This is Chauncy Morlan, and around 100 years ago his obesity was so shocking that people would pay money to see him as he toured the country as a circus “fat man”. I find the unremarkableness of his size to … Continue reading
I wouldn’t have thought you need to have a degree from the LSE to realise that the most effective way to reduce global CO2 emissions is to reduce the population. However that is what they have just stated in a … Continue reading
I must admit I hate exercise. Apart from cycling, perhaps. We have cycled from Munich to the Czech border and back in two weeks a few years ago. But where we live now is at the top of a 12 … Continue reading
The Guardian reports that the mafia has started selling cheap bread in Naples, attracting lots of customers, but the local authorities warn that the bread could cause cancer and that it is not so easy to identify. Originally, it was … Continue reading
I don’t like sitting in a smoky restaurant or pub and intensely dislike having smoking in my house. So you might think I’d be upset at the “smoker’s victory” being reported by the local and international press. The constitutional court … Continue reading
The New Yorker asks if the world’s food system is collapsing, and looks at how modern agriculture has defied the predictions of Thomas Malthus in his book “Essay on the Principle of Population” written in 1798. The picture is not … Continue reading
Researchers today are capable of building their own viruses: Thanks to steady advances in computing power and DNA technology, a talented undergraduate with a decent laptop and access to any university biology lab can assemble a virus with ease. Five … Continue reading
Looking back on this summer, I’d say that at least one person in the office has been suffering from a heavy cold at any moment in time. At least they don’t seem to have caught the mutation which has been … Continue reading
The largest ever study of the links between lifestyle and cancer has made 10 stark recommendations to reduce the risk of developing the disease… More >
Did we throw away the best weapon against malaria in the mid-1960′s? The New Scientist has an article on how, having nearly eradicated malaria betweeb 1958 and 1963, funds for the eradication were stopped one year earlier than would have … Continue reading