Womb transplants may be the dawn of a new age, but they fill me with foreboding (The Guardian)
BY SONIA SODHA
‘Ethical questions – not least, about risks to the donors – have been ignored in the excited coverage of this British medical breakthrough.‘
But womb transplants seem to me to cross an ethical boundary: a pursual of having children regardless of the costs or risks. There is no inalienable right to carry a baby or to have a genetic child that society must meet at any ethical or financial cost… Just because something is medically possible and desired by individuals – like sex selection of embryos – does not mean we should do it.
The tricky ethics of brain implants and informed consent (MIT Technology Review)
BY CASSANDRA WILLYARD
People who have lost the ability to speak could benefit from brain-computer interfaces. But communication barriers can limit their participation in research studies.
A brain-computer interface might be their only hope of communicating, but they’re excluded from studies because they can’t convey their desire to join. As technology advances and therapies emerge, some of those people might regain their voice. That’s why finding ethical ways for them to provide informed consent is a goal worth pursuing.
A new international space race is on — and it could junk up our pristine moon (Vox)
BY RACHEL DUROSE
With India’s moon landing and other recent attempts, there’s a risk of creating a cosmic junkyard.
With the renewed interest in the moon, it’s likely the junk in this space near and on the moon will continue to accumulate, especially given there isn’t any meaningful effort to remove it. Retrieving such debris would mean sending another craft to the moon, an act that costs tens of millions of dollars, and also risks adding more to the junk pile.
As fires and floods rage, Facebook and Twitter are missing in action (The Washington Post)
BY WILL OREMUS
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have decided they don’t need the news industry. That’s causing problems when natural disasters strike.
Facebook and Twitter spent years making themselves essential conduits for news. Now that government agencies, the media and hundreds of millions of people have come to rely on them for critical information in times of crisis, the social media giants have decided they’re not so invested in the news after all.
The Latest Migrant Battleground: New York City Soccer Fields (NYT)
BY Wesley Parnell and Emma G. Fitzsimmons
Mayor Eric Adams has urged New Yorkers to join him in raising their voices about the migrant crisis. More of them are — against him.
Robin Reiter, the chief executive of a physical therapy practice whose son plays football in a travel league that charges up to $1,250 per season, said that “as a taxpayer in New York and a parent of a child who uses these fields and whose friends use these fields, it’s really disruptive.”
Children Have a Right to Sue Nations Over Climate, U.N. Panel Says (NYT)
BY Somini Sengupta
The finding doesn’t have the force of law, but is notable because it is based on one of the most widely accepted international treaties.
The committee’s opinion is not legally binding and is therefore impossible to enforce. But it is significant because it is based on a widely recognized international treaty and explicitly recognizes children’s right to go to court to force their government to slow down the climate crisis.
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