Dead white men: What have they ever done for us?William Reville: We have good reason to be proud of our European heritageThu Feb 6 2020 - 01:00
Are we alone in the Milky Way galaxy?One possible reason Earth has not been visited by aliens is that we’re a lonely planet with few other inhabitable neighbours in our galaxyThu Feb 6 2020 - 00:00
Serendipity has played a prominent part in many scientific discoveriesFortunate unplanned discoveries include penicillin, Viagra, x-rays, radioactivity and microwave ovensThu Jan 16 2020 - 01:00
How William Harvey taught the world how the heart worksEnglishman defied popular wisdom with his research of blood circulation systemThu Dec 19 2019 - 01:00
Pushing up the daisies . . . literallyA new, greener, option for disposing of human remains is to turn the corpse into a compost suitable for fertilising garden soilThu Dec 19 2019 - 00:00
The free market is a rigged casinoSo much for notion that redistribution of wealth is soft-hearted generosity pandering to the lazyThu Dec 5 2019 - 00:00
Why ‘jazz hands’ is not the way to combat anxietyYoung people must learn to be resilient rather than avoid stressful situationsThu Nov 21 2019 - 06:00
Ultraprocessed food linked to the worldwide epidemic of obesityThere is a hypothesis that eating ultraprocessed foods can disrupt signals between the gut and the brain, encouraging us to keep eatingThu Nov 7 2019 - 09:55
How to perform well under pressureHaving a positive attitude about yourself can help you to perform better under stressTue Oct 8 2019 - 10:13
Mental fragility and the traditional familyA weakened sense of identity is contributing to a surge in loneliness and depressionThu Oct 3 2019 - 01:00
Story of life: Seven wonders of biological researchFrom cells and DNA to cloning and biochemistry, here are life’s milestonesThu Sep 19 2019 - 06:00
America’s nuclear shield may not be as secure as Trump saysRecent articles highlight deficiencies in system used to protect against nuclear attackThu Sep 5 2019 - 10:42
Fallout after my science and religion columnWhat I said was inaccurately portrayed and my intentions misinterpretedThu Aug 1 2019 - 06:03
Why man’s best friend should be treasuredDogs give us great pleasure and companionship, they give us the precious gift of unconditional love and they teach us to appreciate non-human animal lifeThu Aug 1 2019 - 00:00
Philosophers claim global warming makes having children immoralIf we were to accept the argument and act ‘morally’, the world’s population would die out – as a solution to climate change, it seems a bit nutsThu Jul 18 2019 - 00:00
Did early scientists owe a debt to the slave trade?Naturalists in need of samples took advantage of the routes taken by slave shipsThu Jul 4 2019 - 06:00
Is dark matter composed of black holes?The embarrassing gap in science’s understanding of the universe may soon be filledThu Jun 20 2019 - 01:00
How to recognise alien lifeLife on other planets may not be carbon- and water-based but the familiar principles of natural selection will almost certainly applyThu Jun 6 2019 - 00:00
Science would be well advised to avoid picking fights with religionPromoting science to replace religion often has the opposite effect, and scientists would be well-advised to stop picking futile fightsThu May 16 2019 - 13:48
Plants are worthy of same compassion we show animalsIncredibly versatile life forms that dominate the planet deserve greater respectThu May 2 2019 - 01:00
The mirror test of self-awarenessOnly a handful of species have been shown to possess the ability of visual self-recognitionThu Apr 18 2019 - 01:00
Hyping the microbiome may have unpleasant side effectsData is piling up but a theory with which to interpret it remains to be developedThu Apr 4 2019 - 01:00
Israeli cancer treatment could be something specialCompany’s efforts to address issues around cell mutations met with scepticismThu Mar 21 2019 - 04:00
Earth’s population may start to fall from 2040. Does it matter?William Reville: As populations age and are not replenished, societies could be strainedThu Mar 7 2019 - 01:00
Humans are not ready to take red meat totally off the menuOur diets may be bad for our health, but a vegetarian world would create new problemsThu Feb 21 2019 - 06:00
Apes can be lazy and never get fat. We can’t. How come?Understanding the difference explains why modern lifestyles damage our healthThu Jan 31 2019 - 06:00
Patient care and enzyme release appear crucial to placebo effectResearch points to biochemical basis for perplexing but powerful medical treatmentThu Jan 17 2019 - 01:30
New doctrine threatens freedom of speech in universitiesBowing to fear of causing offence undermines fundamental principle of free enquiryThu Jan 3 2019 - 01:00
Did life begin on Earth in volcanic pools?Confirmation of hypothesis could guide exploration for life on other planetsThu Dec 20 2018 - 06:00
New eugenics proposals must be interrogated very carefullyWilliam Reville: Social pressure on parents to go along with genetic enhancement of offspring would be greatFri Nov 30 2018 - 14:14
Self-esteem is great – so long as it is rooted in realityWilliam Reville: The misguided US self-esteem fad lingers on this side of the AtlanticThu Nov 15 2018 - 05:00
Is religion good for children?Harvard study indicates religious upbringing helps adolescents navigate life’s challengesThu Nov 1 2018 - 01:00
We know Earth is special. So are we alone in the galaxy?The Milky Way is extremely unlikely to contain another technological civilisationThu Oct 18 2018 - 01:00
Are humans naturally monogamous or polygamous?Balance of evidence indicates we are biologically inclined towards monogamyThu Oct 4 2018 - 01:00
The dodgy science of wiping your backsideWilliam Reville: Predatory journals can contaminate scientific literatureThu Sep 20 2018 - 01:00
Biological elitism: the result of tinkering with human genomes?Despite ethical unease, germ-line modification will surely find mainstream acceptanceThu Sep 6 2018 - 07:00
How human cells can be reprogrammed to renew our bodiesScientists hope to use pluripotent stem cells to replace organs that have failedThu Aug 16 2018 - 01:00
Are genetically modified organisms safe?Green criticism has undermined public and political confidence in GMOs but science proves they are no riskier than more traditional methodsThu Aug 2 2018 - 00:00
Suicide: the best strategies attempting to counter this major problemWe have been surprisingly passive in Ireland in responding to issueThu Jul 19 2018 - 01:00
Searching for planets beyond our solar systemThe discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence would be truly transcendingThu Jul 5 2018 - 01:00
Next big debate in Ireland will be about assisted suicideDo you agree that all lucid adults should have the legal right to end their own lives?Thu Jun 21 2018 - 01:00
How to live 10 years longerFive lifestyle practices can dramatically lower mortality rates, research showsThu Jun 7 2018 - 06:00
First drinking ‘protects your heart’. Then it ‘shortens your life’. Who to believe?Health researchers should tread carefully to avoid the alcohol-guidelines morassThu May 17 2018 - 01:00
The power and the limits of scienceScience’s success in understanding the natural world motivates some scientists to claim that it is all-powerful and will eventually explain absolutely everythingThu Apr 26 2018 - 14:05
Paul Kammerer may have been an honest scientistRecent re-examination of his work suggests that he may have discovered epigenetic inheritance, a phenomenon not recognised until long after his deathThu Apr 12 2018 - 15:54
Hopes for successful obesity treatment flicker at last‘Quite simply, we have found support for the existence of internal bathroom scales’Thu Mar 29 2018 - 16:08
When government is the biggest funder of scientific endeavourThe formula for optimum distribution of funding between basic and applied research is not being applied at presentMon Mar 12 2018 - 11:25
To bee or not to bee‘Much more attention must be paid to how beehives are deployed and account must be taken of the effect on local pollinators’Thu Feb 22 2018 - 15:11
Why producing bulls**t requires few convictionsScience is not immune to allure of BS, and we’re not as good at detecting it as we thinkThu Feb 15 2018 - 03:00
Explaining consciousness: the mind-matter connectionThe old answer to the problem of how the world existed before the advent of conscious observers was that God was watching itThu Feb 1 2018 - 00:00