
Are the Japanese and Ecuador earthquakes related?
Apr 19, 2016 04:54 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck Japan on Friday, causing widespread injuries and property damage. Then on Saturday evening, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Ecuador on the other side of the Pacific, collapsing buildings...

Apr 19, 2016 04:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Health Law
The misuse or abuse of pharmaceutical pain medications usually opioids has received increasing media attention recently. The focus of such news items has largely been on people who transition from oral use of medication...

The argumentum ad whingeum: an idea whose time can't pass quick enough
Apr 19, 2016 04:39 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The marketplace of ideas is usually less a showroom for shiny new models and more of a cheery Op Shop. So its a big deal when a genuinely new argument is spotted in the wild even, or perhaps especially, when it comes from...
A precarious geological bargain
Apr 18, 2016 14:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature
The landscapes of the Xinjiang province of western China are very special. It is here the ancient trade routes of the Silk Roads skirt the great mountains and deserts of central Asia, weaving a magic thread through a...

Catholicism's multi-billion dollar brand is struggling despite Pope Francis
Apr 18, 2016 13:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
When the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told a newspaper the firm was doing Gods work, his appeal on behalf of higher powers was an attempt to rescue the tainted reputation not only of his own...

With Dilma Rousseff impeached, Brazil is set for years of political turmoil
Apr 18, 2016 13:15 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
The lower house of Brazils National Congress has voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Dilma Rousseff for allegedly covering up the scale of the countrys budget deficit, sending the case to the upper house. As the vote...

Positive inflation numbers take pressure off the RBNZ to act at April 28th meeting
Apr 18, 2016 12:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is scheduled to review its OCR on 28th April. Falling commodity prices and a recently stronger NZD have meant continued or increasing downward risks for New Zealand inflation. In the final...