21 segundos contemplando el Universo

  One defect that I see in scientists is that they do not know how to communicate what they are really working on, nor the importance that their research may have for society. Moreover, I would say that sometimes they do it with antipathy and misunderstandings (see the press conferences on the covid pandemic), and to a certain extent that is the reflection that we see in the villains of the movies: evil people in their laboratories doing ‘things’. Result: low trust, conspiracy, and low salaries for them. I do not think that arrogance is a fault of scientists, but what happens is that they are more prepared, they have studied much more and, therefore, they consider that they know more than those who have not studied science or a certain subject. That is why I think that many times they are not aware that it is their way of explaining things or addressing an audience that does not know the same as them (and, certainly, that audience notices that imbalance).   That ‘bubble’ i...

Un fallo que veo en los científicos es que no saben comunicar en qué trabajan realmente, y sea de paso la importancia que puedan tener sus investigaciones para la sociedad. Es más, diría que a veces lo hacen con cierta arrogancia o antipatía, (véanse en las declaraciones ante medios sobre la pandemia del covid), y hasta cierto punto ese es el reflejo que vemos en los villanos de las películas: gente malévola en sus laboratorios haciendo ‘cosas’. Resultado: poca confianza, conspiranoia, y... bajos salarios dicho sea de paso. No creo que la arrogancia sea un defecto de los científicos, sino lo que ocurre es que están más preparados, han estudiado más y, por tanto, consideran que saben más que aquel que no ha estudiado ciencia o un determinado tema. Por eso creo que muchas veces no son conscientes de que lo es su manera de explicar las cosas o dirigirse a un público que no sabe lo mismo que ellos y que es consciente de ese desequilibrio.   Esa burbuja en la que viven también les h...

Current agriculture faces the challenge of increasing the production of a growing demand, and at the same time avoiding an unaffordable environmental cost for future generations. By definition, agriculture is not sustainable, but we can use the knowledge accumulated over centuries, science, and technology to mitigate the negative effects of its impact. One of the most promising approaches to improve this ‘sustainability’ is promoting the biodiversity of agricultural fields, both crops and soil microorganisms.   For this we need crop rotations. They are necessary to diversify herbicides and thus avoid resistant weeds that reduce crop yield. One strategy is to alternate ‘broadleaf’ and ‘grass’ crops, as different herbicides are used. On the other hand, in the rotations, different crop traits can be used to favour the establishment and production of those that follow them. For example:   Oilseeds (e.g., sunflower or rapeseed ), whose pivot roots allow them to go deep into t...