Opinion
Restoration: A Medieval Understanding of ‘Science’
Title image by Lizzie Daly By Sea Yun Pius Joung As one enters the quadrangle of our beloved Bodleian, one can’t help but notice the grandeur of it all—the ancient windows; the scent of old books; the archways leading into mysterious rooms such as the schola moralis philosophiae, the schola astronomiae et rhetoricae, or the schola…
How important is diversity in STEM?
By Georgia Shave People working in science get to decide what is important, and how it gets researched. These decisions determine what society views as truth in science. When there is a lack of diversity in the people deciding what counts as truth, we are only getting a partial scientific perspective. Having only a partial…
IQ is meaningless—here’s why
Deepra Sinha I was sixteen when I took an IQ test. It was the result of an offhand comment from my parents, expressing that it would be cool if I were a member of Mensa. That remark led me to take the free IQ test available on the Mensa website; when I scored 100% on…
Fighting the ‘Infodemic’ – changing people’s personal truths
Jack Blowers A recent report from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate has revealed 31 million people follow anti-vaxxer groups on Facebook and a further 17 million are subscribed to equivalent YouTube channels – whose videos are likely viewed and shared by many more. Currently, despite the apparent success of the UK vaccination program, there…
Of mice and women: the gender bias in science
Sian Wilcox March marks Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the achievements of women. We hear of fantastic women from history and the present day, and the huge impact they have had in advancing our society. An ever-present theme to these stories, however, is that of constant barriers and setbacks that these women continue…
JE NE SUIS PAS MARIE CURIE
Image credit: Anoop Dey and Clarissa Pereira If I ask my two nine-year-old brothers to name a female scientist, they might tell me about Jane Goodall, and perhaps Mary Anning too, although it will take them a few minutes to remember them. If they’re feeling particularly kind, they might name me. But the one scientist…
Virtual healthcare, here to stay?
Sophie Thompson The digitisation of healthcare is not a new idea—indeed it was a clear ambition of the NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, which proposed that all patients should have the right to a ‘digital first’ primary care offer by 2023/2024. The pandemic, however, necessitated a much more rapid realisation of this…
We need to futureproof our zoos.
Hannah King When you picture a zoo, what do you see? A lone bear in a concrete cage, its fur matted from neglect, pacing listlessly in front of an audience of impatient tourists? Or do you imagine a butterfly house, with a flurrying kaleidoscope of insects and children gazing upwards, eyes alight with wonder? Or…
Why politics has no place in science
Joshua Mitchell With the pandemic likely drawing to an end, mass vaccine rollout for COVID-19 underway, and climate change issues very much in the mainstream, science has never been so broadly and so prevalently in the headlines. While this undoubtably sparks interest and inspiration, the increasing incorporation of political themes is sowing distrust, ultimately undermining…
Human genome editing is here—and you’re right to be wary.
Frederico Caso Human genome engineering has long sounded like a concept out of a Sci-Fi movie; believed to be possible sometime soon, but difficult to imagine happening right now. While engineering of the human genome might appear an implausible feat, over the last 20 years technological advancements have been turning this concept into a concrete reality….