Comments on: Better than your average magazine article

Better than your average magazine article

Mike1024 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:25:45 -0800

The British government's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology retains PhD and EngD students to produce POSTnotes, information-dense 4 page summaries of science and technology issues, aimed at informing members of parliament. Topics covered include HIV/AIDS in developing countries, large scale electricity storage, future nuclear technologies and next generation broadband access.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:39:48 -0800

Excellent, now I can drag my ill-informed online rants up to the standard of a MP. This is an excellent resource, thanks.

By: saysthis

saysthis — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:03:53 -0800

Nice. These rock.

By: woodblock100

woodblock100 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:35:14 -0800

Fabulous! Obama administration, please copy!

By: DU

DU — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:19:17 -0800

The US Congress probably has something similar but nobody uses it cuz ya don't need no book larnin' to know socialism is wrong.

By: dowcrag

dowcrag — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:12:30 -0800

Wow! Fantastic post. Now I'm not going to get any work done until about, oh, 2010!

By: sadiehawkinstein

sadiehawkinstein — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:13:01 -0800

Wow. That's pretty much my dream job.

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:53:59 -0800

Really interesting. I guess I found the focus on the UK alone and on the UK specific political motions behind the topics made some of the articles seem a bit parochial (compared to the way that something like The Economist or New Scientist would tackle the same topics) - but I guess that is the idea.

By: Artful Codger

Artful Codger — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:01:08 -0800

This is a good thing.

By: msconduct

msconduct — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:18:43 -0800

thanks for the info!

By: nangua

nangua — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:49:54 -0800

the US Congress does have something like this in the Congressional Research Service, but they tend to be a little coy about distributing their reports. There are some organizations that work to get these out though.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:53:49 -0800

You forgot "Iraqi attempts to purchase yellowcake uranium in Niger"

By: chrisamiller

chrisamiller — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:53:14 -0800

Does the US do this, and how do I get this job? Seriously.

By: woodblock100

woodblock100 — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:23:40 -0800

... how do I get this job? Seriously. Maybe you need a job on Wall Street. (Seriously) One of my customers works in 'analysis' for a major brokerage, and producing these kinds of papers is exactly his function. The research arm of Nomura Securities here in Tokyo has a bunch of their papers on the net for anybody to read. Although many of them are (obviously) focussed on financial and investment matters, there are plenty with wider scope.

By: Mike1024

Mike1024 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:19:25 -0800

Does the US do this, and how do I get this job? Seriously. To be eligible for a 3-month fellowship at POST you need to be doing a PhD or EngD funded by a science research council. There are then annual fellowship competitions - see here.

By: chrisamiller

chrisamiller — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:06:07 -0800

Maybe you need a job on Wall Street. Thanks, sounds interesting, but at this point, I'm much more interested in the intersection of science and public policy than I am in Wall Street.

By: stratastar

stratastar — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:38:43 -0800

"but they tend to be a little coy about distributing their reports." The Congressional Research Service is not required to release their reports (opencrs collects reports when they have been released by the congressmen who requested them); you also have reports made by the Congressional Budget Office,the GAO, on rural issues: the Economic Research Service, and the slew of stuff made by Census, the BLS, and somewhat more neutered EPA and such... Are there any more services like this in other countries? link me!

By: woodblock100

woodblock100 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:40:40 -0800

Are there any more services like this in other countries? link me! European Parliamentary Technology Assessment

By: woodblock100

woodblock100 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:50:23 -0800

... and a Google search for 'Parliamentary Research Papers' turns up a lot more ... Canada, Australia, New Zealand ... etc. etc.