Surprising Science — October 5, 2010

Test Tube Baby Ethics

“Although in vitro fertilization has brought joy to many families, the Nobel Prize for its co-developer is also a reminder of the bioethical questions raised by IVF technology.”

bigthinkeditor

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“What began as fervent protests by the Vatican against IVF—the church sees it as a sin, partly because it takes place outside conjugation—has evolved into a more complex debate as the procedure has become commonplace. These days, supermarket tabloids herald the latest in a growing string of celebrity IVF babies. Now, the 30-plus-year history of fertilizing human eggs in a ‘test tube’ (actually a petri dish) can help inform debate about emerging technologies such as cloning, longevity advancements, artificial life-forms, and even ‘designer babies.'”

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Pixelated red human figure on a black grid background with blue symmetrical curves and white geometric shapes adjacent.

Hard Science

The Arecibo Message fifty years later

In November 1974, astronomers used the radio telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory to send a hello to the universe.

Bronze statue of a bearded man embodying stoicism, riding a horse with one arm extended forward, set against a black background.

Thinking

3 clues that Stoicism is a religion in disguise

All religions have three traits: metaphysical commitments, ethical guidance, and daily rituals or practices. So does Stoicism.

An open book with abstract designs: the left page displays a horizontal row of color blocks, while the right page features a hand touching a network of connected circles, highlighting strong connections.

Business

Why our “weak-tie” connections are actually super-strong

Sure, “who you know” matters — but your best contacts will be the ones you don’t know very well.

Starts With A Bang

Could dark matter be the same thing as dark energy?

Two parts of our Universe that seem to be unavoidable are dark matter and dark energy. Could they really be two aspects of the same thing?

Close-up of an analog weight scale needle pointing to zero grams, with a black background.

Hard Science

You’re made of energy: The strange truth about where mass comes from

“A person’s mass is made not of ‘stuff’ in the way we normally think about it, but rather our mass is made of energy.”

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Mind Warps Memory

“In piecing together a life story, the mind nudges moral lapses back in time and shunts good deeds forward, these new studies suggest—creating, in effect, a doctored autobiography.”