR CALLS FOR “SCIENCE LITERACY” PUSH
Melbourne biotechnology entrepreneur Dr Alan Finke, awarded Australia’s
Clunies Ross Science and Technology Award last week for his creation of
a global multimillion dollar biotechnology business built on measuring
the electrical potential of nerve and muscle cells, called for a boost
in the nation's science literacy.
Receiving his citation and medal at a gala dinner in Melbourne, he
called for a national effort to increase the community’s awareness and
appreciation of the role of science and technology in society and the
economy. “Science and technology is changing our lives, and we need to
understand the implications – both good and bad,” said Finkel.
“Australia also needs a new generation of science entrepreneurs who can
harvest scientific knowledge and turn it into new jobs and industries.
“And we all need a level of science literacy that will help us make
rational decisions about the introduction of new technologies – such as
DNA profiling, GM and nanotechnology,” he said. “As a child and a
student, I loved good science writing. But there’s not enough of it,
especially in Australia. That’s why I’ve underwritten a new national
science magazine, Cosmos.”
Cosmos is a new monthly Australian popular science magazine that will
hit the newsstands in late June. It aims to cover ‘the science of
everything’: from human biology and medicine, the environment,
archaeology, space and astronomy, to information technology, society
and social research. It is currently available for subscriptions via
the Internet ahead of launch, offering a 20% discount (see
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com).
“We need more science entrepreneurs like Alan Finkel – people who are
willing not just to do the science, but to get out and talk about it,”
said the Editor of Cosmos, Wilson da Silva. “We’re delighted that Alan
has agreed to help establish and lead Luna Media, the publishing
company behind Cosmos.”
In the early 1980s, Finkel invented a new way of measuring the
electrical activity of nerve and muscle cells – information that’s
essential in understanding how our nerves and muscles work – and how
they are affected by disease and drugs.
The company he formed, Axon Instruments, now dominates the global
market for these essential scientific devices and was recently acquired
by the much larger U.S. biotechnology instrumentation company,
Molecular Devices Corp. Finkel continues as Senior Vice-President and
Chief Technical Officer at Molecular Devices Corp. – guiding the
development of a new range of technologies.
For further information, interviews and images please contact:
Karen Eck of Eckfactor on Mobile: +61 438 532 569, or via email:
[log in to unmask]
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com
**********************************************************************
1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,
send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:
set psci-com nomail
2. To resume email from the list, send the following message:
set psci-com mail
3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:
leave psci-com
4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive,
can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html
5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and science
and society can be found at http://psci-com.org.uk
**********************************************************************
|