Plant-Based Burgers Aren’t Denting Our Beef Addiction
Alternative proteins were meant to reduce the carbon footprint of our diets. But it doesn’t look like people are switching … yet.Continue Reading
2022-08-05
DNA test kits are changing donor-conceived families
DNA testing is becoming more popular Shutterstock A law passed on April 1 2005 will have life-changing consequences for families across the UK from next year. Anyone conceived from a donated sperm, egg or embryo from that day onward can find out the identity of their donor parents once theyContinue Reading
2022-08-05
The health of British bulldogs is nothing to be proud of
We shouldn't breed dogs with health problems for their cute appeal ArtBBNV/Shutterstock The bulldog is a beloved British icon, according to a new study – one that is in very poor shape. A recent study by the UK’s Royal Veterinary College (RVC) compared the veterinary records of over 2,000 EnglishContinue Reading
2022-08-03
The tongue: how one of the body’s most sensitive organs is helping blind people ‘see’
The tip of the tongue is more sensitive than our fingertips. Anatoliy Karlyuk/Shutterstock Ever wondered why kissing feels better than holding hands? The tongue is a pretty incredible piece of kit, though notoriously difficult to study, due to its position inside the mouth. Obviously, it gives us access to theContinue Reading
2022-08-02
The Age of Brain-Computer Interfaces Is on the Horizon
Synchron has implanted its BCI in a US patient for the first time—bringing it a big step closer to distribution.Continue Reading
2022-08-01
Nudge theory doesn’t work after all, says new evidence review – but it could still have a future
Can nudging help us shop more sustainably? BearFotos/Shuttestock At the end of last year (2021), there was lots of excitement about the first comprehensive analysis of past research on techniques designed to change people’s behaviour (known as “nudging”), confidently showing that they work. This was great news for researchers, butContinue Reading
2022-07-31
Three reasons concrete doesn’t live up to its environmental claims
A group of construction workers on site. Bannafarsai_Stock/Shutterstock Up to 8% of all global anthropogenic human-made emissions are due to just one material, cement. And our use of it is rising. The cement and concrete industry is encouraging this use, for example, by claiming that using concrete will reduce theContinue Reading
2022-07-30
Before chickens became food for people, they were regarded as special exotica
A modern cockerel with dramatic plumage Robert May, https://robertmay.photography/, Author provided There are more chickens than any other species of bird on the planet. With three chickens for every human being, they are a food staple for millions of people around the world. But new research shows chickens were domesticatedContinue Reading
2022-07-28
Death literacy: why it’s important to talk about dying
When it comes to talking about death, we have no shortage of euphemisms. This is perhaps most famously illustrated in Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch from 1971. A pet shop worker insists to a customer that his new parrot is “not dead but resting, stunned, pining for the fjords, kippingContinue Reading
2022-07-27
Your Final Resting Place Could Be a Coffin Made of Mushrooms
Loop wants to rebuild the world with ecological structures made of fungal mycelium. Its proof of concept? Living coffins.Continue Reading
2022-07-26