Taking care of the sea
More and more voices are warning of the serious state of the sea: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that the IPCC is moving towards an unprecedented irreversible situation, while UNESCO is running out of time to prevent the total decline in ocean health. We have used the sea as a landfill and exploited its resources disproportionately, without measuring its consequences well.
Now the sea speaks to us: it is seriously experiencing the consequences of acidification, plasticization, heating and pollution. In this context, UNESCO has declared the Decade of the Sciences of the Sea 2021-2030 as the main instrument to change the state of the oceans. We have reflected with four marine researchers on the keys for this decade.
In addition, in the magazine we have also reminded those who have lost their voice. People with communication difficulties saw light when voice synthesizers became normal and have come to settle on mobile phones. But it is not easy to identify with a robotic and impersonal voice: sometimes children have to use adult voice, women human voice, or minority language speakers a language other than their own. UPV-EHU research group Zapore Jai launched a voice donation campaign to create a voice bank where voices can be selected. The project has had a great impact, especially at Christmas, and we wanted to show the technology and research behind it.
On the other hand, this year Elhuyar has organized in the Museum San Telmo open sessions of reflection on different scientific and technological topics. Far from being a mere expert paper, the goal is to reflect among all: to create together scientists and citizens. This time we brought to the magazine a program on electric transport. There were many questions that arose and they have been addressed by the three participating experts. In the following numbers, sessions will also have room for their enriching character.
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