From placenta to play centre
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Wilhelm Röntgen was a physicist, a man far more interested in understanding the building blocks of our universe than discovering medicines to cure the masses. In 1895, Röntgen performed a series of experiments…
Reason is the slave of the passions. So said David Hume, whom I’ve always considered to be one of the sanest of the grand old philosophers. Put more simply, Hume was telling us a cautionary tale about…
Christmas rolls around again like a tinselled-covered freight train. Shopping centres sway in unison to the tune of carols, while children test the patience of their parents as the queue slowly contracts…
The internet was ablaze last week with the news that health authorities in Western Australia (WA) have given approval for IVF clinics to ‘screen’ embryos to reduce the chances of a couple having a child…
There are few experiences more life-changing than having a child. Nine months of anticipation are followed by hours of intense excitement, until a squawk and a squeal signal the beginning of a new life…
Science and the media have long been uncomfortable bedfellows. Traditionally, much of the prickliness has come from the side of scientists, who (often unfairly) view ‘the media’ as having a tendency to…
Over the years, it has come to my attention that I’m a bit of a ‘charger’. I don’t mean this in any automotive sense, but rather it refers to my purposeful gait. On occasions where other people may amble…
Recently, a school in Perth, Australia announced that their teachers would be cutting back on praise and rewards for students. Their underlying idea is that over-praising children may not be the best way…
One of the most enjoyable aspects of my job is the talks that I am asked to give to graduating university classes and at awards ceremonies. Below is a talk in which I ask the question whether a science…
Over the past couple of years I’ve developed quite a crush on the English language. Sure, it may not have rhythm and melody of the Latin-based romance languages. Nor, does it have the elegant preciseness…