Science & Tech The dangerous fallacy of sentient AI Ignore the Silicon Valley messiahs. They only expose how little most of us know about the technology and its ethics. By Philip Ball
Long reads The UK government’s vaccine nationalism is not only distasteful – it’s dangerous By Philip Ball
Ten lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic Around the world, coronavirus has revealed profound flaws in our politics. Will we do any better in the next crisis?… By Philip Ball
The dangerous legacy of the Cummings affair Research shows how the adviser’s breach of lockdown rules fatally undermined trust in the government and compliance with public health… By Philip Ball
How mask-wearing became a new culture war The libertarian right’s disregard for social responsibility and scientific expertise has been exposed by their opposition to a basic… By Philip Ball
The gene delusion The genetic data around human difference is inconclusive – but that does not stop right-wing thinkers using it to… By Philip Ball
The silence of the chief scientists is worrying and deeply political The chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, and chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, did not speak out when asked about the… By Philip Ball
How do machines think? We have built AI systems that can do everything from diagnose our illnesses to drive our cars. But how… By Philip Ball
Chernobyl’s political fallout The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was as much a symbol of a failed ideology as of flawed design and technology. By Philip Ball
The many afterlives of Robinson Crusoe Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe 300 years ago and his castaway – capitalist, imperialist, pragmatist – has stood for versions… By Philip Ball