Peering into the mind and ‘new threats to privacy’
In recent studies, neuroscientists have been able to use brain imaging to reliably predict inner states such as lying or intention. In a groundbreaking study published in a recent issue of Nature (and briefly summarised here, here and here)…
Read MorePatientsLikeMe.com
The New York Times recently published a feature article on a website called PatientsLikeMe. This is an online community like facebook or MySpace, but with a medical twist. The members have serious medical conditions, like Parkinson’s diseas…
Read MoreAre artists, writers, sportsmen, academics, scientists, politicians, and businessmen addicts?
Various news sources this week, including Fox News and The Guardian, are reporting on an editorial published in this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry. In it, the author, Jerald J. Block, argues that internet addiction is a real psycho…
Read MoreA National Health Database
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…
Read MoreAdoption and the golden rule
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…
Read MoreRemembering what happened vs. remembering what it meant
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 …
Read MoreKilling the goose that laid the golden egg
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…
Read MoreIs it Wrong to Deliberately Select Embryos which will have Disabiltites?
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…
Read More‘Reasonable steps’ to prevent gambling
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…
Read MoreSmall is beautiful, ain’t it? The EU’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies Research
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…
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