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The Times has been serialising seven chapters of The Rational Optimist for a week each. The last one is available now.

The discovery, announced this week, of several genetic mutations that predispose people toward Alzheimer’s disease is intriguing, because the genes are associated with cholesterol metabolism and inflammation. The Alzheimer’s jigsaw is a long way from being complete, but the pieces are emerging, and this new evidence fits quite nicely with the other pieces in suggesting […]

As I keep saying, shale gas is indeed revolutionising world energy supply. The US Energy Information Administration officially uses the word `vast’ for shale gas resources outside the US: Although the shale gas resource estimates will likely change over time as additional information becomes available, the report shows that the international shale gas resource base is […]

Here is how the first mobile computer, the Osborne 1, compares with an iPad 2 (hat tip Cafe Hayek):  

Here is how the first mobile computer, the Osborne 1, compares with an iPad 2 (hat tip Cafe Hayek):  

I wrote this piece for The Times yesterday (original behind paywall)     I call it my tourniquet theory and it goes like this: if you are bleeding to death from a severed limb, then a tourniquet may save your life, but if you have a nosebleed, then a tourniquet round your neck will do more […]

My latest Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal is about trying to evolve, rather than ordain, solution to obesity Sometimes we find it easy to identify a problem and impossible to think of a solution. Obesity is a good example. Almost everybody agrees that it is a growing burden on health systems and […]

Correlation ain’t causation. But for some time I have been noticing that the correlations between certain aspects of solar activity and certain aspects of climate are getting really rather impressive — far more so than anything relating to carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide certainly can affect climate, but so for sure can other things, and in […]

Rational Optimism in a tabloid To mark today’s UK publication of The Rational Optimist in paperback, I have written an article for The Sun newspaper: FOR the past month, the news has been all bad – war, recession, riot, tsunami, earthquake, nuclear disaster, inflation, cuts… and the cricket. But while the news is always bad, there […]

Andrew Mayne on social biases in studies of the psychology of choice Guest post by Andrew Mayne   “Too much choice can be a bad thing-not just for the individual, but for society.” Pop quiz, was the above statement made by? A. Vladimir Lenin B. Scientists in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science Before I tell […]