If opposites really do attract, then industry and academia must be made for one another. But should we be paying closer attention to the businesses that our best-loved institutions are … Read more

Do models that claim to be able to predict crime open the door to smarter policing, or just reduced policing? “A city is an ecological system” – a true urban … Read more

Failure to consult the public on a new drug-pricing policy may store up trouble for the future. Somewhere, in the depths of Whitehall, an elephant has taken up residence. This … Read more

Giving the public access to the research that they fund is about much more than eliminating journal pay-walls. Open access is a hot topic right now. For months, academics have … Read more

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all? Eco-conscious consumers are increasingly trying to make decisions based on a company’s green credentials. But beneath all the marketing … Read more

Two years ago today, a huge natural experiment was set in motion. Its costs were enormous. The explosion of British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon rig resulted in the loss of eleven … Read more

This post originally appeared on Refractive Index, Imperial College London’s Science Communication Group blog. It can be tough being a member of ‘the public’. Imagine for a moment that you … Read more

Last month, on Friday 13th, almost exactly 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit well-charted rocks off the coast of Italy and sunk, … Read more

Beauty clearly doesn’t come cheap. In order to “get their PIPs out”, in the words of one Harley Street protester last weekend, an estimated £150m will need to be found … Read more

The recent alarm over use of sub-standard breast implants has exposed serious flaws in the European health regulatory system. But leaders must ensure that they strike a balance between managing … Read more