Category: Feature
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Once Upon a DNA
Omar Shabana explores the ins and outs of the information in our DNA, and how we use it. 26 Million. That’s the number of alleged DNA testing kits to be sold by the 4 biggest genetic-testing companies by the end of 2018. These companies have had a very successful marketing strategy: a promise to show…
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Advancing artificial womb technology
Over the last decade, reproductive assistance has taken a major leap forward, and one emerging new technology in this field is the artificial womb. When we think about the word ‘artificial’, it is not uncommon to associate words such as ‘fake’ and ‘unnatural’. Some have even compared this technology to the battery farms in The…
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What does dopamine actually have to do with happiness?
In popular media, neurotransmitters are often viewed as on-off switches for basic human emotions, but how true is this? Neurotransmitters are chemicals that regulate brain activity by facilitating connection between neurons. Dopamine, for example, is considered to be a switch for feelings of pleasure and happiness, but the reality is slightly more complex. It is…
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Let’s talk about autism.
We’re coming to the end of Autism Awareness Month, which has slipped by rather silently – the usual barrage of posters in schools, libraries, shopping centres and swimming pools could of course not happen this year. I often think that, as disorders go, this must surely be one that requires the least awareness raising. After…
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What makes a vaccine?
In the age of COVID-19, science communication has become more important than ever. In light of what President Trump has postulated in terms of injecting disinfectant as a treatment to the virus and that it is World Immunisation Week, we wanted to take this opportunity to discuss what makes a vaccine. Vaccines are one of…
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Sound: an invisible pollutant
When we think of ocean pollution, most of us visualise floating plastic, oil spills, or maybe even ocean acidification from rising CO2 levels. Samantha Cargill investigates why we now have to add noise pollution to the mix, too. Marine life exists in a world of sound. Almost all of the creatures in our oceans compose…
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Why do humans – and so few other animals – have periods?
Opposable thumbs, the power of speech, the capacity to think and reason: there are many reasons to relish being human. Regularly bleeding out of your vagina is not one of them. We are taught that menstruation is a normal part of the reproductive cycle, a necessary by-product of being a sexually reproducing species. Every cycle,…
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Do viruses make your clock tick wrong?
With the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic happening, let’s delve into one of the many clever strategies that viruses use to successfully infect their host – disruption of the body (circadian) clock. What is a circadian rhythm? Circadian rhythm is a natural cycle that repeats roughly every 24 hours. The circadian rhythm controls the timing of various…
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The brain is overrated: a look at cognition in slime mould
Historical, scientific and philosophical adventure into the nature of consciousness seems to have, nine times out of ten, made the assumption that cognition should be explored within the kingdom of animalia. This top down approach seeks to derive a mechanism for consciousness from that which we already know, rather than from first principles of computation.…
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Coronavirus – a breakdown
2019-nCoV, a previously unknown type of coronavirus, emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on December 31. Thousands of cases have been confirmed around China, with a few others scattered internationally. What is 2019-nCoV? Samples taken from patients exhibiting respiratory symptoms revealed a previously unknown virus within the coronavirus species, of the Coronaviridae family.…