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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science
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Biology

Building embryos

For 3,000 years, humans have struggled to understand the embryo. Now there is a revolution underway

John Wallingford

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Human evolution

How like the kiwi we are

To understand helpless human babies, our big brains and oddly involved dads, look to the evolution of birds not mammals

Antone Martinho-Truswell

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History of ideas

Aristotle on making babies

He was the first great observer of nature. But his theory of human reproduction was deeply sexist – and enduring

Emily Thomas

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Family life

The biology of dads

The bodies and brains of fathers, not just mothers, are transformed through the love and labour of raising a child

James K Rilling

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Human reproduction

Is artificial-womb technology a tool for women’s liberation?

Sasha Isaac

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Sex and sexuality

Period drama: one woman’s journey through birth control

5 minutes

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Human reproduction

The macho sperm myth

The idea that millions of sperm are on an Olympian race to reach the egg is yet another male fantasy of human reproduction

Robert D Martin

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Bioethics

Why uterus transplants are a bad idea for women

Sharrona Pearl

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Human reproduction

We are multitudes

Women are chimeras, with genetic material from both their parents and children. Where does that leave individual identity?

Katherine Rowland

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Human evolution

Sex makes babies

As far as we can tell, no other animal knows this. Did our understanding of baby-making change the course of human history?

Holly Dunsworth & Anne Buchanan

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Metaphysics

Bun or bump?

Does the mother contain the foetus or is it a part of her? On the metaphysics of pregnancy, and its ethical implications

Suki Finn

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Family life

Latte pappas

Sweden’s hands-on dads represent an alternative male form forged by lowered testosterone and the potent hormones of attachment

Richard W Orange

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Human reproduction

Can surrogacy ever escape the taint of global exploitation?

Katharine Dow

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Human reproduction

The twin boom

The proportion of twins in the population has waxed and waned in human history. For the first time we understand why

Laura Spinney

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Death

Nadia’s story

It is a decision that no parent should have to make: should we let our very sick baby die before she is born?

Ana Todorović

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Wellbeing

Juniper was born dangerously premature. What was it that made her keep going?

6 minutes

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Family life

Is that my baby?

Sperm donation is socially acceptable but donor eggs still provoke a wave of unease about blood relations and motherhood

Amy Klein

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Biology

New research helps predict which human embryos are most likely to succeed

4 minutes

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Bioethics

Boys and girls alike

An un-consenting child, an unnecessary, invasive surgery: is there any moral difference between male and female circumcision?

Brian D Earp

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Family life

Fertility fog

Women in their 30s and 40s exhibit a mix of wishful thinking and woeful ignorance when it comes to their fertility. Why?

Amy Klein

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Human reproduction

The first cut

Most American boys are circumcised as a matter of course. Now, many of them feel violated. Should the practice be banned?

Rhys Southan

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Public health

Polio whack-a-mole

The great allies of infectious diseases are no longer poverty, nor dirt, but the global anti-vaccination movement

Keren Landsman

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Human reproduction

Where’s the male Pill?

Many promising male contraceptives are in development, but none have come to market. What’s taking so long?

Jalees Rehman

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Human reproduction

Magic or medicine?

If you were a poor Ugandan mother with a desperately ill baby, would you turn to Western medicine or the village healer?

Brendan Borrell