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hey we are the reflection of the meager support that Mexican scientific activity had during neoliberal governments and how they pretended to have made an important official contribution to the development of science in the country. There have been countless missed opportunities to generate knowledge and to find answers to the multiple current needs.
However, hopes of strengthening and the possibilities of finding better technologies and taking more accelerated steps in environmental rescue have not been lost. It is not just about recycling or remodeling ideas. It is important to have a wealth of key information that allows us to be one step ahead of the events that, day by day, determine our way of life.
The collective mentality, so diverse, complicated, and predictable, has a common denominator: the challenge of moving forward. No human being, as far as is known, has remained in the same place, however, strong territorial ties no longer guarantee subsistence. Searching, investigating, moving towards better goals are the beginning of our conduct.
This need to advance and the fact of having the possibilities to do so makes human beings the natural promoters of the desire to learn; according to specialists on the subject, this is a primary instinct. Colloquially, it is called curiosity.
One of these scientists dedicated to the mystery of learning was the psychologist and pedagogue Hans G. Fürth who pointed out in his book Knowledge as desire. An essay on Freud and Piagetthat the desire to know is an essential need of the human being.
It is more than proven that science and technology support life on the planet. We depend on both for human subsistence. Unfortunately, none escapes the culture of consumerism. However, no pretext should close the doors to the development of those techniques that offer the energy possibilities we need. We talk about nuclear energy.
Regarding the issue, we insist on it because this is one of the alternatives that has shown the most positive results and that has shown the greatest economic savings in the countries that opted for nuclear energy to supply electricity. It would not be convenient, for the degree of sovereignty to which we aspire, for Mexico to be left out of the federal budget, or to be denied institutional support.
They are searching, as we have already stated in this space of The Daytechniques that help develop and promote the expansion of the nuclear industry more widely. It is now possible to take advantage of the waste from the use of uranium from thermoelectric reactors in other countries (China, Russia, India). The inconveniences are decreasing. We emphasize that reducing health risks and controlling toxic waste is an obligation for all countries, not only in the nuclear area, but in all energy sources that we know today. The commitment is to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint and that no company and no nation are left behind. This is the obligatory goal and there is no other goal more important than the recovery of global health.
Fortunately, the motivation to pursue a research career in the area of physical science has not diminished and, let us hope that this does not happen, despite the unfavorable conditions, for example, in which the majority of the teaching staff of the Faculty of Sciences of my alma mater. We hope that the call golden bureaucracy
unfair, neoliberal and predatory of all the faculties of our UNAM, will soon be relieved.
Accordingly, we congratulate two members of the nuclear science community on the awards they recently received. Miguel Alcubierre Moya has been awarded the Pro-Conciencia medal 2024-2025, awarded by the World Pro-Conciencia Association, AC. His career as a researcher and teacher, as well as a science popularizer, has made him stand out. Dr. Alcubierre has carried out important studies regarding numerical relativity related to space-time. For his part, Dr. Roberto León Montiel, a member of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences (ICN), has been recognized with the National University for Young Academics (RDUNJA) 2024 distinction, in the category of Research in Exact Sciences. In addition to being awarded for his extensive work as an ICN researcher.
Support and recognition must be multiplied not only at UNAM, but in all research centers in the country. Talent exists, vocation too. Greater recognition is needed from the authorities so that scientific productivity continues to bear fruit without limitations or stigmas.
We want to continue advancing in the development of nuclear energy. Great figures in science have given the country prestige and motivation. We need to expand the dissemination of the national scientific history so that this information is not exclusive to a small circle of society. The people of Mexico must exercise the unconditional and inalienable right to intellectual development, all sectors of the population deserve it (art. 4, 21, 27 and 28 of the Constitution). It is fair that future generations have a secure future within the field of science.
(Ruxi Mendieta collaborated)
