Innovation has long been embraced uncritically in Australia at all levels. Governments embrace innovation with a kind of cargo cult mentality that if one innovates, prosperity will fall from the sky. And we’re at it again. Under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull, innovation has once again become the buzz word of the moment and once again it is embraced without policy underpinnings except commercial opportunity. Innovation without a focus on...

Recent independent testing found risky nanoparticles deemed unsafe for use in toothpaste in baby formula available online in Australia. In response, Friends of the Earth is calling for an urgent recall of any baby formula containing these nanoparticles until safety testing is undertaken. So what has our regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) done about it? Unfortunately, precious little it would appear. In it’s response to our...

Independent testing commissioned by Friends of the Earth US has found risky nanoparticles deemed unsafe for use in toothpaste in baby formula. Six samples of baby formula made by Gerber®, Enfamil®, Similac® and Well Beginnings™ – which are all available online in Australia – were tested. Four of the samples contained nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite, three in particularly risky needle like form. The European Commission’s Scientific...

This year the Global Challenges Foundation has included synthetic biology and geoengineering in its annual assessment of the catastrophic global risks faced by the planet. The organisation defines a global catastrophic risk as any “risk of events or processes that would lead to the deaths of approximately a tenth of the world’s population, or have a comparable impact.” Geoengineering In many of the global climate scenarios in which temperature...