The biology behind your social attitudesBiology doesn’t just affect you physically; it can shape your ideas and politicsThu Apr 18 2013 - 07:00
Gender is not a social constructThere is a strong biological basis to gender and it cannot be healthy to frustrate such tendenciesThu Apr 04 2013 - 06:00
The emergence of deadly drug-resistant tuberculosisCatastrophic global outbreak of TB fearedThu Mar 21 2013 - 06:00
The truth about antioxidantsOPINION: I’ve taught many students that one of the most dangerous things they do is breatheThu Feb 21 2013 - 00:00
Resurrecting mammoth evolutionary dead endsOpinion: The film Jurassic Park featured dinosaurs cloned from DNA recovered from insects preserved in prehistoric amberThu Jan 03 2013 - 00:00
Why there's a little of the psychopath in us allConsider how you would act in the following situations.Thu Dec 20 2012 - 00:00
Time to tackle the fat and refuse to be passiveOpinion: Ireland is suffering from an epidemic of obesityThu Dec 06 2012 - 00:00
Engineers, scientists may carry autism geneOPINION: Question: “How would you recognise an extrovert mathematician?” Answer: “He’s the mathematician who looks at your shoes…Thu Nov 15 2012 - 00:00
How did we all get to be so clever?Thanks to our improved ability in abstract reasoning, we are all getting better at IQ testsThu Nov 01 2012 - 00:00
Quality not quantity to tackle fraudThe pressure to secure grants can force scientists to publish work that offers little value – and can lead to misconductThu Oct 18 2012 - 01:00
In through the tap, out through the plugholeMAINSTREAM SCIENCE has shown that the world is warming, almost certainly because of human-induced emissions of warming gases …Thu Sept 20 2012 - 01:00
Forget free will and exercise free won'tMany scientists believe free will is an illusion. If so, do we have no control over our actions?Thu Sept 06 2012 - 01:00
Why does the return journey feel quicker?Researchers have come up with convincing models for how time is measured by memoryThu Aug 16 2012 - 01:00
Why poor will pay for fatter worldTHE RAPID expandsion of the world’s population raises the problem of how to feed all of these extra mouthsThu Jul 05 2012 - 01:00
The best advice is to follow your gut instinctThe bacteria in your digestive system is so vital to health and well-being that it is sometimes called the ‘forgotten organ…Thu Jun 21 2012 - 01:00
Fusion energy still a pipe dreamNUCLEAR FUSION is the holy grail of power generation, promising the safe, clean generation of boundless energy from essentially…Thu Jun 07 2012 - 01:00
The simple secret to a healthy lifeWE ARE constantly bombarded with advice on a healthy lifestyleThu May 31 2012 - 01:00
New study shows gene link to IQTHE RELATIVE extent to which human intelligence is determined by our genes and by our environment is an old debate – the “nature…Thu May 03 2012 - 01:00
Strategies for dealing with deathDEATH IS ONE of the few things we can be sure of. In the bad-news stakes, death must be the leading contender for top spot.Thu Apr 19 2012 - 01:00
Overweight? Reduce risks by staying fitWE ARE BOMBARDED nowadays with warnings about the dangers to our health of growing fat but, despite these warnings, obesity statistics…Thu Apr 05 2012 - 01:00
Much ado about nothingTODAY I will bounce off perhaps the most fundamental question ever asked, “Why is there something rather than nothing?”, which…Thu Mar 15 2012 - 00:00
Philosophers divide on moral groundWE PICTURE philosophers as people who read and think deeply about the nature of things and publish a distillation of these thoughts…Thu Mar 01 2012 - 00:00
The pros and cons of fracking for natural gasTHE RECENT combination of hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”) with horizontal drilling has transformed previously…Thu Feb 16 2012 - 00:00
A healthier life? Your prayers are answeredDevoutly religious people tend to live healthier lives, but even non-believers can benefit from emulating the religious lifestyle…Thu Jan 05 2012 - 00:00
Overcoming stem cell research difficultiesPROPONENTS OF human embryonic stem cell research (HESCR) pitched their case for support on the basis that it would lead to cures…Thu Dec 15 2011 - 00:00
Flight of the bumble bee generating a lot of buzzI WAS recently listening to The Flight of the Bumble Bee , composed by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov, which reminded me of the oft-…Thu Dec 01 2011 - 00:00
Scientists need to take the climate gloves offTHE BRITISH Nobel Laureate physiologist Sir Peter Medawar (1915-1987), justifiably described science as “incomparably the most…Thu Nov 17 2011 - 00:00
The great mysteries of life are biochemicalSOME OF THE greatest mysteries in science are chemical mysteriesThu Nov 03 2011 - 00:00
Explanation overdue for combustion of humansHow can a person burst into flames and burn almost completely while leaving the surroundings largely unscathed?Thu Oct 20 2011 - 01:00
Parents avoid child vaccines at their perilMANY PARENTS worry about the safety of the standard childhood vaccinations recommended by the health servicesThu Oct 06 2011 - 01:00
So why the mixed messages on salt?Despite the received wisdom, recent studies seem to say that reducing salt offers no benefitsThu Sept 01 2011 - 01:00
Sunspots indicate colder wintersBut will cold conditions in Europe have any impact on the problem of global warming?Thu Aug 04 2011 - 01:00
Beware of amateur scientistsBy all means listen, but paying undue attention to amateur opinion hinders progressThu Jul 07 2011 - 01:00
Gender can't be freely chosenTHE RECENT decision by Canadian couple Kathy Witterick and David Stocker to withhold knowledge of the sex of their third child…Thu Jun 16 2011 - 01:00
Bias clue in explaining false beliefIT IS COMMON for people to pay attention to evidence that supports what they want to believe and to ignore evidence to the contrary…Thu Jun 02 2011 - 01:00
Danger of creating weeds we can't controlASKED TO name a chemical pesticide, I’m sure most readers would cite RoundupThu May 19 2011 - 01:00
Stem-cell research gets new horizonStem cell therapy involves inducing stem cells to turn into healthy new tissue to replace failing tissueThu May 05 2011 - 01:00
Despite the high-profile accidents, we need nuclear energyThe general safety record of nuclear power is excellent when compared to other ways of producing powerThu Apr 21 2011 - 01:00
If aliens come to visit, they'll probably be much cleverer than usAstronomers are always on the lookout for any sign of an alien civilisation in space. But what would we do if we found one?Thu Apr 07 2011 - 01:00
There's no time like the presentWe can turn back the clocks but we cannot stop time from moving forward as it is linked to the survival of human beingsThu Nov 04 2010 - 00:00
Advances in weaponry not matched by moralityROBOTS ARE THE latest scientific aids to warfareThu Aug 19 2010 - 01:00
Climate-change sceptics should be given a fair hearingTHE GREAT majority of climate scientists say that the world is warming, human activities are contributing strongly to this warming…Thu Jul 15 2010 - 01:00
Why our intellectuals have missed the reality of MarxismTHE EUROPEAN intellectual community, including the scientific community, should be embarrassed by the easy ride it gave to communism…Thu Jul 01 2010 - 01:00
Getting to grips with what graduates do nextTHIS WEEK I have culled some interesting facts and figures from two Higher Education Authority (HEA) publications, both available…Thu May 06 2010 - 01:00
Why our ignorance of the dark universe doesn't matterBELIEVE IT or not, scientists do not understand the nature of 96 per cent of the fabric of the universe.Thu Apr 29 2010 - 01:00
Grappling with the rights and wrongs of euthanasiaI RECENTLY wrote about start-of-life bioethical issuesThu Apr 15 2010 - 01:00
Moving from fission to fusion is the Holy Grail of nuclear energyNUCLEAR FUSION, which promises the clean production of virtually limitless energy from readily available raw materials, is the…Thu Mar 25 2010 - 00:00
Plausible theory for beaching of whalesWE HAVE ALL seen the pictures on television – a massive beached whale lying helpless on the sand, its big soulful eyes staring…Thu Mar 11 2010 - 00:00
Dolphins top chimps as our closest intellectual relationsBIOLOGISTS have long thought that the chimpanzee was the animal closest in intelligence to the human, but recent work assigns…Thu Feb 18 2010 - 00:00
