After Covid
Will the Covid-19 pandemic bring about major global changes? Many people are asking this question with regard to everything from working practices, for example, is the day of the office building over as a result of IT, through to the potential end of fossil fuel usage for transportation and energy generation.
Different future
While the world is in virtual lockdown due to the coronavirus Covid-19, some observers are desperately looking for any welcome signs of relief from the pandemic. Whether it is the reversing of the number of deaths as the current wave passes through the population as appears to have happened in China, and may be happening in Italy, or another possible impact.
Health scare
Every winter there is a global influenza pandemic, infecting hundreds of millions of people and killing several hundreds of thousands – with an average of thousands of deaths in the UK alone. For winter 2020, however, there has been something extra – the coronavirus Covid-19 – and the world has literally ‘caught a cold’.
Chemophobia
Ask any non-chemist or scientist about chemicals and often as not they will say they don’t like them. In fact a recent survey published in Nature Chemistry found that almost 40% of Europeans want to ‘live in a world where chemical substances don’t exist’. For any chemist or scientist, the paradox is clear – the fact that everyone and everything is comprised of chemicals has passed most of society by.
Hotting up
Many observers believe that industry is making the running in terms of combatting climate change.
Events, events…
As 2019 draws to a close, one starts to look forward to 2020 although the outcome of the UK General Election, as C&I goes to press, does give some pause for thought. The past year has focused on Brexit, at least in the UK and EU, and, in the short to medium term, is likely to remain uppermost in everyone’s minds.
Researching research
What is research? One definition is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge and the use of this knowledge to devise new applications
Chemical circularity
While the hot topic of the circular economy is uppermost in the minds of many in the chemicals sector (See p30), the circularity of the industry, better known as its tendency for ‘boom and bust’, has not been a topic for discussion, or indeed action, in recent years.
Reproducibility
Science has been described as the systematic and logical process applied to the discovery of how things work and affect us all.
REAChing impasse
After all the recent political chaos in the UK parliament with Brexit departure deadlines coming and going, a lengthy period for reflection and consideration has now been agreed between the UK and the EU.