Uncategorized – Newscleus

A Foreword to ‘Forging a Homeland’ – A Socio-Ecological Study into Community Land Ownership in Scotland

When someone mentions ‘land’ what do you think of? I know personally, land has forever evoked notions of the green pleasant land, of an English countryside littered with cottages which ensues a mosaic of quaintness sprawling across rolling hills. Perhaps it envisages a cold investment for the savvy or a distant Neverland of opulence –Continue reading “A Foreword to ‘Forging a Homeland’ – A Socio-Ecological Study into Community Land Ownership in Scotland”

Discussion: Who would want to live forever?

I’ve been increasingly interested by AI over the last couple of years. This interest started about 9 months prior to the release of ChatGPT, as a friend introduced me to OpenAI’s GPT-3 model. While a fun tool to play around with, it was a bit too error-prone for any practical applications within my university studies.Continue reading “Discussion: Who would want to live forever?”

Foiling Thomas Malthus

Part 3 – Saving a billion lives In the 1950s and 1960s, the international geopolitical situation had placed humanity in a dangerous position. Tensions between United States and the Soviet Union were close to boiling over, and the Cold War drove competition between the two global superpowers in everything from nuclear warfare to art andContinue reading “Foiling Thomas Malthus”

Neolithic Genetic Engineering Was (Unsurprisingly) Inefficient

Part 2: An overview of modern plant breeding techniques and their advantages Approximately 12,000 years ago, humanity began a transition that would lead to a fundamental change in the way people live. Independently of each other, populations in 11 different regions spread across the world began the slow process of moving from nomadic hunter-gatherer societiesContinue reading “Neolithic Genetic Engineering Was (Unsurprisingly) Inefficient”

Feeding A Changing World

Part 1: Climate change is threatening our food security. Could emerging technologies be an answer? As we enter 2024, the spectre of climate change continues to loom large in many of our minds. The unstable geopolitical situation across the world makes the prospect of coordinated international action on such a multifaceted issue seem more unlikely.Continue reading “Feeding A Changing World”

DNA mutation and species variation: Life’s oldest double-edged sword

All information required for the life of a cell or organism is encoded in its DNA. As DNA is heritable, it also encodes information that shapes how populations of related organisms change over time. As such, the capacity for high-fidelity DNA replication is a requirement for the genomic stability of organisms and populations. DNA isContinue reading “DNA mutation and species variation: Life’s oldest double-edged sword”

Identifying novel bacterial infections and understanding pathogenicity

Bacterial pathogens are capable of causing illness in people, with infections causing mild/no symptoms to severe illness or even death. Fortunately, we constantly come into contact with many of these bacteria and as such often have a degree of immune system defence against them. Furthermore, the development of new antibiotics over time has meant thatContinue reading “Identifying novel bacterial infections and understanding pathogenicity”