Henry David Thoreau (1816-1862) is perhaps most famous for his book Walden, which details how he independently and self-sufficiently lived in the woods for two years. Thoreau’s focus on the virtue of individualism in this book positioned him as one of the major figures of transcendentalism. This philosophical movement centred around the belief that individuals are inherently…
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Fractal comes from the Latin word fractus (translated as ‘fractured’) and it refers to any irregular, ‘fractured’ looking shape. The term was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot, the IBM mathematician who first produced computer-generated images of fractals and mathematically interpreted nature in his book The Fractal Geometry of Nature. The most famous computer-generated fractal shape is the Mandelbrot set, related…
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People choose a vegan diet usually for ethical, health or environmental reasons. These are all valid reasons and I expect that most people justify their plant-based diet on the basis of either animal welfare or animal rights. However, not everyone is receptive to the idea of valuing animals because they are sentient or because they…
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So earlier this year Dutch scientists used stem cells to create strips of muscle tissue, which many are claiming is a sign of greater things to come – the mass production of lab-grown hamburgers! An exciting prospect…but for who? Well, potentially, everyone. At the moment it is estimated that with current techniques, the cost of…
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According to the British Humanist Association (BHA), there are currently 7000 state-funded faith schools in the UK, mostly Christian, but all are legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. Furthermore, all are exempt from the normal classroom inspections that other schools are subject to. This discrimination is unfair to children or teachers who…
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