Articles By: Cosmo

Cosmo graduated from Oxford University in 2008 with a Double First-Class Degree in Classics, having majored in Philosophy and Ancient History. He has since worked as a researcher for the Beckley Foundation, and designed and run this website...

Did the ingredients for Life came from Space?

Did the ingredients for Life came from Space?
Ice and organic chemicals found on an asteroid back the theory that asteroids provided the Earth with the bare necessities of life Astronomers have detected a coating of ice and organic chemicals on one of the largest asteroids in the solar system. From the Guardian The space rock, called 24 Themis,...
July 28th, 2010 | Evolution | Read More

Mutation in key gene allows Tibetans to thrive

Mutation in key gene allows Tibetans to thrive
The gene mutation that enables people to thrive at high altitudes is much more common in Tibetans than Han Chinese and may represent the strongest instance of natural selection ever documented in a human population. From the Guardian, by Cian O’Luanaigh A gene that controls red blood cell production...
July 5th, 2010 | Evolution | Read More

Feathering the Falcon’s nest

Feathering the Falcon’s nest
ELON MUSK is not, to paraphrase James Watson’s bon mot about Francis Crick, a man given to modest moods. Today, though, he might be forgiven a little hubris. The co-founder of PayPal, and developer of the Tesla, the first modern electric sports car, has long wanted to get into the space business as...
June 13th, 2010 | Science & Technology | Read More

Entrepreneurs leading the Space Race

Entrepreneurs leading the Space Race
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — At the Bigelow Aerospace factory here, the full-size space station mockups sitting on the warehouse floor look somewhat like puffy white watermelons. The interiors offer a hint of what spacious living in space might look like. From the New York Times by Kenneth Chang “Every...
June 11th, 2010 | Science & Technology | Read More

How Dudus stayed ahead of the Police

How Dudus stayed ahead of the Police
The fugitive whose supporters have reduced the Jamaican capital to a war zone used improvised bombs, closed-circuit TV and cross-dressing mercenaries to defend his stronghold, police said yesterday. From The Times Online by James Bone As the manhunt for Christopher “Dudus” Coke entered its third...
June 7th, 2010 | Drug Policy | Read More

That’s one Miraculous Conception

That’s one Miraculous Conception
Its not Immaculate, but its certainly miraculous… Oral conception. Impregnation via the proximal gastrointestinal tract in a patient with an aplastic distal vagina. Case report. [Ed. note: There is no abstract, so we're including most of the original article below. It's a bit long, but trust us--it's...
June 3rd, 2010 | Health & Happiness | Read More

Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition entangles local and international law

Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition entangles local and international law
US request gives Jamaica’s prime minister chance to reclaim control of Tivoli and other lawless Kingston communities. From The Guardian by Maxine Williams Since August 2009, the extradition request for one man has spiralled Jamaica into a nightmare which has claimed dozens of lives, injured just...
June 3rd, 2010 | Drug Policy | Read More

The First Synthetic Life Form

The First Synthetic Life Form
Craig Venter and his team have built the genome of a bacterium from scratch and incorporated it into a cell to make what they call the world’s first synthetic life form // function getOmnitureData_86922730001() { var omniture = new Object(); omniture.prop43="Video"; omniture.prop44="Video:...
May 21st, 2010 | Science & Technology | Read More

Noam Chomsky barred by Israelis from lecturing in Palestinian West Bank

Noam Chomsky barred by Israelis from lecturing in Palestinian West Bank
US academic denies claim that misunderstanding by border officials was to blame for ban (Noam Chomsky – refused entry to Palestinian West Bank by Israel during lecture tour Rex Features) Noam Chomsky, whose withering critiques of political establishments have earned him the wrath of regimes...
May 21st, 2010 | Social Insight | Read More

Geek Power

Geek Power
“It’s funny in a way”, says Bill Gates, relaxing in an armchair in his office. “When I was young, I didn’t know any old people. When we did the microprocessor revolution, there was nobody old, nobody. It’s weird how old this industry has become.” The Microsoft cofounder and I, a couple...
May 1st, 2010 | Science & Technology | Read More
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