Prose and Passion

The roundup of German pieces published in June includes red algae caught stealing, bees being invited for coffee, and chemists in high offic...

review of the film Vénus noire by Abdellatif Kechiche (France 2010) This film from the auteur of Cous cous (La graine et le mulet) and ...

Tomorrow marks the 3rd birthday of my Flickr photostream , and as it happens, I am also celebrating my 1000th picture there. Oh, and I even ...

In my latest feature in Current Biology I've explored how science, after centuries of trying to shut out all emotional and subjective th...

I just came across an audio file of Shakira performing this song on tumblr and didn't recognise it (it doesn't appear on any of her...

Each time I’m taking the Eurostar to continental Europe I am left wondering, why is a single passport check ok to travel out, but two or thr...

Recent research and the EU's temporary ban on neonicotinoid pesticides has brought the threats to bees and other pollinators on the agen...

review of Netymology, by Tom Chatfield Over the last two decades, the world-wide web has rapidly evolved to become the focus of a world-wid...

I somehow managed to miss Neil Shubin's excellent book "Your inner fish" when it came out a few years ago. Now, however, I had...

Not that I've felt the need for brain doping (beyond caffeine) so far, but I've been following the field of cognitive enhancers from...

This week's issue of Current Biology has a special section of food and biology. My contribution is a feature on the gut microbiome and w...

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has banned this ad: according to this report in the Guardian , and I'm having a huge ...