Last time I mentioned the threat to UK science presented by Brexit, I was inundated by a letter from a Mrs Trellis, North Wales.* I am going to risk similar onslaught again this week because a disturbing report from the Royal Society out this week is definitely worth a mention.
The main findings of the report (available in the news section of the RS website) all show a downward trend in science investment since the 2016 referendum. The headline findings include a fall in the UK’s annual share of EU research funding by almost a third (28%), representing around half a billion Euros since 2015. There has also been a 40% drop in UK applications to Horizon 2020 and a resultant fall in investment. And there is solid evidence that the UK is now a less attractive destination for top international science talent, with a 35% drop in the number of scientists coming to the UK through international funding schemes. Anyone thinking this is good, please write in and explain why – the beauty of science is its ignorance of borders.
On to a less light-hearted matter, I remember, as a student, being taught that a retinal artery occlusion is an emergency referral only when presenting within eight hours of first occurrence (a curiously precise number). The mistaken implication seemed to be that, after this time, little could be done to save the eyesight by emergency intervention. A paper out this week in Eye reminds us that all ocular arterial occlusions (including AIONs) must be treated as an emergency, not because of the eye but rather the systemic threat. The study reveals the incidence of stroke to be 30% among patients after CRAO and 25% after BRAO. You could say the retinal lesion is a timely alarm bell.
(*nod to Humph)
