SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive_Act

Locomotive Act

The Locomotive Act (also known as the Red Flag Act) is a reference to the Locomotives Act 1865 introduced by the British parliament as one of a series of measures to control the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on British public highways during the latter part of the 19th century. This act required any motorised vehicle to be preceded by a man with a red flag.

In the 1860s, there was concern that the widespread use of traction engines, such as road locomotives and agricultural engines, would endanger the safety of the public. It was believed that engines and their trailers might cause fatal accidents, scare horses, block narrow lanes, and disturb the locals by operating at night. The financial burden of maintaining the roads was already shifting from tolls onto local rate-payers, and these new types of vehicle, possibly up to 9 feet (2.7 m) wide and 14 tons, could allegedly damage the highway while they were being propelled at "high speeds" of up to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). However, there is evidence that the steam carriages' better brakes (which did not lock and drag), their wide tyres, and the absence of horses' hooves striking the road allowed them to cause less damage to the roads than horse-drawn carriages.

Intended to protect railroad interests, an unintended consequence of Intended to protect railroad interests, an unintended consequence of these Acts was the slowdown of technological progress and these Acts was the slowdown of technological progress and

diminished opportunities for industry in Britain.diminished opportunities for industry in Britain.

SOURCE: Gleick et al. 2010. Climate Change and the Integrity of Science. Science 328: 689-690.http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5979/689

“There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific

conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When

someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely

certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society

should never take action.”Science Magazine, May 2010

““It’s easy to see why uncertainty breeds fear. When we face It’s easy to see why uncertainty breeds fear. When we face a possible threat but we can’t detect it with our senses, or a possible threat but we can’t detect it with our senses, or when it’s complicated and we don’t understand it, or when when it’s complicated and we don’t understand it, or when science still hasn’t answered all the questions about the science still hasn’t answered all the questions about the risk, we don’t know what we need to know to protect risk, we don’t know what we need to know to protect ourselves. We feel powerless, which makes us feel more ourselves. We feel powerless, which makes us feel more afraid. GMOs qualify for all three categories of uncertainty. afraid. GMOs qualify for all three categories of uncertainty. GM food ingredients are undetectable. The science is GM food ingredients are undetectable. The science is complex and hard to understand. And some questions complex and hard to understand. And some questions remain (which is why field tests are done, of course).”remain (which is why field tests are done, of course).”

““It’s easy to see why uncertainty breeds fear. When we face It’s easy to see why uncertainty breeds fear. When we face a possible threat but we can’t detect it with our senses, or a possible threat but we can’t detect it with our senses, or when it’s complicated and we don’t understand it, or when when it’s complicated and we don’t understand it, or when science still hasn’t answered all the questions about the science still hasn’t answered all the questions about the risk, we don’t know what we need to know to protect risk, we don’t know what we need to know to protect ourselves. We feel powerless, which makes us feel more ourselves. We feel powerless, which makes us feel more afraid. GMOs qualify for all three categories of uncertainty. afraid. GMOs qualify for all three categories of uncertainty. GM food ingredients are undetectable. The science is GM food ingredients are undetectable. The science is complex and hard to understand. And some questions complex and hard to understand. And some questions remain (which is why field tests are done, of course).”remain (which is why field tests are done, of course).”

SOURCE: “Risky Business”, Cosmos Magazine, February 2014. http://alpha.cosmosmagazine.com/society/risky-business. Cited on PBS Nova website, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-gmos/