Alan Turing's Report Card

Alan Turing’s school report reveals little of his genius

Items from codebreaker’s life and death go on display at Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.   In 1929, a teenager’s end-of-term report noted that his English reading was weak, his French prose was very weak, his essays grandiose beyond his abilities, and his mathematical promise undermined by his untidy work. The report gave few clues that […]

Should we ban sex robots while we have the chance? | Jenny Kleeman

“AI sex dolls are on their way, with potentially sinister social consequences. So before they hit the market, we must ask whether they should,” writes robotics expert Jenny Kleeman.   People are blowing a fuse about sex robots or rather, rape robots. Journalists from the New Statesman and the New York Times among others have […]

The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked

A shadowy operation involving big data, billionaire friends of Trump and the disparate forces of the Leave campaign heavily influenced the result of the EU referendum. Is our electoral process still fit for purpose? The connectivity that is the heart of globalisation can be exploited by states with hostile intent to further their aims. The […]

This is the most dangerous time for our planet | Stephen Hawking

We can’t go on ignoring inequality, because we have the means to destroy our world but not to escape it. As a theoretical physicist based in Cambridge, I have lived my life in an extraordinarily privileged bubble. Cambridge is an unusual town, centred around one of the world’s great universities. Within that town, the scientific […]

No bailout funds for Greece as eurozone finance chiefs fail to agree deal

IMF and eurozone states fail to bridge divide over Greek debt relief raising prospect of a summer crisis for the single currency if Athens misses repayment. Eurozone finance ministers have failed to agree a debt relief plan for Greece, raising the prospect of a summer crisis for the single currency bloc if Athens misses a […]