Researchers have created embryos that are part-human and part-monkey
Apr 15th 2021THE ANCIENT GREEKS were good at inventing fantastical animals. The chimera, for instance, was “a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle”. It was eventually slain by Bellerophon, with help from his flying horse.Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio…
Taking selfies with a liquid lens
Apr 14th 2021SERIOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS are usually laden with serious amounts of serious kit, especially multiple lenses. The paparazzi use zoom lenses to get a telescopic view of their subjects. Mid-range lenses are well-suited to street-scenes and portraits. Wide-angle lenses are good for capturing sweeping cityscapes. A macro lens is ideal for close-ups. But what if…
Profits at America’s banks are sky-high
THE GOOD old days seem to be returning to America. Now that nearly 200m vaccine doses have been administered, people are gathering in bars, restaurants and shops. The days are warmer and longer. And banks are making returns on equity of 20% once more.Listen to this storyYour browser does not support the element.Enjoy more audio…
Is growth in China soaring or slowing?
THE HEADLINES will write themselves. When China reports its GDP for the first three months of the year on April 16th (after The Economist goes to press), growth is expected to have soared to 20% compared with a year earlier. It will be China’s fastest growth on record, underlining the strength of its recovery. Yet…
Singapore’s ruling clique loses its reputation for predictability
Apr 17th 2021ALL SINGAPOREANS know the deal. They surrender a great deal of personal liberty and most rights to political expression. In return the party that has run Singapore since its founding, the People’s Action Party (PAP), delivers progress and predictability. Sometimes, the social contract is made explicit, such as when a delinquent like Jolovan…
The joys of mahua, an Indian tree, flower and liquor
IF YOU LISTEN carefully, there is a new sound: plip-plop, as the mahua tree drops its blossoms, one by one, onto a net of saris stitched together like a trampoline. Traditionally, these droplet-shaped flowers would fall directly onto the ground, nestling among a layer of dried leaves. Then the men, women and children of the…
How covid-19 walloped sea-cucumber catchers
IN A COCONUT grove behind a secluded beach in Liberia is a tin cabin cobbled together by a dozen Sierra Leonean divers. They have been plying the coastline in search of “black gold”. Not oil, but the sea cucumber, a large slug-like creature that infests the ocean floor. Local fishermen have traditionally ignored them, since…
Tunisians are rallying around Abir Moussi, a demagogue
KHADIJA, LIKE many Tunisians, thinks life was better before the revolution that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a dictator, in 2011. For sure, there is more freedom, but democracy has not brought prosperity. Corruption, inflation and unemployment persist. Khadija, 50, does not have a job. Yet she hopes that Abir Moussi, a politician, will…
5G phone networks could provide power as well as communications
That would help roll out the Internet of ThingsApr 14th 2021THE IDEA behind the Internet of Things (IoT) is that the world would be a better place if all sorts of objects that are not currently computerised were to become so. Microchipped bridges could report when they needed maintenance. Billions of tiny computers affixed to…
Why people forget that less is often more
When solving problems, people prefer adding things to getting rid of themApr 14th 2021COLIN CHAPMAN, the founder of Lotus Cars, was one of motor racing’s most influential engineers. He summed up his philosophy as “simplify, then add lightness”. A stripped-down, featherweight car might be slower on the straights than a beefy muscle-machine, he reasoned. But…