Mad cow confusion Deciding who shares the blame for Britain's BSE crisis has become so complicated that the official BSE Inquiry has asked for more time to complete its deliberations. The inquiry hoped to reach its conclusions by June 1999. But after sending letters to people who may be criticised, inquiry chair Lord Phillips now says this timing … News
Seriously silly AS EVERY fan of Monty Python knows, sketches can become too absurd for their own good. That's what seemed to be happening to Britain's great genetically modified food saga earlier this week when it emerged that scientists at the nation's biggest biotech company may have been breaking the letter of the law when they merrily … Opinion
Identity crisis "DO YOU know this person?" runs the headline above an eerie photograph of a person's face. It's eerie because the image is not of a real face but a reconstruction. It was created from the skull of a person who died with nothing else in the world to identify them but their bones. Such reconstructions … Features
Leader of the pack QUICK—think of an electronic product in which Australia runs a trade surplus with Asia. Give up? Try smart cards, those little plastic rectangles with a gold-topped microchip in them. Commuters in Hong Kong, drivers in Shanghai, and healthcare recipients in Malaysia all rely on Australian designed and made smart card systems. Back home the picture … Forum
Feedback HERE is a little ditty about Bill Gates and his company. The interesting thing about it is that it was sent to us anonymously—in a Microsoft envelope. Is this the sort of thing that Gates's employees pass round when the boss isn't looking? Said Bill—and he said it quite stroppily— "I tell you, it's not … Regulars