June 20, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – A resolution affirms the moral goodness of new life, but not of all means to achieve it. The Southern Baptist Convention—whose nearly 13 million members make it the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.—is often described … Read More
June 17, 2024
(New York Times) – Dr. Walker, 39, first publicly opposed in vitro fertilization five years ago, co-writing an article titled “Breaking Evangelicalism’s Silence on IVF” for the website of the evangelical organization the Gospel Coalition, which ran a companion essay by a … Read More
June 14, 2024
(WBUR) – When news broke last June that bodies donated to Harvard Medical School were stolen and sold, it instantly became a scandal. But roll the tape back a few hundred years, and grave robbing, body stealing and the ravaging of cadavers were commonplace … Read More
June 14, 2024
(Associated Press) – Pope Francis challenged leaders of the world’s wealthy democracies Friday to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence, warning that such powerful technology risks turning human relations themselves into mere algorithms. (Read More)
June 13, 2024
(Wired) – Ray Kurzweil rejects death. The 76-year-old scientist and engineer has spent much of his time on earth arguing that humans can not only take advantage of yet-to-be-invented medical advances to live longer, but also ultimately merge with machines, … Read More
June 12, 2024
(Android Authority) – Speaking with Mr. Astray, we learned his intentions behind submitting his photo to an AI photo contest. It’s pretty much what you’d expect: “Of course, I feel bad about leading the jury astray, but I think that … Read More
June 12, 2024
(New York Times) – Southern Baptists, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted on Wednesday to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization. The vote was an indication that ordinary evangelicals are increasingly open to arguments that equate embryos with human … Read More
June 10, 2024
(Axios) – Increased attention to patients’ spiritual needs would improve U.S. public health, researchers argue in a new Health Affairs article. Why it matters: A growing body of scientific evidence shows that spiritual beliefs and practices positively affect health, but patients’ … Read More
June 5, 2024
(Associated Press) — When faced with infertility, Amanda and Jeff Walker had a baby through in vitro fertilization but were left with extra embryos — and questions. Tori and Sam Earle “adopted” an embryo frozen 20 years earlier by another couple. … Read More
May 24, 2024
(Associated Press) – Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous work skewered American food and diets and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He … Read More
May 21, 2024
(New York Times) – He also identified the virus, which can cause infants to be born with severe physical and mental impairments as well as causing miscarriages and stillbirths. Dr. Paul D. Parkman, whose research was instrumental in identifying the … Read More
May 20, 2024
(Quartz) – Artificial intelligence is going to become more ingrained in our day-to-day lives — and OpenAI’s leadership wants the world to know it’s taking the risks seriously after the company shuttered the team responsible for AI’s existential dangers. In … Read More
May 14, 2024
(New York Times) – To embark on a career in medicine is like moving to a foreign country where you do not understand the customs, rituals, manners or language. Your main concern on arrival is how to fit in and … Read More
May 3, 2024
(Beatrice Institute Podcast) – As a bioethicist and Catholic deacon-in-training, Dr. Michael Deem has spent years in the medical trenches as well as in theological and philosophical research. Michael Deem joins Grant in this episode to answer questions such as, … Read More
April 30, 2024
(Vox) – More than half a century ago, men of science and men of faith gathered together to unlock the mysteries of female fertility. The answer: urine from the brides of Christ. And lo, those nuns gaveth. All that urine, … Read More
April 29, 2024
(NPR) – Now at 74, Collins’ life looks very different. After helping the world navigate a health crisis, his attention has shifted to battling his own. “It’s one thing to be imagining what somebody is experiencing as you’re giving them … Read More
April 29, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – A lifelong eager and early adopter, Mollick immersed himself in the technology. On social media, he shared discoveries made while experimenting with ChatGPT, including findings from his M.B.A. students at Wharton, who use it in his … Read More
April 17, 2024
(Wired) – The untold, top-secret story of the British researchers who found the key to keeping humans alive underwater—and helped make D-Day a success. In my field of dive research, there’s one story from eight decades ago that blows the … Read More
April 16, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Active religious practice, such as going to churches, synagogues and mosques, is linked to mental well-being, according to a growing body of research. One possible explanation for the link, researchers and clergy say, is that places … Read More
April 15, 2024
(Associated Press) – Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, according to funeral home officials. They were 62. (Read More)
April 15, 2024
(NPR) – NPR’s Scott Detrow spoke with the former director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, about his recent prostate cancer diagnosis. (Read More)
April 8, 2024
(Associated Press) – The Vatican on Monday declared gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity, putting them on par with abortion and euthanasia as practices that it said reject God’s plan for human life. The Vatican’s doctrine … Read More
March 22, 2024
(Associated Press) – Kate, the Princess of Wales, has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy, she said Friday in a stunning announcement that follows weeks of speculation about her health and whereabouts. Her condition was disclosed in a video message recorded … Read More
March 21, 2024
(New York Times) – Before he died last year, Roland Griffiths was arguably the world’s most famous psychedelics researcher. Since 2006, his work has suggested that psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, can induce mystical experiences, and that those experiences, in … Read More
March 21, 2024
(Wired) – Eight names are listed as authors on “Attention Is All You Need,” a scientific paper written in the spring of 2017. They were all Google researchers, though by then one had left the company. When the most tenured … Read More