21st-century mating, July 21st 2015 P72 (２１世紀の婚活) There is nothing quite like falling in love. The palms sweat, the heart races. It is a kind of madness that can be measured neurologically. Those early kisses flood the brain's neura…

Ex-planetary science, July 11th 2015 P67 (太陽系の辺境) All good things come to an end. And July 14th will see the finale of the Heroic Age of space exploration. On that day a visitor from Earth will fly past Pluto and head off into the Ku…

2/2Gender, education and work, March 7th 2015 P55(教育、職場における男子の劣勢) Girls' educational dominance persist after school. Until a few decades ago men were in a clear majority at university almost everywhere, particularly in advanc…

1/2Gender, education and work, March 7th 2015 P55 (教育、職場における男子の劣勢) “It's all to do with their brain and bodies and chemicals,” says Sir Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, posh English boarding school. “There's …

Computers and spying, July 18th 2014 P70 (コンピュータとスパイー書評) In 1996 John Perry Barlow, a computer activist who had once been a lyricist for Grateful Dead, penned “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace”, an attempt to ca…

Other People's Money, August 22nd 2015 P65 (金融の役割ー書評) What is the finance sector for? This vital question is all too often forgotten in the debate about the debt crisis of 2008 and its aftermath；it certainly seemed to be forgotten…

Capital punishment, July 4th 2015 P51 (死刑制度) Depending on where you are, the death penalty may look as if it is in rude health. On June 29th America's Supreme Court upheld Oklahoma's use of midazolam, a sedative, in executions - despit…