Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

"Science.gov" Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Sound Science to the Public

The National Academy of Sciences has defined scientific literacy as ‘‘the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision-making, participation in civic and personal affairs, and economic productivity.’’

How scientifically literate we are  in the United States is really open to question.  A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (2009), finds that   only 28% of American adults currently qualify as scientifically literate.  Also, most scientists (85%) also think that one of the major problems for science is that the public does not know very much about science.

It is in this social context that the multi-organizational web site, Science .gov, was launched in 2002. Given the statistics mentioned above, the need for such a site that attempts to provide accessible and understandable information about science and its application in our lives, is sorely needed.

The website is the result of the collaborative effort of 17 U.S. government science organizations within 13 Federal Agencies. These agencies form the voluntary Science.gov Alliance which governs Science.gov.   "Currently in its fifth generation, Science.gov provides a search of over 55 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to over 2100 scientific Websites."

October 2012 marked a major update to Science.gov , in honor of its 10th Anniversary. The current iteration of the web site provides many advanced features and capabilities :

• Accessing over 55 databases and 200 million pages of science information via one query
• Clustering of results by subtopics, authors, or dates to help you target your search
• Wikipedia results related to your search terms
• Eureka News results related to your search terms
• Mark & send option for emailing results to friends and colleagues
• Download capabilities in RIS
• Enhanced information related to your real-time search
• Aggregated Science News Feed, also available on Twitter
• Updated Alerts service
• Image Search

In the coming years, scientific innovation will have an ever increasing role in our daily lives and the global economy. Successfully dealing with emerging technologies and their attendant ethical questions, will require a more scientifically aware and literate citizenry. A broad-based educational program like Science .gov, is providing a key component in this effort. 

Congratulations to the Science.gov Alliance for ten years of exemplary service  to the public !

New 3-D "Printing" Technology May Re-shape CSI Procedures

While watching a couple television programs on PBS, I became aware of an amazing new technology that reminded me of the Star Trek replicator that Captain Picard would use to order up a cup of tea or a meal.

One was an archeology program where the archeologist had a very old and fragile skull that he and other scientists wanted to examine. Such multiple uses could result in irreprable damage to the fossil. What the scientist did next, was the amazing part. He used a 3-D scanner to create a digital file of the skulls shape and then using special software and a device that most resembles a printer, proceeded to create a detailed 3-D replica of the found skull that could be examined by many other scientist without risking the original find.

On a more prosaic level, this new technology was also demonstrated on the program, "This Old House". On this program the technology was used to construct a model of what a restored and enhanced old colonial house would look like after all the renovation. In this case, not only the original house was depicted but also the future additions to be made to the colonial house.

This new technology is called "3-D Printing" or "additive manufacturing." "Basically, it works using inkjet technology, and fine powder such as plaster, resin and cornstarch are used to build 3D models layer by layer in cross-sections." "...the object is reproduced by stacking up thin sheets of heated plastic or metal (.10 millimeter thick) or via thin layers of metal or plastic dust...." The finished product is  a hard plastic or metal detailed 3-D object  you can hold in your hand.

While there are many potential uses for this new technology, the author of an article from the issue of "Law Technology News", prognosticates how it might find uses for Forensic Pathology,  where "...3D-printed copies of original physical evidence play the same role in trial and post-conviction review as digital copies of paper documents do today."  "As Ken Strutin prognosticates in the New York Law Journal, "The evidence room of the future might be stored on a hard drive and reproduced as needed."  New rules of evidence will probably be needed to deal with this new form of evidence.

Other legal implication would involve intellectual property and patents. The author fears that the CAD ( Computer-aided design ) files used in the process might be presumed to be infringing when made available on the internet, "... in the way that BitTorrent file transfer protocol has taken a hit from copyright holders..." He also does point to a few examples of criminals using 3-D printing for their own purposes.

It will also be interesting to see how the patents for this technology and processes are handled under the recently passed " America Invents Act", signed  into law by President Barack Obama  Sept. 16. The article author suspects that there are "host of intellectual property issues" that this emerging technology will generate as more applications are developed.

Meanwhile, aboard the starship Enterprise, this new "additive manufacturing" may not replicate Scotty's bottle of Scotch. But it can probably make a copy, good enough to fool him for a while.

     Video demonstration of ZPrinter from ZCorporation

 

Cuneiform Law Code Tablet Found In Israel - May Parallel Hammurabi Code

The tablet fragments were found in Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeological excavations this summer at Hazor in the north of Israel. The slab containing the Code of Hammurabi was found in 1901 in the an area that is now part of Iran. After over 100 years, researchers can now have an ancient representation of legal precepts from roughly the same time frame , to compare with the versions of the Hammurabi Code.

Prof. Wayne Horowitz of the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology, says that “At this stage, it is difficult to determine whether this document was actually written at Hazor, where a school for scribes was located, or brought from somewhere else,” said Prof. Horowitz. He said that this latest discovery opens an interesting avenue for possible further investigation of a connection between Biblical law and the Code of Hammurabi."

"The archaeological team is presently about to begin uncovering a monumental building dating to the Bronze Age, where they expect to recover additional tablets."

Sources:

first in Israel: Cuneiform tablet uncovered by Hebrew University team at Hazor parallel to code of Hammurabi

Cuneiform Tablet Uncovered by Hebrew University Team at Hazor Parallel to Code of Hammurabi

Ancient legal code uncovered