On the History of the Artificial Womb
Will outside-the-womb gestation, increasingly viable for animal embryos, lead to a feminist utopia? Or to something like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World?
A Brief History of Masturbation
In the U.S. and Europe, there's still discomfort around the topic of masturbation. But we’ve come a long way from tying it to mortal sin and insanity.
Get Ready For Human-Animal Hybrids
New progress in stem-cell research raises some thorny ethical questions.
Surgery for Stuttering
In the 19th century, Europe and the United States saw a "mania for operating."
The Complicated Issue of Transableism
Some people born in able bodies feel as if they were meant to have disabilities. How should the medical community be responding?
How Dietary Supplements Can Cause More Harm Than Good
The real problem with useless vitamins and other supplements? A psychological side effect known as "illusory invulnerability."
Will Reanimating Dead Brains Inspire the Next Frankenstein?
In recent experiments, scientists brought back cellular functions to the brains of dead pigs, recalling early galvanism.
Big Brains Are Hard to Grow
Human brains take a long time, and a lot of energy, to grow to their mature state. This may well be an evolutionary tradeoff for having such big brains.
How Does the Body Make Vitamin D from Sunlight?
A Curious Reader asks: How exactly does exposure to sunlight cause the the human body to synthesize Vitamin D3?