Weekly News Profile Archives - Page 3 of 19 - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

Engineering Ways to Care for Astronauts’ Mental Health

Amidst plans for space missions designed to establish a stronger human presence in space, concerns rise for the mental health of the astronauts. These astronauts, such as those selected for NASA’s Artemis missions, will embark on trips into deep space that will last months or even years away from Earth’s familiar environment and their loved ones. Since spacecraft tend to have an isolated and confined nature, NASA engineers are devising strategies to safeguard the mental health of their astronauts.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

Sex-Based Bias in Medical Research is Dangerous

Jennah Saqib March 19, 2024 Engineering Research Science STEM Women

Women have historically been underrepresented in Phase I and II clinical trials, including areas of research such as Alzheimer’s and autoimmune diseases in which women are more affected. This results in drugs being tailored for men, which leads to a higher rate of women experiencing adverse effects of these drugs than men. Medical testing needs to involve women at every stage to prevent these inequalities from occurring and to prioritize women’s health.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

Alabama Supreme Court Puts IVF at Risk

Janessi Diaz March 6, 2024 Autonomy biomedical ethics BME IVF

Last month, the Alabama Supreme Court granted personhood to in vitro embryos. This had a disastrous impact, as it allowed medical professionals to be criminally charged for damage or destruction of embryos during the IVF process. Although Alabama legislators were quick to pass laws protecting medical professionals, the precedent has left an unstable future for the rights and autonomy of IVF patients.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

Rising Tensions in Low Earth Orbit

Rachel Pak February 22, 2024 Military Satellites Space

Recent intelligence suggests that Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon designed to attack America’s extensive satellite network. While details are unknown, the weapon is believed to target United States military surveillance and commercial communications satellites. However, there is no immediate threat to the public, as Russia cannot deploy a nuclear weapon in space without breaking an international treaty and damaging all the satellites in low Earth orbit, including their own. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the development, one thing is becoming clear: space may serve as an international battleground in the near future.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

History’s Forgotten Women in STEM

Jennah Saqib February 14, 2024 History Inequality STEM Women

February 11 was the UN’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Today, women comprise only approximately 28 percent of the world’s STEM workforce. Historically, women have been barred from pursuing careers in science, and those passionate enough to do so anyway were often overlooked and ignored in favor of their male counterparts. This article shines a light on some of the forgotten women who achieved significant breakthroughs in their field.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

UT Austin Engineers Tackle Water Scarcity

Janessi Diaz February 7, 2024 Filter Sustainability Water Scarcity

Water scarcity is an issue that impacts people all around the world. Thankfully, engineers at the University of Texas have created a device to combat it. They created a bio-based nanofiber hydrogel filter (BNHF) that is cheap, accessible, and has the potential to bring clean water to people all over the world.

Spring 2024 Weekly News Profile

The Legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity

Jackie Finnemeyer January 31, 2024 Ingenuity NASA Perseverance Space

After three successful years, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity has just taken its last flight. During a landing, a brief loss of communication with the chopper occurred, only for the vehicle to resume communications the next day with a damaged rotor blade. Being the first helicopter to operate on another planet, Ingenuity is a trailblazer in more ways than one. However, budgetary constraints leave the future of additional Marscopter missions up in the air.

Fall 2023 Weekly News Profile

Vapes Harm More Than Just Their Users

Janessi Diaz December 14, 2023 Congo lithium-ion batteries Vaping

For anyone who has been thinking about quitting vaping, here is some inspiration. Vapes are not just bad for those who use them, they are incredibly harmful to those who have to make them. Vapes require a lithium-ion battery which is made with cobalt. The demand for cobalt has created treacherous and inhumane conditions for miners in Congo where the mineral is present in great abundance.

Fall 2023 Weekly News Profile

Controversy at the COP28 Summit

Jennah Saqib December 6, 2023 Climate Change coal COP28 Fossil Fuels

The annual United Nations Climate Change Conference has started with a bang. Comments made before the summit by the event president, Sultan Ahmed al Jaber, were met with scathing criticism. Al Jaber, who went on the record claiming the phase-out of fossil fuels is an alarmist idea not rooted in science, has since been slammed by other attendees for being biased toward fossil fuel and oil companies. Despite the president’s reluctance, a call for the complete removal of the fossil fuel industry continues to be a major focus point of the conference.

Podcast

Grand Challenges Special Issue

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

Natasha Singh March 29, 2023

Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges focuses heavily on the pitfalls of technological determinism. This paper supports Cech’s argument through a discussion of current examples of the consequences of technological determinism, such as the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, medication accessibility, and facial recognition technology. Though the consequences of a zealous engineering mentality are commonplace in our society, there are also current examples of tech companies neglecting to develop technology due to its possible negative consequences.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

Charles Liu March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges presented by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) fail to involve ethics as a part of the solution to these issues. Traditionally, engineers have kept their work separate from its societal implications. Engineers and their non-technical counterparts have an obligation to view all technical solutions under the moral lens of ethicists and futurists. Going forward, engineers must be aware of their limits and work with experts outside of their fields to develop solutions that will be cognizant of society as a whole.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

Shub Gaur March 29, 2023

The National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges are critiqued by Dr. Erin Cech for what she describes as a double standard in engineering. Though Cech rightly discusses a lack of accountability and acknowledgement within the profession, her argument lacks nuance. The Grand Challenges were ultimately a promotional tool meant to inspire the next generation of engineers, yet Cech holds them to a standard of being professional rules and guidelines. This paper will discuss the distinctions that Cech’s argument lacks, including placing an unreasonable amount of responsibility on engineers and overstating their influence.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Huzaifa Aslam March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges were developed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in an effort to expose future generations to the wide range of innovation and technology that they could one day take part in. As detailed by the Challenges’ creators, the list includes challenges that are most significant to our current world. Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the Grand Challenges is that a lack of diversity in the panel of engineering experts led to a lack of oversight into issues that are actually pertinent to developing nations. Cech’s argument that the Grand Challenges are a missed opportunity for social justice holds validity, but her mischaracterization of the lack of diversity requires further consideration.

Weekly News Profile

Fall 2024 Featured Weekly News Profile

Plan B turned Plan A: Geoengineering To Resolve Climate Change?

Mary Karapetyan November 9, 2024

Geoengineering is considered a potential solution to mitigate the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. However, due to scientific and ethical concerns, it is critical to approach geoengineering techniques with caution. As a result, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has unveiled a new ethical framework to help promote responsible and sustainable scientific research.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

The Stars We Can No Longer See: The Impediment of Satellite Mega Constellations on Astronomical Research

Mo Jiang November 1, 2024

The launch of thousands of new private satellites for global internet coverage has led to unprecedented levels of light pollution and radio interference levels. Astronomers worldwide report increasing difficulty researching while satellite companies expand their networks. Space debris also makes launching scientific satellites and space operations for research purposes more challenging. This situation highlights the growing tension between expanding global internet access to underserved communities and preserving humanity’s ability to conduct astronomical research, prompting calls for reformed international space policies.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

Fighting Hurricane Misinformation: Meteorologists Make the Climate Connection Amidst Storm of Lies

Rachel Pak October 21, 2024

The warnings preceding Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Martin were more accurate than ever before due to advances in forecasting methodology and technology. However, meteorologists have never faced such intense skepticism, hatred, and conspiracy-minded pushback. Many have been accused of steering the hurricanes, and others have faced threats of violence online. These false claims have been viewed more than 160 million times in the days following the hurricanes, and have even been pushed by government officials. However, in an effort to fight these false narratives, government authorities, civil society organizations, and meteorologists are now pushing back on disaster-related misinformation.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

A Long Way From Home: Starliner Crew’s Extended Stay in Space

Janessi Diaz October 12, 2024

On June 5, the spacecraft Starliner, docked at the ISS. Starliner transported Suni Williams and Butch Willmore who were originally scheduled for an eight day mission. However, the duo did not return with Starliner as planned. Instead, they will stay on the ISS for an extra eight months, joining NASA’s Crew 9 to complete Expedition 72. Their last minute addition to the team is fortunate, but is ultimately a result of irresponsible engineering.

Fall 2024 Weekly News Profile

The U.N.’s Saving Grace: Addressing Agenda 2030 with Technology

Mary Karapetyan October 3, 2024

This article dives into the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, which consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. Technology is considered to be a possible avenue in attaining these goals; however, limited internet infrastructure access are potential roadblocks to be faced along the way.

Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Category: Weekly News Profile

Engineering Ways to Care for Astronauts’ Mental Health

Sex-Based Bias in Medical Research is Dangerous

Alabama Supreme Court Puts IVF at Risk

Rising Tensions in Low Earth Orbit

History’s Forgotten Women in STEM

UT Austin Engineers Tackle Water Scarcity

The Legacy of NASA’s Ingenuity

Vapes Harm More Than Just Their Users

Controversy at the COP28 Summit

The Politics of the Brain: The Ethics of Neural Engineering

Blueprints to Battlefields: The Ethics of Weapons Development

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Plan B turned Plan A: Geoengineering To Resolve Climate Change?

The Stars We Can No Longer See: The Impediment of Satellite Mega Constellations on Astronomical Research

Fighting Hurricane Misinformation: Meteorologists Make the Climate Connection Amidst Storm of Lies

A Long Way From Home: Starliner Crew’s Extended Stay in Space

The U.N.’s Saving Grace: Addressing Agenda 2030 with Technology