Clik here to view.
In Ctrl: How much help do you want from your computer?
Helpful computer? When I tap my phone’s sound settings icon, it automatically switches to silent mode before I get to the menu to do it myself. The first time this happened, I was rather unnerved but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Piano plague in D minor
Why would 19th-century doctors want to ban piano lessons for girls? Did they truly believe that learning to play music could cause sexual and neurotic disorders? Or were there sociological reasons for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
September 2012 public engagement events
Our round-up of upcoming science and medical-themed events supported through our public engagement awards. We start this month with a public debate. ‘Freeing Us From Our Cells: Avoiding Inherited...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Optimism and pessimism: What makes us who we are?
Some people appear to be incurable pessimists, seeing the negative in everything. Others are upbeat and optimistic convinced they could cope with whatever life throws at them. At the extremes, these...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nasty noises and neuroscience
Chalk on a blackboard? A knife on glass? Even the thought of some of these sounds makes people squirm. In our office the topic sparked an instant discussion, everyone has an opinion as to what sounds...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The inner noise sublimation: Can hearing voices be normal?
We’re publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. In this article, Marika Ciuffa discusses proposed changes in the way psychiatrists understand and interpret...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why can’t we talk to the animals?
We’re publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. Here, Ben Ambridge describes one theory of why our pets don’t talk back. A sulky-looking chimpanzee As a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lost in translation: The dangers of using analogies in science
We’re publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. In this article, Richard Roche explains how analogies can sometimes get in the way of science, not to mention...
View ArticleClik here to view.
We are what we repeatedly do
We’re publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. Here, Dave MacLeod on what our habits tell us about ourselves. Imagine how difficult life would be if you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering to forget
We’re publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. Today, Ravi Das on how new understanding of memory may help us treat drug addiction. Welcome to the game. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Working out who’s top dog
A new study reveals how the brain interprets information about social hierarchy. Dr Jen Middleton, senior media officer at the Wellcome Trust, explains the findings and what they might mean in real...
View ArticleClik here to view.
As easy as riding a bicycle?
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been publishing the shortlisted entries to the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, in association with the Guardian and the Observer. This year, one entry in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Portrait of a Fly (part 1): Come fly with me
For more than a hundred years, scientists have used the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) to study the fundamentals of developmental biology and genetics. But as biological understanding and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Good vibrations: Fly mating gets all shook up
The courtship of common fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), involves the male making a number of specific moves on the female.If successful, this causes her to stop in her tracks. Her immobility...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Portrait of a Fly (part 2): Fly on the wall
Drosophila: the model model organism; the humble fruit fly with a noble (not to mention Nobel) place in the history of science. Having learned about its importance in genetics and developmental...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A blog about fog
Do we drive faster when our vision is impaired? As eLife, a new open-access online journal, has officially launched this week, here’s our take on some research they published in advance that shows what...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ThInK: A blog about the brain
A new year brings a new blog on our block. ThInk is a new blog dedicated to exploring the human brain and the science, art and innovation that spring from it. The blog, inspired by the BNA 2013:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Depth, doorknobs and distortions: Uncovering the secrets of 3D vision
A distorted reflection of an eye Since the ugly duckling first peered into the pond, we have always been fascinated by reflections. Now scientists researching how the brain processes visual information...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bridging the gap at a stroke
claimtoken-5110db4d5fad4 A tale of two halves “The patient is a 62-year-old professor of anatomy who was suddenly taken ill during a lecture-trip abroad.” ‘The patient’ is also the author in this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Quantum mechanics stinks
Our sense of smell has been in the news recently, with some new research published into how our noses detect different substances’ odours. Our other senses – sight, touch, taste and hearing – are well...
View Article