English Of Course

North Korea missile test splits world powers The latest missile test by North Korea, its furthest-reaching yet, has split world powers who united behind new UN sanctions just days ago. US President Donald Trump said he was more confident than ever of America’s military options, should one be needed. China earlier accused the US of shirking its responsibilities, while Russia called US rhetoric “aggressive”. The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the missile test, but no new sanctions have been announced. The missile was fired over Japan and reached an altitude of about 770km (478 miles), travelling 3,700km past the […]

Hurricane Irma is lashing Cuba with strong winds and heavy rain after devastating several Caribbean islands.   The hurricane made landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago, in Cuba’s north-east, as a category five storm. But the Bahamas have largely been spared after Irma changed track. In Florida, 5.6 million people, or 25% of the US state’s population, have been told to leave as the storm approaches. At least 20 people are known to have died so far across the Caribbean. Irma hit the Camaguey Archipelago late on Friday, threatening nearby coastal towns and villages. It was the first category five hurricane […]

To write this article, I drank a beverage containing an effective cognitive enhancer – something that helps me – almost daily – to focus. In my pocket, I carry an extension of my memory, on which I made notes for this very story. Caffeine and smart phones might not strike most people as human enhancements, but in changing how we use our bodies and brains, they are exactly that. They improve our subjective wellbeing and facilitate our meeting day-to-day life goals. The rather more futuristic-sounding concept of transhumanism – the idea that every human should have the right to enhance […]