Money for something: the importance of cost, benefit and evidence regarding...
Following yet another winter crisis in the NHS, it’s hard not to wonder about the distribution of resources in our healthcare system. One component of this is the provision of expensive drugs for...
View Article‘Liquid biopsy’ used for early detection of cancer
A team of researchers from John Hopkins University has achieved a major step towards one of the most desired goals in cancer research: a blood test for early tumour detection. Early detection, key to...
View ArticleBrain ‘Pacemaker’ for Alzheimer’s
Teams of researchers from the Wexner Medical Centre (Ohio State University), have implanted a pacemaker-like device in the skull of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. They claim this could slow the...
View ArticleThe Language Problem: is Esperanto worth it?
International communication has always been an issue in discussions of the future of the human race, but the situation is now becoming a crisis. A large amount of responsibility and hope is placed in...
View ArticleLewis Crofts on Brexit, Brussels, and finding a niche in the media market
For many years it has been common knowledge that with the growth of digital media platforms, newspapers and print journalism have been in a downward spiral. A fall in sales and advertising revenue has...
View ArticleAn audience with Bryan Cranston
It’s easy to list great actors who’ve been in the business for around four decades or more; Robert DeNiro, Daniel-Day Lewis, Harrison Ford, to name but a few. Yet you’d be hard pushed to find one as...
View ArticleThe voluntourism that is turning orphanages into tourist attractions
In 2016, J.K. Rowling tweeted a series of responses to a request to share an appeal from a charity which offers volunteering opportunities in orphanages, explaining why she could never endorse their...
View ArticleTaking our chances in China
Breakfast was passed around and, feeling as though I was in some sort of surreal dream, I munched on a cereal bar as I watched a bold motorcyclist brave the waist-deep floodwaters. ‘Shame, but it was...
View ArticleFive Parisian cinemas that the filmmakers loved
In the 2012 World Cities Culture Report – an international survey examining the cultural offerings of twelve cities – it was revealed that Paris had the highest number of cinemas in the world at 302;...
View ArticleNew fuel cell could transform renewable power
Fuel cells are a greener alternative to gas-powered engines because the way they produce electricity does not require burning up the fuel that powers them. However, given that they are expensive to...
View ArticleMajor mental illnesses share gene activity
Despite mental illness affecting one out of every six adults, the underlying knowledge about most neuropsychiatric disorders remains unclear. For a long time now, scientists have been aware that genes...
View ArticleRob Deeks on the vital work of Aik Saath in replacing conflict with cohesion
If there were ever an example of a negative correlation between arrogance and achievement, Rob Deeks would be it. At the helm of an organisation known as Aik Saath, he dedicates his time to the young...
View ArticleIs there really a thin line between love and hate? Scientists explore the age...
The line between love and hate is often described as painfully thin. This is a peculiar concept given the two polar opposite definitions of the words one can find in any dictionary. It seems logical to...
View Article5 unusual places to stay for a unique holiday experience
Going on holiday always involves a degree of escapism – leaving the realities of everyday life behind you for a while to seek out new places and new experiences, or just to take a much-needed break,...
View ArticleAre keepcups worth keeping?
I’ve been meaning to try out the Bodleian’s keepcups for some time now, and at last I have the perfect excuse of writing a review. I got mine for £6 from the Taylorian Institute, one of the nine...
View ArticleCocktail: “The Bridge Queue”
Get a large mixing bowl Add half a bottle of vodka Add half a bottle of peach schnapps Top up with orange juice and cranberry juice Finish with chopped fruit (strawberries/limes) This cocktail’s for...
View ArticleProfile: Dean Paton – on making heritage the next Big thing
The heritage industry in the UK is big business. With an estimated workforce of around 328,000 and with heritage tourism bringing in around £18.4 billion annually, it seems that a career in heritage...
View ArticleLove or Drugs? The parallels between social attachment and drug addiction
When it began, I felt euphoric with every encounter. Everything was a new, exciting and different pleasure. Each detail was entangled with this pleasure: touch, times, places, smells. Everything was a...
View ArticleProfile: Denise Wong and Edward Kandel
My first thought when I sat down to interview Denise Wong and Ed Kandel, two of the three team leaders of Campus Capital Oxford, was how impressed I was that they were juggling a degree, running a...
View ArticleSuperionic water ice: A ‘new’ form of matter?
A new form of water, named superionic ice, was created by scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The substance, which is simultaneously solid and liquid, consists of...
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