Increasing “fake news” and declining trust in science are challenging academia, US National Academy of Sciences foreign secretary John Hildebrand told a gathering at Academia Sinica in Taipei yesterday, where he called on researchers to avoid bias and political actions.
Twenty academics from 15 countries attended the International Scientific Leaders’ Forum held by Taiwan’s highest academic research institution as part of its 90th anniversary celebrations on its campus in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港).
In his keynote speech, titled The Origins and Roles of Academies, Hildebrand said that contemporary populist movements see science as part of an elite order, which leads to politicization of science, decline of trust in scientists, and the spread of fake news and “alternative facts.”
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
To address these challenges, researchers should step up interaction with the public and improve general science literacy, while avoiding overt political actions and biased speeches, he said.
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology president Peter Gruss, a researcher in gene regulation and embryonic development, gave a speech titled Can We Survive Without Science?
He said that more technological innovations are needed, as the world would be facing great transitions over the next three decades.
For example, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostics and precision medicine could trigger a shift from therapy to prediction and prevention of diseases, he said.
Taiwan has a unique opportunity to boost its healthcare system by developing AI technologies, especially as National Health Insurance Administration data provide researchers with a wealth of information, Gruss said, adding that his institute is keen to collaborate with Taiwan.
Taiwan devotes less public funding to its basic research than South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, Gruss said, adding that the government should allocate more funding to basic research to create momentum for technological progress.
Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said that researchers should move forward with ambition, responsibility and wisdom, and become leaders in their research domains.
Identifying major problems facing the world, Liao said researchers should propose new solutions to control climate change, use energy and fix carbon without affecting the environment, and achieve healthy longevity in aging societies.
Areas such as AI, memory and consciousness, psychological stress alleviation, connection between past and present, and prediction of events are also worth exploring, Liao said.
Also speaking at the forum, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that the government would continue to support basic research.
She said she hoped that the National Biotech Research Park inaugurated in Nangang last month would attract innovators from around the world.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as