Popular Culture

16 February 2004


Cloning Humans Forces New Ethical Thinking
A US and South Korean team of researchers working out of Seoul, South Korea, have managed to clone a human embryo and extract stem cells from it. The paper was published in Science last week, although the work commenced some time ago. While the process was intricate, delicate and difficult, it was nothing compared to resolving the ethical issues such technology poses. For more, click here.

Josh the Newfoundland is Best in Show
Dog shows are not for everyone. It is one thing to love dogs (as all right-thinking, good-hearted folk do), and it is quite another to spend thousands of dollars breeding an odd strain of canis familiaris to a standard set by others equally so inclined. Still, it was good to see a real dog win Best-in-Show at the Westminster do in New York, just to prove some breeders work with beasts that are recognizable as dogs and not some mutant rat species. Click here to read on.

Positive Mental Attitude Doesn't Get Rid of Tumors
One has always been suspicious of unbridled cheerfulness and a can-do attitude -- it smacks of totalitarian propaganda in the service of unthinking evil. So, there is something strangely gratifying about a new study from Australia that shows having a positive outlook, being optimistic, doesn't appear to help in the fight against cancer. Indeed, there is an argument that it could be a negative. Click here to read more.