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Shining monkey, sadistic conclusion?
Japanese researchers have genetically modified marmoset monkeys, and demonstrated that the modification can be inherited by their offspring. The modification was the standard green fluorescent protein making the monkey's glow green under UV light, a marker to demonstrate that the modification worked (BBC shows a picture of their feet glowing "an eerie green", while the
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Forensic Failure
Testimonial power is the power we have to determine the opinion of others by testifying. To testify is to make sincere assertions in such circumstances under which we are understood to be offering those assertions as to be worth relying upon. When things go well, we tell people what we know and they come to
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Free will and brain stimulation
A study published recently in Science magazine investigated human volition in patients undergoing brain surgery. Michel Desmurget and his colleagues electrically stimulated the brains of seven subjects awake under local anaesthesia. When the right inferior parietal regions were stimulated, the subjects reported an intention to move their left hand, arm or foot. Stimulation of the
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facial transplantation and identity
Newspapers recently showed pictures of two people, a man and a woman, who underwent facial transplantations after serious accidents disfigured a large part of their faces. Both recipients were satisfied with the result, and they hope they can now resume a normal life, just like the first woman to receive this kind of transplant five
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A ‘bonkers waste of money’?
The University of Oxford and the British government have come under fire for spending £300,000 on a study showing that 'ducks like water' (see e.g. The Guardian). The Taxpayer's Alliance has issued a statement pillorying this 'bonkers waste of money', and on surface it sounds like they're right. However, when you look deeper it becomes
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Self-control matters – but to what extent can it be taught?
Recently in the news, a report published by the independent think-tank Demos reminds us of the importance of the capacity for self-control (it also mentions empathy, to which most of the following remarks apply) in determining life outcomes. It argues that self-control lessons should be taught at school if children, particularly from deprived backgrounds, are
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It would be foolish of me to attempt to say anything substantive about the ethics of abortion in a blog post. But I do want to comment on Obama’s recent foray into the question, as well as on one interpretation of those comments. Addressing the graduating class of Notre Dame University, a traditionally Catholic university,
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Decimating Democracy?
Labour MP Shahid Malik has resigned as justice minister after claims about his expenses were published in the Daily Telegraph: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8051091.stmShortly before standing down, he claimed that the extensive media coverage of the expenses issue is in danger of ‘decimating democracy’. There’s room for debate about whether Mr Malik is using the verb ‘to decimate’
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How much should we care about MPs’ expense claims?
Few people in the UK could have missed the furious storm about MPs’ expense claims that has dominated the news headlines for the past several weeks. A steady flow of stories has revealed not only which MPs bent the rules on expenses, but also that many of the rules are themselves objectionable and arguably facilitate a