The lightning-fast quest for Covid vaccines
Nature 589, 16-18 (2021). Available here.
The CRISPR wars
A review of The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson, The Lancet 397, 1340-1341 (2021). Available here.
THE BOOK OF MINDS: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens
The Book of Minds: How to understand ourselves and other beings, from animals to AI to aliens by Philip Ball
Understanding the human mind and how it relates to the world that we experience has challenged philosophers for centuries. How then do we even begin to think about ‘minds’ that are not human?
In recent decades, the mind – both human and otherwise – has been explored by scientists in fields ranging from zoology to astrobiology, computer science to neuroscience. Taking a uniquely broad view of minds and where they might be found – including in plants, aliens, and God – The Book of Minds pulls these multidisciplinary pieces together. In so doing, it offers for the first time a unified way of thinking about what minds are and what they can do, arguing that in order to understand our own minds and imagine those of others, we need to move on from considering the human mind as a standard against which all others should be measured.
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THE BEAUTY OF CHEMISTRY: Art, Wonder, and Science
The Beauty of Chemistry: Art, Wonder, and Science by Philip Ball
Chemistry is not just about microscopic atoms doing inscrutable things; it is the process that makes flowers and galaxies. We rely on it for bread-baking, vegetable-growing, and producing the materials of daily life. In stunning images and illuminating text, this book captures chemistry as it unfolds. Using such techniques as microphotography, time-lapse photography, and infrared thermal imaging, The Beauty of Chemistry shows us how chemistry underpins the formation of snowflakes, the science of champagne, the colors of flowers, and other wonders of nature and technology. We see the marvelous configurations of chemical gardens; the amazing transformations of evaporation, distillation, and precipitation; heat made visible; and more.
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Has England learnt any lessons from the first wave of coronavirus?
The Guardian, 25 August 2020. Available here.