On Monday the world’s first lab-grown, in vitro burger was cooked and eaten in London. Professor Mark Post from Maastricht University, along with his colleagues, took adult stem cells from a cow and then turned them into strips of muscle, which they combined to make a beef patty. Some have dubbed the patty, the ‘Frankenburger’.…
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From my own personal experience, I find it more difficult to concentrate on something which requires sustained attention – when reading a book, for example – than I used to in the past. I believe that this diminishing ability to concentrate is a result of the internet; more specifically, the way in which I (and…
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Conflict minerals are minerals which are mined in areas of armed conflict, most notably the Democratic Republic of Congo. The control of the mines which contain these very valuable minerals is the source of a great deal of conflict. The conflict exists between the Congolese National Army and rebel groups, such as the Democratic Forces…
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Cryonics, which is usually confused with cryogenics, is the preservation of humans and animals using low temperatures. It is used on humans and animals which cannot be kept alive using modern medicine and the aim is that resuscitation would be possible at some future time. Preserving people and animals with cryonics – also called cryopreservation…
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Moore’s Law, named after the Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, says that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles every two years. Put more simply, computer processing power doubles every two years. Moore noted the trend in 1965 and it has held true ever since then. A super-computer which decades ago took up the…
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