There are times in life when we need to put theory into practice, where 'the rubber hits the road.' For a medical student on the brink of the start of clinical placements this is such a time. Many, like me, may feel a nervous excitement. Being a clinical medical student...
A first year lecturer once solemnly impressed upon me how fortunate and privileged I was to be receiving a medical education. How many able students in the developing world would give their back teeth for the chances I had been given. As a nervous first year, I wondered whether this...
If asked to explain how to sustain hope in our despairing world, I suspect a few would respond with a potted summary of the Bible; and yet, according to the apostle Paul, that is precisely what we should do! He wrote about the Jewish Scriptures in these extraordinary terms: For...
body as machine Medical schools teach students to treat the body as a self-regulating machine. Medics are merely body mechanics, hired to repair them. It's a useful model when learning about hormones or kidneys, but less satisfying for describing whole people. Am I really just a computer made of meat?...
A look back into the archives of Nucleus soon reveals that money has been a concern for students since the inception of the journal in the 1970s. The first article published predates the birth of the present author, and there have been numerous items printed since. A significant amount of...
We evangelicals rarely know much history. We are wary of venerating the lives of 'saints', but as a result we forget the trail blazers and role models, who fought key battles for gospel truth and values. The Bible encourages us to learn from history, as often "these things happened as...
I cannot help but try to think of my own happiest moments. In spite of being a young man, my greatest moments of personal fulfillment have been those spent in sacrificial service of others. The tasks undertaken were in no way noble or grand in the eyes of the world,...
My dear Wormwood. My letters to you have been exposed and are now circulating the entirety of humankind! How could you have let this happen? Your incompetence as a junior tempter has caused a detrimental impact on the works of the demons in the Lowerarchy serving Our Father Below. ...
This free and interactive website facilitates in-depth Bible study through a number of tools and features. It is attractive, informative and user-friendly. Fourteen different bible translations are supported. There are introductions to and summaries of the books of the Bible, commentaries from over 20 sources (including audio and video), a number...
As the new Nucleus student editor let me welcome both new and old readers to this summer 2009 issue. As Hugh Ip has reluctantly put down his pen to focus on the business of passing finals, I have, with more than a little trepidation and excitement, become the first non-London...
the Law(s): covenant stipulations for Israel It is difficult for us to grasp the enormity of what God did for the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here were a people that had known only slavery in Egypt for hundreds of years. Not only had God delivered them from...
A fertility expert claims to have implanted cloned human embryos into the wombs of several women with the intention of producing live offspring. Operating from a secret laboratory thought to be somewhere in the Middle-East, Dr Panayiotis Zavos also claims to have created clones of several dead people, including a...
A support worker at a hostel for homeless people in Southampton was recently suspended for explaining his views on homosexuality during a conversation with a colleague. David Booker, a committed Christian, maintains that he is not homophobic but expressed his opposition to both same-sex marriages and actively homosexual clergy during...
Research by scientists in China has suggested that the ovaries of female mice contain stem cells capable of growing into eggs that can be fertilised to produce healthy offspring. The report in Nature Cell Biology states that female germline stem cells were isolated from mouse ovaries and grown in...
A nurse who secretly filmed the neglect of elderly patients in a hospital for a television documentary has been struck off. Margaret Haywood, 58, was found guilty of misconduct at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing for filming at the Royal Sussex Hospital for a BBC Panorama programme in...
The UK's first over-the-counter weight loss pill is now available at pharmacies around the country, but its makers warn that it may not be the 'magic bullet' for obesity that the public is hoping for. Alli has been marketed as a weight loss capsule which, when added to a reduced fat...
Couples at risk of passing on inheritable genetic diseases to their offspring are being denied funding to screen their embryos, experts have claimed. Such individuals are eligible for IVF in order to produce embryos that can be tested for abnormalities via pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). However, such procedures may cost a...
Over 100 scientists from around the world are preparing to build machines out of microscopic biological components. The teams, most of whom are students, will be competing against each other and have 3 months from June to build their machines. The competition, in its 6th year, is run by...
During 2007-8 the NHS underspent by £1.7bn. We are so used to hearing news of outrage at NHS deficits that you may have to read that line again in disbelief. Could it be that the NHS has actually delivered on improving its economy?It seems that the simple answer is yes....
The Pope has outraged many in the international AIDS prevention community on a recent visit to Africa with the bold claim that HIV: 'Cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem.' The president of the International AIDS Society labelled the Pope's words as 'irresponsible and dangerous'...
The Government has announced that non-invasive post-mortems will be available to those who object to conventional post-mortems on religious grounds. The announcement is part of an overhaul of the Coroners and Justice Bill and has arisen after the success of a pilot scheme in Salford and Bolton, where individuals could...