How big data has created a big crisis in science
Dec 16, 2018 12:50 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
Theres an increasing concern among scholars that, in many areas of science, famous published results tend to be impossible to reproduce. This crisis can be severe. For example, in 2011, Bayer HealthCare reviewed 67...

What winter solstice rituals tell us about indigenous people
Dec 16, 2018 12:50 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science
On the day of winter solstice, many Native American communities will hold religious ceremonies or community events. The winter solstice is the day of the year when the Northern Hemisphere has the fewest hours of...
The key to our humanity isn't genetic, it's microbial
Dec 16, 2018 10:35 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
What if the key to perfecting the human species were actually … yogurt? The fantasy of trying to perfect humanity through genetics was recently reignited by the announcement of the Chinese scientist claiming to...

It's not so easy to gain the true measure of things
Dec 15, 2018 16:43 pm UTC| Science
I teach measurement the quantification of things. Some people think this is the most objective of the sciences; just numbers and observations, or what many people call objective facts. Lord Kelvin, a famous British...
The contest for the worst air pollutant
Dec 15, 2018 16:31 pm UTC| Nature Science
In its report published on June 28, 2018, the French Agency for Health Safety (ANSES) presented a list of 13 new priority air pollutants to monitor. Several air pollutants that are harmful to human health are already...

Opening Pandora's Box: Gene editing and its consequences
Dec 08, 2018 17:28 pm UTC| Science
Today, the scientific community is aghast at the prospect of gene editing to create designer humans. Gene editing may be of greater consequence than climate change, or even the consequences of unleashing the energy of the...

Why biodiversity is key to our survival
Dec 08, 2018 17:27 pm UTC| Science
Diversity, be it genetic, morphological, behavioural or ecological, is at the heart of many controversies. It fascinates us or worries us, depending on the context. But what is biological diversity? How useful is it, how...