The white male-dominated Republican party is still living in the stone age on social issues. It just goes from bad to worseIt's a truism verging on dogma that history favors steady progress toward equal rights for gays. The last election cycle saw incredible gains for marriage equality and representation for gays and lesbians in government.…
Science is sending us towards a posthuman future. We need to decide if that's where we should be goingIn the cult 1970s television show, The Six Million Dollar Man, astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) is shown crash-landing on Earth, then being whisked into an operating theatre. "Gentleman, we have the capability to make the world's…
Acerbic art critic Brian Sewell has denounced most factual TV as disgracefully dumbed-down – particularly on the BBC. Television writer Michael Hogan begs to differMichael Hogan: Brian, your speech at the recent Sandford St Martin Trust awards for religious broadcasting said TV was blighted by "ever-increasing vulgarity and ever-lower intellectual levels". Strong words. Did you…
Forget Prism, scientists have developed tiny drones modelled on bees. I hope they aren't used to bomb people, but for observing wildlife, or even better, replacing the real-life ones we've lostWhat with the NSA's Prism programme, ubiquitous CCTV and fashionable nerds sporting Google Glass, it seems there's no escape from prying eyes in the hi-tech modern…
Meteorologists are debating our role in bizarre weather events. We have the technology for change, but not the political willOn Monday, Amory Lovins, physicist, environmentalist, and unassuming colossus of the green movement, appeared in London to talk about energy use. I mention this in the context of the Guardian's story that meteorologists are due to…
Reports suggest ministers wants the EU to relax restrictions on genetically modified crops, to ensure Britain 'is not left behind' as agricultural technology grows more sophisticated. Is this right?
A device with the power to make pets vanish has been hailed as a first step towards invisibility. Tell us where you'd go undetectedScientists have unveiled the latest step towards creating an invisibility cloak. In the quest to be able to make people and objects completely unseen, a new device has been demonstrated that concealed…
Public faith in tax system has been seriously dented by the actions of a few top companies – which say they are just following the rules politicians make. So it's now up to politicians at the G8 summit to remake those rulesLeaders from the world's richest countries will gather in Northern Ireland on 17-18 Junewith…
Planning can direct development for better rather than worseTo lose one world heritage site is unfortunate, to lose four catastrophic. But that is the prospect facing the United Kingdom – Unesco's advisers are recommending that three sites should be described as "endangered", in addition to Liverpool's waterfront, which already has this label. There is every…
The weather may be grim, but let’s learn to enjoy it | Richard Mabey
The Met Office held a crisis meeting today. But why do Brits turn trivial weather nuisances into dashers of hopes?Everyone bewildered by the seemingly unprecedented weirdness of this year's summer might spare a thought for those living in 1783, who went through another kind of trial by weather. Gilbert White of Selborne's account of the…
Read more »