Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Inside the world of DIY synthetic biology. Where amateurs attempt genetic engineering in homemade labs. Will it lead to a wave of scientific breakthroughs, and valuable new life forms? Or a new generation of Dr Frankensteins?
Short, fascinating piece on JK, a 20-year-old blind man with rare medical condition hyperthymesia. He can recall each day of his life with stunning accuracy. A perfect autobiographical memory. Only second documented case in history
Notion that there are more universes separate from ours is one of the most polarising concepts to have emerged from physics in decades. Is it the next phase in our understanding of reality, or nonsense? And why should we care?
"Forcing people to rely on a second language systematically reduced human biases, allowing the subjects to escape from the usual blind spots of cognition." Lehrer talks us through some rather surprising recent research
"Waking up after a good night’s sleep, you feel restored, and many studies have shown the benefits of sleep for learning, memory, and cognition. Yet if sleep is beneficial, what is the mechanism?" Recent research suggests an answer
Short history of the neuron. The Spaniard Santiago Ramón y Cajal first proved that the nervous system was made up of distinct building blocks in 1887. Term "neuron" coined shortly after in 1891 by German anatomist Wilhelm Waldeyer
Fascinating. Report from 2012 Neuromagic conference, where neuroscientists and magicians come together to compare notes on the human mind. Here's what sleight of hand can tell us about visual perception, how we process information
Will we ever build an artificial womb? Complications exist, but lure is clear. "Ectogenesis comes with an irresistible hook: This technology would bring us closer to the day when motherhood and fatherhood mean the same thing"
Nine year old Michael is unlike others. His parents took him to see psychologist Dan Waschbusch. Who diagnosed him as a psychopath. "Even if accurate, it’s a ruinous diagnosis. No one is sympathetic to the mother of a psychopath"
Why do our hands only have five fingers? Polydactyly (having additional digits) is a common birth defect, but not one natural selection favoured. Truth is most of what we do can easily be accomplished with just three fingers
Why do so many seek to find a root cause for the financial crisis? "Just as we are wired to like a diet rich in fats and sugars, we have an appetite for simple, coherent narratives. Neither habit is good for our long-term health"
Many presume that Christianity and science have always been at war. Little could be further from the truth. "The myth of a perennial conflict between science and religion is one to which no historian of science would subscribe"
Tetraplegic, paralysed and unable to speak for past 15 years, drinks coffee unassisted. Using a robot and the power of thought
