Technology Mother robot tops up her kids' flagging batteries Even the most intelligent robot is useless without power. While advanced robots like Honda's Asimo regularly astonish audiences with their dexterity, the power-hungry humanoid needs a change of battery after only 40 minutes. For future robots to perform useful tasks, such as undertaking construction work or exploring disaster zones, they will need smarter ways to … 51¶¯Âþ
Life Interview: How we tell right from wrong Marc Hauser Audio: We devote a full episode of our weekly podcast, SciPod, to exploring Marc Hauser's work on the "moral organ" and what it means to our notions of justice and fair play. Listen to it here (mp3 format) . In a hospital emergency room, five critically ill patients desperately need organ transplants. A … Opinion
Life Reading fiction with Darwin's eyes MARXIST, radical feminist, Foucauldian, deconstructionist, post-colonial and queer. It reads like the fight card for an ideological battle royal. In fact, these are some of the major schools of thought in literary criticism from the past 40 years – and they have much in common. Central to these and all other approaches to understanding literature … Features
Jobs in pharma: Basic skills are key YOU'VE probably heard about revolutionary antibody treatments for cancer and the excitement surrounding disciplines such as proteomics. Perhaps you fancy yourself as one of tomorrow's pioneers who will exploit our knowledge of the human genome to create medical breakthroughs for AIDS, cancer or Alzheimer's. There is no doubt that the pharmaceutical industry needs smart scientists … Careers
Life Review: Digging up the Dead: Uncovering the life and times of an extraordinary surgeon, by Druin Burch Books & Arts
Feedback Horse-drawn solar power HERE is a heart-warming little story for the greens among us. Occasionally, Hester Lacey tells us, she happens across some of the very few remaining horse-drawn travellers down the back lanes of Dorset in the rural south-west of England. These travellers, she says, live one of the greenest lifestyles available in the … Regulars