Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Gates' 'truth' about climate change
Oped, Peter Singer, Published on 14/11/2025
» Ahead of this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), now underway in Belém, Brazil, Bill Gates, who chairs and funds the foundation that bears his name, released an essay entitled "Three tough truths about climate". The first of these truths is: "Climate change is a serious problem, but it will not be the end of civilisation."
A paradigm shift for animal tests
Oped, Peter Singer & Sankalpa Ghose, Published on 17/10/2025
» Even in an era of intense political polarisation, there are still moments when a bipartisan consensus can emerge around important ethical issues. One such moment is happening now. Last April, the United States Food and Drug Administration released its "Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies". The FDA said that it was taking "a groundbreaking step" that would advance public health and limit wasteful expenditure by replacing animal testing with "more effective, human-relevant methods".
Terminal volunteers can save lives
News, Peter Singer & Benjamin L Sievers, Published on 13/09/2025
» At the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), a programme called Last Gift offers terminally ill patients the opportunity to help create more effective treatments. Their special circumstances transform the usual risk-benefit calculus of joining a clinical study of an untested drug. Researchers can ask them to consider consenting to being research participants in ways that they would not ask healthier people with long life expectancies, and terminally ill patients may choose to give that consent when others would be less likely to do so.
Australia's big experiment for social media
Oped, Peter Singer, Published on 15/01/2025
» Late last year, Australia's parliament, reacting to concerns about the effect of social media on children's mental health, amended the Online Safety Act to require users to be at least 16 years old to open an account on social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and X. The amendment is expected to come into effect by the end of 2025.
EU needs to focus on innovation
News, Philippe Aghion & Mathias Dewatripont & Jean Tirole, Published on 14/10/2024
» In the three decades after World War II, Western Europe caught up with the United States in terms of per capita GDP. But since the mid-1990s, this trend has reversed, with the US growing twice as fast as Europe.
Poor states will struggle to get rich
News, Tyler Cowen, Published on 18/01/2024
» For the billions of people around the world who live in countries that are not yet fully economically developed, I have some disturbing news: The very last chance for their nations to reach developed status might come in this generation.
Breathing life into medical oxygen
Oped, Leith Greenslade, Published on 18/05/2022
» Covid-19 has taken at least 18 million lives by some accounts, and it is anyone's guess how many of those deaths were due to a lack of medical oxygen. Governments don't want to talk about the issue, because that could mean admitting that thousands -- or even hundreds of thousands -- of their citizens died unnecessarily. But unless health systems take steps to ensure a sufficient supply of oxygen in the future, they will be risking a repeat of the past two years.
Regenerating life amid the Covid-19 pandemic
Oped, Virginia L Bartlett, Published on 05/03/2021
» On the walls of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where I work, there is a print by artist Raymond Pettibon. It shows a swath of blue paint above the words, "Yes, but alas, the blue sky has been repainted. By restoration, there is no telling how much you have lost."
Pandemic underscores need for 'people's vaccine'
Oped, Mariana Mazzucato, Henry Lishi Li and Els Torreele, Published on 04/12/2020
» Recent announcements of demonstrated efficacy in Covid-19 vaccine trials have brought hope that a return to normality is in sight. The preliminary data for Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna's novel mRNA vaccines are highly encouraging, suggesting that their approval for emergency use is forthcoming. And more recent news of effectiveness (albeit at a slightly lower rate) in a vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has fuelled optimism that even more breakthroughs are on their way.
How to develop a vaccine for all
Oped, Mariana Mazzucato & Els Torreele, Published on 30/04/2020
» In the early weeks of 2020, it started to dawn on people that Covid-19 could be the long-dreaded but expected "Disease X" -- a global pandemic caused by an unknown virus. Three months later, the majority of the world's population is in lockdown, and it is clear that we are only as healthy as our neighbours -- locally, nationally, and internationally.