During the summer, much  research about the nature of attraction between opposite sexes has been published in various newspapers. I have tried to make some sense of them. Here I hope to show …

Conservative politicians claimed yesterday that there are not enough intensive care beds in the UK to cope with the surge in demand that may occur over winter if the flu pandemic re-emerges. They have called on the government to increase in…

A headline in the Daily Mail from yesterday highlights the cost of over treatment for extremely premature and marginally viable infants.     “Parents cause infant to suffer by forcing doctors to give futile treatment”. Des…

The British Medical Association has called for a complete ban on alcohol advertising. Wait for the knees to jerk: calls deriding the ‘nanny state’ and its paternalism will soon follow. One common theme, I predict, will be that the recommend…

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Science or Philosophy University of Oxford, Faculty of Philosophy, Future of Humanity Institute, James Martin 21st Century School Grade 7: £28,839 – £38,757 per annum (as at 1 Octo…

The moral debate about whether Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted for the Lockerbie bombing,  should have been released has now morphed into a political debate about who wanted what and who said what to whom: http://www.guardian…

Should we use drugs to prolong loving relationships?  Should we use drugs to weaken traumatic memories?  Research Associate David Edmonds’ article on enhancement for Prospect magazine is available online.  The articl…

What makes us happy? There is a lot of data on the question now, and some surprising conclusions. One surprising conclusion is cheering: almost all of us (around 95% of people in developed countries) rate ourselves as quite happy or better.…

By: David Edmonds In April 1915 there were hundreds of thousands of Armenians in Eastern Turkey: a year later they were gone. One historian told me that this fact was the relevant one.  And whether or not we call what occurred a ‘geno…

Ethicists disagree about very many things, but they broadly agree on how it is we should disagree: by finding flaws in the reasoning that leads others to a contrary conclusion, by putting forward arguments of our own, and so forth. The thou…