The promise of neurotechnology to make lives better is growing. But do we need a new set of rights to protect the integrity of our minds?“The skull acts as a bastion of privacy; the brain is the last private part of ourselves,” Australian neurosurgeon Tom Oxley says from New York.Oxley is the CEO of Synchron, a neurotechnology company born in Melbourne that has successfully trialled hi-tech...
Crew who grew first chilis in space face 20 hours in capsule‘Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges’, US astronaut saysAstronauts who will leave the International Space Station on Sunday will have to use diapers on the way home, because of a broken toilet in their SpaceX capsule.The Nasa astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation as “suboptimal” but manageable. She and...
The winning essay in the Max Perutz science writing award 2021, published below, was written by Vicky Bennett from the department of biology and biochemistry at Bath UniversityIn May, PhD students who are funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) were invited to enter the Max Perutz science writing award 2021 and write a compelling piece about their research for the non-scientific reader.From...
The traveller and TV presenter Simon Reeve on his quest to have a baby after being told he was infertileI still beat myself up about how much of an idiot I was over so many years. I’d always seen having children as a key part of my purpose on this planet, believing that creating new life was part of my biological destiny. It was fundamental to how I navigated the world.I’m slightly jealous, in...