Superfusion by Zachary Karabell Reviewed by Benjamin A Shobert One could be forgiven for thinking that books about China tend to come and go in phases. The prevailing theme of the mid-1990s about China as a cheap production base was followed by hushed awe at the potential size of the country’s market. Inevitably, a group of authors then made the obvious link: because China was cheap for industry and such a vast country, it was going to be a growth dynamo for the next several decades. And, as we might expect given a vacuum of conventional threats and a wee … Continue reading Look who’s come to dinner (Chinese and American dating habits)

Meet Oscar, the cat who knows too much… When a nursing home doctor heard that the resident tabby could sense when a patient was about to die, he was sceptical. But a series of spooky events convinced him the cat might really have special powers. David Dosa is a doctor at Steere House Nursing Home, where patients have Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s, or are terminally ill. One of the home’s pets, a cat named Oscar, is special. Dr Dosa believes the tabby can predict the death of patients, seeking them out and remaining with them in their final hours. Here, … Continue reading Meet Oscar – the Wise Cat!

Council compensates jogger who spent Christmas Day  locked in park toilets Town hall chiefs have agreed to pay compensation to a jogger who spent 17 hours locked in a freezing public toilet on Christmas Day. With only his running gear to keep him warm, the runner was forced to wrap himself in bin liner and toilet roll and spent the night underneath a hand-dryer to save off the cold. The man, who was captured on CCTV footage, used the Dulwich Park lavatories at 4.30pm on Christmas Eve after going for a run. Not-so-happy Christmas: CCTV cameras captured a jogger as … Continue reading Council compensates jogger for CCTV? or being locked in Toilet?

The battery’s dead? The battery, which has powered our lives for generations, may soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. British scientists say they have created a plastic that can store and release electricity, revolutionising the way we use phones, drive cars  –  and even wear clothes. It means the cases of mobiles and iPods could soon double up as their power source  –  leading to gadgets as thin as credit cards. Researcher Natasha Shirshova with her team’s invention The technology could also lead to flexible computer screens that can be folded up and carried around like a piece … Continue reading Scientists invent wafer-thin plastic that can store electricity

Draconian anti-terror laws are blocking the serious study of terrorism and counter-terrorism at UK universities Rizwaan Sabir guardian.co.uk, Since my arrest under the Terrorism Act in May 2008 at the University of Nottingham for possession of the so-called Al-Qaida Training Manual, I have been following the increasing pressure faced by lecturers regarding the teaching of terrorism. One example is the pressure to submit reading lists to research ethics committees for vetting purposes in case they contain material that may be deemed “illegal” or that “may incite violence”. The latest fiasco to have hit Nottingham involves my former PhD supervisor, the … Continue reading Terror, British police and academic freedom

Bonuses and lavish expenses do not mean a job done well, as our bankers and MPs have shown. Time for a return to dignity Stephen Moss guardian.co.uk, Greed is not good: Michael Douglas as trader Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive Naturally enough, the threatened collapse of debt-laden EMI, new M&S boss Marc Bolland’s £15m “golden hello”, and the MPs’ expenses scandal have all been in the news this week. But these three aren’t different stories, to be treated in separate sections, filed under business, politics and – in the case of Bolland – reader reaction. They … Continue reading Money, the false motivator and god of bankers and MPs

In our obsession with the economy and celebrity gossip, we are forgetting the deeper questions of human existence Darragh McManus guardian.co.uk Our culture – the media and the broader populace – is obsessed with the economy. And since Lehman Brothers went kablooey in September 2008, our fascination has gone to a deeper level. Googling the word “business” gets a scarcely feasible 1.6 billion hits. “Economics” gets 92 million. (Weirdly, “Gordon Brown is a moron” returns almost 60 million. I don’t know what that signifies.) And this is fine: money is important, we all need jobs; redundancy is awful. I wouldn’t … Continue reading Can philosophy save us?