Dec 02, 2015 03:39 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Was it Confucius who said its a funny old world? If he didnt he might well do so now. Having spent part of the last couple of weeks trying to breathe in Beijing, one cant help but be struck by the remarkable contradictions...
Gene editing in embryos is fraught with scientific and ethical issues
Dec 02, 2015 01:30 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology
Recent technological advances have revolutionised our ability to manipulate the genetic code, allowing us to specifically edit individual genes. Gene editing offers exciting potential for disease therapies but application...
Why we can trust scientists with the power of new gene-editing technology
Dec 02, 2015 01:09 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology
A summit of experts from around the world is meeting in Washington to consider the scientific, ethical and governance issues linked to research into gene editing. Convened in response to recent advances in the field, the...
IMF embraces the redback, but China reforms must go on
Dec 01, 2015 10:28 am UTC| Insights & Views
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to include the renminbi (RMB) in its basket of reserve currencies. The RMB, or yuan, has joined the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen...
Japan's whaling fleet sets sail again, and there's not much that can stop it
Dec 01, 2015 03:14 am UTC| Insights & Views Law
Japans whaling fleet will leave port today to resume whaling in the Southern Ocean as part of its new scientific program, NEWREP-A. Under the new program, Japan will kill 333 minke whales each summer. This is down from...
Dec 01, 2015 00:45 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
It has been said, rather cruelly, that Risk Management is 99% hindsight after 1% perspiration. That is because many failures of risk management only come to light after a disaster happens. But that is not always the case....
We need to talk about how Islamic State interprets Islam
Dec 01, 2015 00:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Life
Since capturing swathes of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State has embarked on a cyber-offensive to spread its message through social media. A great effort has been made to block and remove the content, to understand how this...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects