There are many assumptions about autistic people and their presumed desire to be alone. But being alone can also lead to profound experiences of loneliness, which can be detrimental to the lonely…
One potential solution to the various ecosystem crises we face is to genetically engineer organisms better to survive in a changing climate. Synthetic biology offers the tools to attempt this, by…
In this podcast, Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers and guest Dr Matthew Sims discuss the challenge of trying to determine whether organisms without neurones have cognitive capacities. The podcast…
In this podcast, Distinguished Professor Wendy Rogers and guest Professor Anna Smajdor from the University of Oslo explore Anna’s provocative suggestion that pregnancy is a disease. The podcast…
Strategic human rights litigation sits at the intersection of law, ethics, and politics. It promises that courts can serve as vehicles for driving social progress by giving voice to those who have…
Empathy might seem like a private emotion, something that belongs to the realm of personal relationships rather than public policy. But social media platforms are actively shaping the conditions under…
We are told that Generative AI is the future. But what if that future is built on, as one commentator puts it, the "largest theft of intellectual labor in history"? AI models are trained by ingesting…
Milk is largely taken for granted as a food source in many societies. However, the fact that milk is considered such a normal and staple part of many diets obscures various questions that we might…
We typically think of beliefs as cognitive representations of the world that should be responsive to evidence and truth. In contrast, emotions are very different sorts of mental states: they seem to…
Many of us enjoy video games, immersing ourselves in rich virtual worlds where we can perform actions that would be unthinkable in reality. We might slay dragons, topple empires, or even engage in…
