The war on drugs has had devastating effects on human rights and public health worldwide, argue experts in The BMJ today. In November, the journal argued that prohibition laws have failed and called on doctors to lead the debate on alternative rational policies that promote health and respect dignity. This week, key players in this debate discuss the harms of …
JOHN MICHAEL GREER – THE MYTH OF THE ANTHROPOCENE
To explore the messy future that modern industrial society is making for itself, it’s necessary now and again to stray into some of the odd corners of human thought. Over the decade and a bit that this blog has been engaged in that exploration, accordingly, my readers and I have gone roaming through quite an assortment of topics—politics, religion, magic, …
Human impact forms ‘striking new pattern’ in Earth’s global energy flow
The impact humans have made on Earth in terms of how we produce and consume resources has formed a ‘striking new pattern’ in the planet’s global energy flow, according to researchers from the University of Leicester. The research suggests that the Earth is now characterised by a geologically unprecedented pattern of global energy flow that is pervasively influenced by humans …
Are you a descendant of Genghis Khan? Millions of modern men descendants of 11 Asian dynastic leaders
Geneticists from the University of Leicester have discovered that millions of modern Asian men are descended from 11 powerful dynastic leaders who lived up to 4,000 years ago — including Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan. The study, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal European Journal of Human Genetics, examined the male-specific Y chromosome, which is passed …