The Australian Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has announced plans for a national health database. According to a report in The Australian today, the current version of these plans includes enabling patients t…

We have good reason to admire parents who are able to care for children like Imogen. The challenges that they face are enormous, and the personal sacrifices that they make are often extraordinary. But should we demand parents sacrifice thei…

An upcoming issue of the Psychological Bulletin will include a review suggesting that the memories of children may be more reliable – at least for evidential legal purposes – than the memories of adults. The review conducted by …

The US government has just announced that it is likely to close its enormous Pacific salmon fishery, which stretches across 80% of the USA’s west coast. The once vast salmon stocks have crashed and are now at a mere 6% of the long-ter…

A current bill before Parliament would revise the current regulation of IVF. One clause has caused great debate, especially amongst people with disabilities. It states: (9) Persons or embryos that are known to have a gene, chromosome or mit…

The BBC reports today that a compulsive gambler has failed in a High Court bid to make the bookmaker William Hill repay £2 million of his gambling losses. The gambler, Graham Calvert, claimed that the bookmaker failed in its ‘duty of c…

While some see nanotechnology as the solution to our most pressing current problems, or at least as the basis for rapid future technological progress, others fear that nanotech might yield unprecedented catastrophic consequences. Even outsi…

Last month Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that the British Government intended to compel supermarkets to charge customers for plastic bags. The Australian Government has threatened to take the attack on plastic bags even further. Lat…

An article in the current issue of Science examines the extent to which new policies regarding the governance of clinical trials promote transparency. It goes on to suggest further issues that remain unaddressed and require attention. The a…

Ageing is a mysterious process. There is a good deal of ongoing research aimed at trying to understand its biological cause, though much remains unknown. But should we try to make our lives longer? In an era of increasing environmental awar…