The Sense of an Endling
A piece examining endlings, the final members of species, and human attempts to progress with something that was previously only referred to in science fiction novels – “De-extinction”.
Urban Evolution
Evidence suggests that evolution can take place much more rapidly than Darwin anticipated – this piece explores the phenomenon by looking at animals living around us in cities.
In a Perpetual Present
A story examining the unusual case of a middle aged woman who experiences everything in the present. The difference between her and many people in a similar situation is that rather than having the agony of losing the ability to form and access memories, she has never had it. This study of a life experienced without memory is illuminating and surprising.
ÔOur Saturn YearsÕ
A detailed look at the “insanely, wildly, beautifully successfulÓ Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn, which ended this month after nearly 20 years when its satellite made a planned plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere and burned up.
Why haven’t we found aliens yet?
This piece unpicks a recent scientific paper that offers a new slant on the Fermi paradox. The paradox addresses the apparent inconsistency in the vast scale of the universe and the lack of signs of life outside planet Earth. The new slant is in essence that we need to significantly adjust upwards the possibility that we are in fact alone and there is no paradox at all. The author quotes Carl Sagan in considering the implications of humanity’s solitude – “In all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life..the Earth is where we make our stand.”
The Nastiest Feud in Science
A piece looking at a bitter fight amongst geologists, stemming from the assertion made by a Princeton academic that the so-called fifth extinction (the one that got the dinosaurs) “was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions.” The debate is still relevant today, as scientists try to predict future extinction events that risk wiping us out.
Inside the Glowing-Plant Startup That Just Gave up Its Quest
The grand vision was to bioengineer plants that emitted enough light for practical purposes such as domestic lighting or street lamps. The vision did not come to pass.
Aliens in our midst
Whilst we look for alien life on other planets, this piece examines ctenophores – creatures closer to home that are “profoundly different from any other animal on Earth” – so much so in fact that they may be on an entirely different evolutionary path to their planetary cohabitants.
The Cognitive Biases Tricking Your Brain
A piece looking at the huge number of cognitive biases human beings are lumbered with, from a bias against evidence that counters our existing views, to prioritising rewards in the present over increased returns in the future.