A ground-breaking scientific feat of huge global potentials appears to be well under way with Oxford University scientists developing a robot car that drives itself with the help of an iPad and projecting that the technology could be installed in mainstream cars within 15 years (http://is.gd/umurej). What has for decades been no more than an exercise in science fiction is now evolving into a concrete research and development effort. The Oxford University news nearly coincided with a report (http://v.gd/ocoguv) that a non-profit group managed to invent a lightweight, foldable scooter that can be hand-dragged on its wheels as if it were a handbag until parked by your office desk, thereby offering ordinary people a cheap means of intra-city transport and relieving them of parking difficulties. Pieced together, the two stories provide a fresh indication of the almost boundless domains that the human mind can open in the search for better quality of life on earth. The twin doubtlessly gratifying news stories do share one characteristic. They make life easier, safer and more comfortable for people. In other words, they reflect how science research can be geared to advance the quality of life. At the same time, they invoke some serious questions about the state of science research outside the world's known and established centres of excellence; i.e., all across the world's so-called developing countries. In academia as well as in public debates all around the world, the thriving of science research is widely attributed to the prior and combined availability some four factors. In the forefront comes the socio-political ‘ecosystem' which can encourage and promote innovativeness and modernisation. Another factor is the provision of sufficient funding, assets and infrastructure. Thirdly, the prevalent culture must be such that welcomes the conclusions of science research and allows the incorporation of applications into the society's walks of life. And the fourth factor is the presence of a science research spirit. That latter factor differs from the availability of scientific research methodology in academic curricula as is the case with each and every university even in countries where the state of science is in the doldrums. While a host of other factors are pivotal, including, for example, coordination between parallel research centres, the availability of an efficient data base, the exchange of expertise with similar facilities abroad and the sustainable upgrading of research kits and equipment, all the four essential factors must be there together and a priori. For decades, we have been tuned to a message from governments of developing countries that they could not afford the luxury of appropriating sufficient funds for science research while under financial squeeze and whilst having to bake bread for millions of citizens every morning. But governments in scientifically advanced countries are facing no less financial squeezes. Had this notion of affordability been any credible, science could have prospered in those rich and small-sized, developing countries. The fault seems to lie in the first place with the very concept of science research and its relevance to the lives of individuals and societies. The notion of luxury stands also to blame, but only partially since it seems more of a pretext than an established cause. Over the centuries, thinkers and intellectuals have found out that both the sustenance and advancement of life rely on the unhindered flow of new ideas, creativity and innovativeness. The dearth of new ideas strangles creativity, and without creativity no innovativeness could take concrete shape. Academic research methodologies do the fine-tuning of the new ideas-creativity-innovativeness engine, but only knowledge of such methodologies is no alternative for the mega-structure. This presentation explains why, for example, Cambridge University scholars have developed a new way to measure the benefits of science research on the basis of their impact (http://is.gd/asixak). “Our approach takes the issues society wants answered as a starting point and asks how much each piece of research has contributed to answering them," so said Cambridge University professor William Sutherland who led the team of researchers on the ‘impact' approach. Until misconceptions of science research and notion of science research-as-luxury are abandoned in prevalent cultures in developing countries, the impact of science research on the quality of life would become more elusive than ever.
