The beat goes on HEARTS can now be kept beating outside the body for nearly two days. The portable device that keeps them alive promises to buy precious time for transporting organs and preparing for transplant operations. At the moment, donated organs are kept in an icebox while they are being transported. A heart only survives for four to … News
Nuclear revival? FOR the home that has everything, how about a mini nuclear reactor? Small enough to fit in the basement and needing a top-up with uranium only once every 10 years, it will eliminate greenhouse gas emissions along with worries about power cuts. It sounds wonderfully retro—something from the days when researchers talked confidently of nuclear-powered … Opinion
Electric eye YELLOW and black blobs streak past me with centimetres to spare, careering about with an effortless precision that would shame even the most daring of stunt pilots. One makes a grazing landing on my head, before buzzing away, doing a back flip and landing on the ceiling. Another singles out my nose, hovers within a … Features
From mice to men Human Trials: Scientists, investors, and patients in the quest for a cure by Susan Quinn, Perseus, £18.99, ISBN 0738201820 DO READ this modern American tale of one man's quest for a cure for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. It is bejewelled with insights into the lives of patients, researchers, and businessmen—but is largely a … Books & Arts
The Last Word Magnificent man Question : I read in the newspapers the story of a Californian man who attached a number of weather balloons to his lawn chair and didn't come down for some time. How much helium or hydrogen would you need to lift an average adult off the ground? And how big a balloon would … Regulars