Report: Scientists edit human embryos for first time in US

(CNN)America reportedly has moved ahead in a controversial race to tinker with human DNA — but the scientific feat is shrouded in unanswered questions. The MIT Technology Review published on Wednesday a news report about the first-known experiment to create genetically modified human embryos in the United States using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR. Shoukhrat […]

How about a little accountability for economists when they mess up? | Dean Baker

Dean Baker is co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research. Suppose our fire department was staffed with out-of-shape incompetents who didnt know how to handle a firehose. That would be really bad news, but it wouldnt be obvious most of the time because we dont often see major fires. The fire departments inadequacy […]

Tech has become another way for men to oppress women | Lizzie O’Shea

“We act as if technology were neutral but it’s not. The challenge now is to remove the gender bias,” says human rights lawyer and writer Lizzie O’Shea. “Most women in the Bay Area are soft and weak, cosseted and naive, despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of shit,” wrote former Facebook product manager […]

Japan and EU expected to sign trade deal on Thursday

Shinzo Abe to meet Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels but UK exporters likely to see no gain due to Brexit. The European Union and Japan are on course to sign a trade deal on Thursday, after talks gained impetus in the wake of Donald Trump’s threat to put up barriers to international commerce. […]

Tying loose ends? Gravitational waves could solve string theory, study claims

New paper suggests that the hotly contested physics thesis, which involves the existence of six extra dimensions, may be settled by cutting-edge laser detectors. String theory makes the grand promise of weaving together all of physics into a single sublime framework. The only downside is that scientists have yet to find any experimental proof that […]