Unpopular policy and public rationality
The BBC reports that the Japanese town of Kamikatsu has become the first ‘zero waste’ town. Residents compost all of their food waste, and must sort the rest of their rubbish into 34 different categories—all of which they must take to publi…
Read MorePaying to top up NHS treatment
The BBC has this week published a story on co-payment in the UK’s National Health Service. Sue Matthews, a Buckinghamshire woman with terminal bowel cancer, would like to top up her NHS care by paying for a £30,000 course of cetuximab…
Read MoreSport, Sudden Cardiac Death and Liberty
Sport, like life, is dangerous. Several fit young footballers have died of sudden unexpected heart attacks. Doctors are now calling for mandatory testing using ECGs of all athletes. Italy has been pursuing mandatory testing for 25 years. Th…
Read MoreActivists and acts of mercy
In Germany this week, and in Australia recently, there has been public concern and significant media attention about the actions of euthanasia activists. A former government official and lawyer, Roger Kusch, went public in Germany with a vi…
Read MoreComprehensive treatment for all: The NHS Constitution
The proposed NHS Constitution was published on Monday as a part of a consultation process to shape the future direction of the NHS. Daniel Finklestein in today’s Times suggests that the new constitution is an irresponsible document. Some of…
Read MoreEducation and the Fairness of Capital Punishment
Regardless of their views on capital punishment most people desire it to be centred on due process and fairness. But a software experiment, by showing that the likelihood of execution of people on death row can be predicted to high accuracy…
Read MoreHere’s why you’re not smart enough
An interesting article in The New York Times describes how the way in which the brain forms memories can, over time, lead to false information from noncredible sources being reinterpreted as true. The article notes that this may explain why…
Read MoreDuck and cover: how expensive does impact safety have to be?
This week is Tunguska week: on June 30 1908 a large meteoroid or comet exploded with the force of 5-30 megatons above the Tunguska River in Russia. The journal Nature celebrates it with several articles about impacts, ranging from a discuss…
Read MoreBehavioural Internet Advertising
A recent article in The Economist reports the development of a new behavioural approach to targeted internet advertising being developed by companies such as Phorm, NebuAd and FrontPorch (see http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory…
Read MoreWhen autonomy trumps sense: the costs of refusal to allow withdrawal of life support.
In Canada this week, an 84 year old man died after 9 months of treatment in an intensive care unit. He had severe brain damage and multi-organ failure, but his family sought a legal injunction to prevent doctors in the intensive care unit f…
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