Long-reads devoted to deepening discourses around science, technology and health.
Gigabytes
“We want to be the Google Maps for the indoors”: The Monitor meets Tamzin Lent
Maya Dharampal-Hornby speaks to founder and CEO of Where You At (WYA), Tamzin Lent about nightlife safety technology, balancing entrepreneurship with university, and her experiences as a young female founder.
Wearable technology: The next stage of endometriosis care?
Wearable and smart technology developed by EXPECCT could help provide data on endometriosis
Replika: The AI companion who pretends to care
Are AI partners the future of dating? Louie Lang discusses the success of Replica and an AI chatbot whose users have fallen in love…what could possibly go wrong?
Forensic Architecture: Using technology to expose state and corporate violence
In the first instalment of Tech Pulse, Molly La Fosse writes about Forensic Architecture and how they use technology to imagine new forms of justice around the world.
“The crime might be virtual, but the impact is very real”: Sexual violence in the metaverse
Maya Dharampal-Hornby explores the UK's police investigation into a rape on the metaverse, and questions how virtual assault should be dealt with.
“The area’s very uncomfortable”: The trend of teenage labiaplasty
Robbie Boyd explores changing trends in teenage genital cosmetic surgeries in relation to shame, activism, FGM and NHS guidelines.
Artificial equality? AI and social (im)mobility
Catherine Cape explains how AI technologies maintain and exacerbate social divides.
Schooled by AI: The future of Edtech
Molly La Fosse discusses the nuances of integrating tech and AI into the classroom, and the lack of planning the UK government has demonstrated in the sector.
Reflectively recalibrating? Black Mirror series 6 review
With the presentation of technology taking a backseat, the future of Black Mirror looks to be one of colourful refraction.
XR: The Answer to Climate Engagement?
Sara Atanasiu investigates nature-focused XR experiences, and whether they have the power to positively impact public perceptions of the climate emergency.
Men and their Meat
Amber Guernah discusses the links between masculinity and meat eating, why men are less likely to go vegan, and how they make sense of it when they do.
Coronavirus may be natural, but the pandemic was man-made
Robbie Boyd discusses how side effects of capitalism such as deforestation, factory farming and globalisation were causal mechanisms for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fear-Mongering and 'Frankenfood': Lessons for the Future of Lab-Grown Meat
Martha Rushbrooke dissects the social history of GMO foods, discussing how media coverage influenced public perception and what this means for the future of lab grown meats.
Biased Agonism: The End Of The Opioid Crisis Or A Pathway To More Pain?
David Brown considers the potential for biased agonists to be used instead of classic opioids for safer pain relief.
Like, Protest, Subscribe
Maya Dharampal-Hornby considers what the commodification of social justice movements by social media companies means for online activism, with a particular focus on the protests of Just Stop Oil, Dream Defenders and Black Lives Matter.
How would you feel about using brain-dead people as surrogates?
Alice Horrell considers the possibilities posed by whole-body gestational donation, and situates it, like surrogacy, as shaped by the socio-economic conditions it would emerge in.
Battling the Deepfake Epidemic: Will the UK’s Online Safety Bill go far enough?
The Monitor discusses deepfakes, the UK’s new Online Safety Bill, and lessons we can learn from Australia with deep fake porn activist, policy researcher and lawyer Noelle Martin.
Outright AI-Generated Art Misses the Mark
Ellie Lachs reflects on the ethics of using AI in the creation of artwork, locating the piece in the wider context of tech’s role in human creativity.
![Down the Reddit Hole: on informal trans [health]care networks](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/63f8fe6907d0af04e085ffe7/1680257628572-T7EF05S0F7OR8QG6B0Q0/Untitled+design+%284%29.png)
Down the Reddit Hole: on informal trans [health]care networks
Mizy Judah Clifton discusses the difficulties in accessing trans healthcare in the UK and the popular practice amongst the trans community of using Reddit for informal health advice.