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EightFourteen is enoughAs the Guardian reports, what started out as the more usual happy, wonder-of-modern medicine story of octuplets born in California has turned a little bit sour. It turns out that the 33 year old single mother of the eight newborns who lives with her parents, has six children already, the eldest of whom is seven.…
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Lies, libel and layered voice analysis
Two Swedish scientists have been threatened with legal action after publishing a scientific article sharply criticizing what they consider "charlatanry" in detecting deception. Nemesysco, a company named in the article wrote to the researchers that they may be sued for libel if they continue to write on this subject in the future. As a response…
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Why We Need a War on Aging
Based on presentation given at 2009 World Economic Forum in the Live Long and Prosper session, January 28, 2009 by Professor Julian Savulescu. There is no normal human life span, or if there is, it was very short. Life-expectancy for the ancient Romans was circa 23 years; today the average life-expectancy in the world is…
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Allen Buchanan: Leverhulme Lectures 2009′ Ethics in Political Reality’
We are pleased to announce Professor Allen Buchanan’s Leverhulme Lecture Series ‘Ethics in Political Reality’. Allen Buchanan is James B. Duke Professor Philosophy at Duke University. His research is in political philosophy, with a focus on international issues, and bioethics, with a focus on the ethics of genetic interventions with human beings. He is visiting…
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Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. Does it matter if I give a name to you?
According to the Daily Mail yesterday scientists have found that giving cows individual names boosts milk yields. This extravagant and utterly unsubstantiated claim has been repeated in numerous places including the BBC and Scientific American (who should know better).
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Sid Vicious, Julieraptor, and the Ownership of Fossils
There is a thriving market in fossils, much of which can be found on-line. Extinctions, Inc (www.extinctions.com) claim to have the ‘… largest, most complete, and most detailed fossil websites on the internet’ and claim to have been selling fossils for over thirty years. A visitor to their extensive website can purchase the fossil of…
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Tennis and Sex
Once a week I thrash around haplessly on the tennis court. This week, I’m also a tennis spectator. While the global economy implodes, at least one event appears to be untouched – the 2009 Australian Tennis Open. Andrew Murray’s defeat yesterday means he can’t now net the eye-watering AUD$2 million first prize for the men’s…
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Polar exploration: small steps towards cheaper, safer, easier IVF?
A new method of screening eggs for IVF has been developed, promising better chances of successful IVF cycles. Two out of three women fail at each IVF attempt, and a large part of this is believed to be due to abnormalities in the number of chromosomes in the egg. Up to half of the eggs…
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Stem Cell Trials – Should They Go Ahead? Why Harm to Patients Is Not a Reason to Stop Them
Professor Savulescu comments: Professor Julian Savulescu is Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics and Director of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford, Director of the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics, and Director of the Program on the Ethics of the New Biosciences. He was also recently awarded a major Arts and Humanities Research Council grant…
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Announcement of Neuroethics Lectures: Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong will be giving two Leverhulme lectures and a special ethics seminar on Neuroscience and Neuroethics at the University of Oxford as part of his Leverhulme Visiting Professorship programme 2008 – 10. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong is Professor of Philosophy and Hardy Professor of Legal Studies, at Dartmouth College, and is and Co-Director, MacArthur Law and Neuroscience…