Why would we ever doubt that species are intelligent?

Why would we care about privacy?

Are we ever too old?

The aging population increases the demand of intensive care unit (ICU) treatments. However, the availability of ICU beds is limited. Thus, ICU admission of octogenarians is considered controversial. The population above 80 years is a very heterogeneous group though, and age alone might not be the best predictor. Aim of this study was to analyze resource consumption and outcome of octogenarians ...

Why we doubt the benefits of swallowing fluoride

One of the surprises waiting for someone who decides to review the literature on the issue of water fluoridation is the discovery that, despite the impression conveyed by the promoters, the evidence that swallowing fluoride actually reduces tooth decay is very weak. In this bulletin we will begin to review the evidence that the benefits of swallowing have been wildly exaggerated and no grade A ...

Would that we had the energy.

It was back in the early 1980s. My thoracic surgical colleague asked if I could help him with one of his patients who had developed breathing problems after a lobectomy. The man was on a respirator, the consequence (it turned out) of a post-operative attack of asthma. By the time he had recovered, the pathologist reported the resected lobe to have contained not cancer but pneumoconiotic massive...

Why We Would Not Understand a Talking Lion

One of the mostperplexing passages in Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations occurs in Part Two where it is asserted: "Ifa lion could talk, we could not understand him."[ This remark has been interpreted as anything from a mere comment concerning our conception of a lion to an empirical claim regarding the communicative capacities of lions and nonhumans in general to a highly speculative a...