With occasional exceptions, British journalism is not at its best when reporting science. Usually we ignore it. When we pay attention we have a tradition of laziness and misunderstanding that too often leads to entirely deliberate hyperbole

e.g. GM/Frankenstein Food, Y2K/Global Catastrophe, Embryo Research/Monster Babies. This morning’s Today Programme contained a welcome exception to the rule. Jim Naughtie’s interview with Professor Brian Ford (broadcast between 07.21 and 07.27) about the possibility that conscious inteligence may exist within single-cell organisms was a gem. Is it possible that the humble amoeba has the capacity for independent, rational thought? Do cells think as opposed to merely transmitting signals? If any of this is true it challenges our key assumptions about the nature of consciousness. It deserves to be widely explained and discussed. Perhaps after Prof Ford’s lecture in Cambridge today it will be.