Beyond the data: five important lessons we can learn from Hans Rosling
Feb 10, 2017 15:51 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
I first came across Hans Roslings work while I was trying to make mathematics students fall in love with statistics. His TED talks are inspirational since they present data in new and dynamic ways, but not just that,...
Human Life Could Be Extended Indefinitely, Study Suggests
Feb 09, 2017 12:17 pm UTC| Science
Right now, the best that humans could hope for in terms of their lifespan is to reach the age of 100 or perhaps even a few years beyond that. According to the Gompertz mortality law, which is basically a model to calculate...
Permanent Contraceptive For Men Passes Test, Completely Reversible
Feb 08, 2017 09:39 am UTC| Science
A new method of contraception that men can use has just passed a major test and is on its way to becoming a viable commercial birth-control method. It involves the injection of a substance that can control the amount of...
Does an anomaly in the Earth's magnetic field portend a coming pole reversal?
Feb 06, 2017 07:38 am UTC| Nature Science
The Earth is blanketed by a magnetic field. Its what makes compasses point north, and protects our atmosphere from continual bombardment from space by charged particles such as protons. Without a magnetic field, our...
Defining dual-use research: When scientific advances can both help and hurt humanity
Feb 03, 2017 15:39 pm UTC| Science
Scientific research can change our lives for the better, but it also presents risks either through deliberate misuse or accident. Think about studying deadly pathogens; thats how we can learn how to successfully ward them...
Scientists Create Cows That Are Immune To Serious Disease Transmittable To Humans
Feb 03, 2017 09:04 am UTC| Science
By using a powerful gene-editing tool in CRISPR, scientists were able to immunize cows to bovine tuberculosis, which is a dangerous disease that can actually be transmitted to humans. This development could have a huge...
Trace fossils – the silence of Ediacara, the shadow of uranium.
Feb 03, 2017 07:43 am UTC| Science
As an archaeologist working in the remote areas around Woomera and the Nullarbor Plain, my understanding of South Australia was first informed by rocks and soil. This was a landscape of fossils and trace fossils the...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight