Political correctness can get in the way of science. Lazar Greenfield, president-elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), recently had to resign as editor of Surgery News and from his position in the ACS after being accused of sexism despite his reputation for supporting women in surgery. What caused this fall from grace? He [...]
Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is proposing that trainee teachers will only be allowed to take their numeracy and literacy test three times. At present there is no limit on the number of times the tests can be taken. In my view the misguided philosophy of endless retakes undermines the whole point of exams and [...]
If you want to know which country to live in to enjoy life more go to the OECD better life index. They have identified 11 key factors such as health, education, earnings, and sense of community. You can decide how important these are to you. After I’d scored my choices and pushed the buttons it [...]
The story of the 11 year old who got upset when he saw that the pizza server had written “ginger kid” on his receipt was put into perspective by Barbara Ellen in The Observer yesterday. She points out that it wasn’t done maliciously but just to identify the child (who had a Polish or Ukrainian [...]
Breast might be best for boys but having a boy in the first place is a different matter. Some experts believe you can strongly influence the sex of your baby by eating the right mix of foods. A study suggests that women who eat plenty of fruit, vegetables and rice, are more likely to have [...]
A study of 82 countries by researcher Michael Blume at Jena University in Germany found that those where the inhabitants worship at least once a week have 2.5 children whilst those who never worship have just 1.7 – not even enough to replace themselves. He calls it the Reproductive Advantage of Religiosity and predicts that [...]
When you first sit down to write a blog you hope people are going to want to read it – unless you plan it as a private journal where you can unburden yourself or have a rant at the world (OK so occasionally I have a rant too). So it’s great for me that so [...]
given half a chance. But some parents are determined to bring children up in a so-called “gender free” manner. We know sex is determined biologically but when it comes to gender it gets a bit trickier. It seems that families that have only girls tend to produce more feminine girls and families which have only [...]
David Cameron says a government’s actions could make people “feel better as well as worse” and it was “high time” to recognise that GDP was an “incomplete way” of measuring the country’s progress. He confirmed that the government was asking the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to devise ways of measuring wellbeing in addition to tracking [...]
We live in a world pre-occupied with body size, according to teen magazine Sugar which has just conducted a poll of 2,500 13 – 19 year-olds. Teenage girls are twice as likely to diet if their mother is constantly watching her weight. Comments from parents, attitudes of friends, and pictures of size zero models are [...]
