Science & Tech

• Bionics (I): A mind to walk again May 17, 2012
  ANYONE who saw Claire Lomas complete this year’s London marathon on May 7th cannot fail to have been impressed by her grit and determination. Ms Lomas, once a show jumper, was paralysed from the chest down by a riding accident in 2007, so finishing a marathon, albeit at walking pace, was a dramatic feat. Some of the adulation, however, should be reserved for […]
• Bionics (II): I think I’d like some coffee May 17, 2012
  HELPING yourself to a cup of coffee may seem like a small, everyday thing. But not if you are quadriplegic. Unlike paraplegics, for whom the robotic legs described in the previous article are being developed, quadriplegics have lost the use of all four limbs. Yet thanks to a project organised by John Donoghue of Brown University, in Rhode Island, and his col […]
• The joys of parenthood: Father’s day May 17, 2012
  WILL fatherhood make me happy? That is a question many men have found themselves asking, and the scientific evidence is equivocal. A lot of studies have linked parenthood—particularly fatherhood—with lower levels of marital satisfaction and higher rates of depression than are found among non-parents.Biologically speaking, that looks odd. Natural selection mi […]