Bonne santé People in Mediterranean countries enjoy better healthcare than anywhere else in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO has carried out a global assessment of how well governments care for their sick, and published it this week as part of its World Health Report. The assessment highlights the failure of other industrialised … News
An alien intelligence AS SCREEN villains go, you won't find any more sinister than a dark-hearted computer with a mind of its own. From the self-aware defence computers that enslaved the human race in the 1960s sci-fi classic The Forbin Project to the anti-heroes of the Terminator movies, intelligent machines are undoubtedly things to be wary of. So … Opinion
The great escape If looks are anything to go by, then this massive 18th-century lock should inspire plenty of confindence. One of only three of its type, it has also inspired a local legend. This is the lock that Harry Houdini, the world-famous escapologist, could'nt pick, or so the story goes. Made by locksmith William Fenton in the … Features
Bestsellers from San Francisco A Passion for DNA by James Watson, Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, Walker A Darwinian Left by Peter Singer, Yale University Press Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry, Counterpoint Lying Stones of Marrakech by Stephen J. Gould, Harmony Books Genes, People, and Languages by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza, North Point Press … Books & Arts
Feedback OUR MANY forays into the field of nominative determinism have always focused on surnames. James Bruning, a psychologist at Ohio University, has dedicated 20 years to the study of first names. His work suggests that when people seek employment, the name really can determine the job. For his latest study, published in The Journal of … Regulars