|
Successful organ transplants give recipients a new lease on life – and sometimes more than that. For almost as long as heart, kidney and liver transplants have been around, people have been reporting changes in their preference for food, music, art, sex, recreation and career following surgery. And these changes often chime with the preferences of the organ donor.
Many dismiss these occurrences as being “all in the mind”. We asked anatomist Adam Taylor what he thought. It turns out there is a plausible biological basis for this strange phenomenon.
Iceland supermarket recently announced that it will be launching a “customer election manifesto”, which will be shared with UK politicians in the run-up to the election. What does this say about the state of our democracy? Plus we hear from the researcher who coined the term “microplastics” on his 20-year quest to understand how this pollution is affecting our planet, and his mixed emotions at recent attempts at a global plastic treaty.
|
|
Clint Witchalls
Senior Health Editor
|
|
Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
Adam Taylor, Lancaster University
Some people claim that their personality changed after receiving a donor organ. Here’s how it might happen.
|
Iceland’s intentions and methodology have raised questions.
William Barton/Shutterstock
Andrew Crane, University of Bath
Frozen food retailer Iceland says it wants to amplify its customers’ voices – but there’s a lack of transparency in its plans.
|
University of Plymouth
Richard Thompson, University of Plymouth
Since coining the term microplastics 20 years ago on May 7 2004, Richard Thompson reflects on the progress being made to halt plastic pollution.
|
World
|
-
Christopher Featherstone, University of York
Trump is sending mixed messages about his planned foreign policy decisions, if he becomes president.
|
|
Environment
|
-
Jack Marley, The Conversation
Negotiations for a global plastic pollution treaty have hit on production limits for the first time.
-
Costas Velis, University of Leeds
But how the world will get to zero pollution is still uncertain – and production caps are untested.
-
Filippos Proedrou, University of South Wales; Maria Pournara, Swansea University
Legal scholars say the law has its merits, but find loopholes in the way it defines ecocide.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Alper Kara, Brunel University London
The government and Financial Conduct Authority are at loggerheads over proposals to name and shame financial firms under investigation.
-
Jessica Eastland-Underwood, University of Warwick
Some experts are suggesting the economy should be measured in ways the public recognise.
|
|
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Bert van den Berg, Leiden University
For the Ancient Greeks, the way a philosopher died was meant to reflect their lives and teachings.
-
Hannah Yip, University of Manchester
This 18th-century Tory preacher and Oxford don preached an incendiary political sermon in 1709 and became England’s first celebrity.
-
Naomi Joseph, The Conversation
Two vengeful women in love, a daughter on a mission to save her father, female spies and two ambitious wives.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
William Horsley, University of Sheffield
UK press freedom has come under threat.
-
Martin Farr, Newcastle University
In a dismal night for the government, one result towers above the others.
-
Richard Machin, Nottingham Trent University
Disabled people need £975 more per month to maintain the same standard of living as a non-disabled person.
-
Toby James, University of East Anglia
It could happen to anyone – and that’s really the point.
-
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
Local election results are strong predictors of general elections held in the same or following year.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Gareth Dorrian, University of Birmingham
Starliner is only the second vehicle to launch astronauts from US soil since the retirement of the shuttle in 2011.
-
Or Graur, University of Portsmouth
A new study shines light on the link between the Milky Way and the ancient Egyptian sky goddess Nut
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
