Science has been closely linked to armed conflicts for centuries. Greek despot Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse is believed to have invented the catapult around 400 BC, a technological improvement that changed the course of battles in medieval times. Chinese alchemists invented gunpowder around 850 AD; initially used in fireworks, its use in cannons and handheld firearms followed. European forces enlisted hot air balloons for attacks and reconnaissance soon after their invention in the 18th century. And planes played a key role during World War II, including dropping atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.
In this issue, we examine the health effects of tear gas, which has evolved from being one of the first chemical weapons designed for World War I to a tool of civilian crowd control. Oddly, one of its first uses in the United States was against World War I veterans protesting delays in federal bonus payments.
Although tear gas is sometimes considered more harmless than other crowd control tools such as rubber bullets, it can cause long-term health problems.reports editor Nikk Ogasa. The quantification of this risk became evident due to the widespread use of tear gas against people protesting the actions of the US administration.
Links between science and civil protest also resonate in space explorationnotes astronomical writer Lisa Grossman. In preparing to cover this year’s Artemis II lunar flyby, she imagined the mission as a unifying moment, like the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. The impact of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on her Minneapolis neighborhood led her to question that premise. It turns out that people were also questioning the value of Apollo 11, at a time when the country was torn apart by conflicts over civil rights and the Vietnam War. Scientific news“The editor-in-chief was among them.
“It is impossible to minimize the accomplishments of the astronauts,” Warren Kornberg wrote in the July 26, 1969, issue. “But the verdict of history may well be that while the world was erupting, we ignored the real challenge and pursued a rocket course to the moon.”
There is much to question in the current state of the world. Finding value in supporting our fellow human beings and carrying out groundbreaking scientific work should be a no-brainer.
