Brain sex differences: A masterclass in over-interpretation

The eternal quest to prove that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, neurologically speaking, of course. For over a century, scientists (and, let’s be honest, people with opinions) have been poking at brains, measuring corpus callosums, and squinting at amygdalae, all in the noble pursuit of confirming whatever …

September 23, 2019 · 2 min

Planned obsolescence: The art of selling you crap

Planned obsolescence, the tidy art of selling people the same product more than once. Why sell someone a product that lasts when you can sell them the same product repeatedly? It started in the 1920s, when a group of German industrialists, presumably while twirling their moustaches, formed the Phoebus cartel and decide…

August 29, 2019 · 3 min

A very special club for spooks who can’t follow their own rules

The UKUSA Agreement alias the Five Eyes (FVEY), because nothing says “trustworthy global surveillance” like a name ripped from a bad spy thriller. Born in 1946 as a cosy little signals intelligence pact between Britain and America, it soon expanded like an overeager book club, roping in Canada (1948), Australia, and Ne…

August 27, 2018 · 2 min

GDPR: The EU’s bureaucratic letter to privacy (that nobody reads)

The GDPR, Europe’s flagship privacy reform, drafted by people who appear to believe consent forms are the pinnacle of human interaction. Born from the 1995 Data Protection Directive (which was about as fit for the digital age as a fax machine), it was billed as a way to “strengthen privacy rights” and “boost Europe’s d…

April 14, 2018 · 3 min