The recently released film Life of Pi directed by Ang Lee and based on Yann Martel’s novel of the same name, is a fable for our climate change times. Much of the plot involves the struggles of a teenage…
Ben Goldacre spreading the news at the Free University of Glastonbury, June 2011.
Neil Melville-Kenney
The British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a poll in late-October 2012 asking, “Who is mainly at fault for denying access to negative clinical trial results?” Respondents were able to choose from a list…
The bizarre stuff that has been researched is staggering.
Judy Keys
You will have heard of the Ig Nobel prizes. These have been given out at Harvard University by real Nobel laureates since 1991, at a ceremony in which participants dress up in weird and wonderful garb…
Most of us know little about the experiences of people who are drawn to the multimillion dollar surrogacy industry.
Mike Reys
Assisted reproductive technology has grown significantly in Australia as in other countries and hundreds of thousands of children have now been born because of it around the world. Most of us know people…
Apparently, within six weeks you will have lost so much weight that you will be greeted with exclamations.
Michael F. Weinberg
The obesity epidemic sweeping across the world is being closely followed by another, more insidious epidemic – an ever-increasing number of books on how to lose weight. No two of these books advocate the…
The nature vs nurture dichotomy is wobbly and belongs in discussions from yesteryear.
sparklemotion0
Welcome to Peer Review, a series in which we ask leading academics to review books written by people working in the same field. Here Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology at the University of New…
Should the heights of academic endeavour be available for all?
andrevanb
For researchers, not least those in the sciences, being published in the right sort of journals is no vanity project. It’s a matter of huge importance, with very real implications for people’s careers…
“A venerable orang-outan”: editorial cartoon depicting Charles Darwin as an ape from The Hornet, 1871.
Author unknown
Neil Levy, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Welcome to Peer Review, a series in which we ask leading academics to review books written by people in the same field. Here Neil Levy, ARC Future Fellow, based at the Florey Neuroscience Institutes, reviews…
A universe composed differently could still support complex life.
Susan NYC
Welcome to Peer Review, a series in which we ask leading academics to review books written by people working in the same field. Here Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sydney…
The world’s first cyborg, artist Neil Harbission wears an eyeborg as an extension of himself rather than as part of his performance. NeilHarbisson.
Human enhancement is one of the most controversial and exciting areas in bioethics: advances in science promise a future world where we can radically alter our basic capabilities. This future may include…
Evolutionary biology can teach us a lot about rock ‘n’ roll music.
mariaguimaraes
Welcome to Peer Review, a new series in which we ask leading academics to review books written by people in the same field. Here Mark Elgar, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Melbourne…