Euthanasia Advocate Who Assisted in Woman's Suicide Dies in Germany
Mr. Willet's death was reported in an obituary posted on the website of The Last Resort, his assisted dying group, written by Philip Nitschke, the inventor of the device, known as a Sarco capsule. Mr. Nitschke said in an email that Mr. Willet had died by assisted suicide, but further details about his death remained unclear. The police in Germany, where Mr. Willet died, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mr. Willet, who was 47, according to the obituary, was the only person with the American woman when she died using the Sarco device in a remote forest in Switzerland in September. He was arrested, along with three others, by the Swiss authorities, who said at the time that the group was under investigation for 'aiding and abetting suicide.'
The incident amplified thorny questions surrounding assisted dying even in Switzerland, where laws around the practice have led thousands of people to seek assisted death from right-to-die organizations based there in recent years.
Mr. Willet was released from pretrial detention in December, after which 'he was a changed man,' Mr. Nitschke wrote.
'Gone was his warm smile and self-confidence. In its place was a man who was deeply traumatized by the experience of incarceration and the wrongful accusation of strangulation.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
New Research Debunks Myth That Brain Cells Stop Growing After Childhood
You've probably heard the old canard that new brain cells simply stop forming as we become adults. But research out today is the latest to show that this isn't really true. Scientists in Sweden led the study, published Thursday in Science. They found abundant signs of neural stem cells growing in the hippocampus of adult brains. The findings reveal more about the human brain as we get older, the researchers say, and also hint at potential new ways to treat neurological disorders. 'We've found clear evidence that the human brain keeps making new nerve cells well into adulthood,' study co-author Marta Paterlini, a neuroscientist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, told Gizmodo. This Is What Your Brain Looks Like When You Solve a Problem This isn't the first paper to chip away at the idea of new neurons ceasing to form in adulthood (a concept not to be confused with general brain development, which does seem to reach maturity around age 30). In 2013, study researcher Jonas Frisén and his team at the Karolinska Institute concluded that substantial neuron growth—also known as neurogenesis—occurs throughout our lives, albeit with a slight decline as we become elderly. But there's still some debate ongoing among scientists. In spring 2018, for instance, two different studies of neurogenesis published a month apart came to the exact opposite conclusion. The researchers were hoping to settle one particular aspect of human neurogenesis in adults. If we do keep growing new neurons as we age, then we should be able to spot the cells that eventually mature into neurons, neural progenitor cells, growing and dividing inside the adult brain. To look for these cells, the team analyzed brain tissue samples from people between the ages of 0 and 78 using relatively new advanced methods. These methods allowed them to figure out the characteristics of brain cells on an individual level and to track the genes being expressed by a single cell's nucleus. All told, the researchers examined more than 400,000 individual cell nuclei from these samples. And as hoped, they found these progenitor cells along various stages of development in adult brains, including cells just about to divide. They also pinpointed the location within the hippocampus where the new cells appeared to originate: the dentate gyrus, a brain region critical to helping us form certain types of memory. 'We saw groups of dividing precursors sitting right next to the fully formed nerve cells, in the same spots where animal studies have shown adult stem cells live,' said Paterlini, a senior scientist at the Frisén lab. 'In short, our work puts to rest the long-standing debate about whether adult human brains can grow new neurons.' Something Strange Happens to Brains During a Marathon The findings, as is often true in science, foster more questions in need of an answer. Our adult precursor cells seem to have different patterns of gene activity compared to the cells found in pigs, mice, and other mammals with clear evidence of adult neurogenesis, for instance. The researchers also found that some adults' brains were filled with these growing precursors, while others had relatively few. These differences—combined with the team's earlier research showing that adult neurogenesis slows down over time—may help explain people's varying risk of neurological or psychological conditions, the authors say. And likewise, finding a safe way to improve the adult brain's existing ability to grow new cells could help treat these conditions or improve people's recovery from serious head injuries. 'Although precise therapeutic strategies for humans are still being researched, the simple fact that our adult brains can generate new neurons radically changes the way we view lifelong learning, recovery from injury, and the untapped potential of neuronal plasticity,' said Paterlini. There's plenty more to be learned about how our brains change over time. The team is planning to investigate other likely hotspots of neurogenesis in the adult brain, such as the wall of the lateral ventricles (c-shaped cavities found in each of the brain's cerebral hemispheres) and nearby regions. But we can be fairly certain that our neurons keep on growing and replacing themselves into adulthood—at least for some of us.
Digital Trends
an hour ago
- Digital Trends
The Stop Killing Games movement hits a major milestone for game preservation
The consumer initiative Stop Killing Games has gotten one step closer towards its goal of preventing game publishers from effectively deleting online games after discontinuing their service. The European Citizens' Initiative just passed the required 1 million signatures needed to appear before the European Commission, where it could then lead to legislation being put in place. For those unaware, the Stop Killing Games movement was started by content creator Ross Scott after Ubisoft's The Crew was taken offline in 2024. Without any official servers, this always-online game that people purchased was rendered useless. This prompted Scott to begin a campaign that seeks to require publishers to transition their games into a playable state after ending support. Ways this could be done include adding an offline mode and giving players the ability to host private servers. The main goal of this initiative is to remove the ability for publishers to remotely disable games, thus making preservation impossible. The initiative also calls out the misleading nature of purchasing a good when, in reality, it is just a license with a hidden expiration date. Recommended Videos The petition, which just crossed the minimum 1 million signature threshold, will now be presented to the European Commission with the hopes of bringing enough attention to the matter to put new laws into place that will require publishers to offer some way to continue playing their games after ending official support. This comes just days before the July 31 deadline, but that still doesn't guarantee it will be effective. For one, the petition will be vetted to ensure there are no invalid signatures so more signatures are still being collected to hopefully account for that. Second, appearing before the European Commission doesn't necessarily mean any legislative action will be taken. Sadly, this movement is only possible in the EU right now, so those of us in America are unable to sign to show our support. However, this initiative's passing would still likely benefit us as well. The rationale here is that if publishers are required to offer an offline mode or private servers in the EU, there's no reason not to apply it worldwide. Considering how many games — even single-player ones — require an online connection today, this issue will only grow as time goes on. If you're curious about this initiative, there's an extensive FAQ page that gives detailed answers to all the major questions you might have.
Wall Street Journal
2 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Holds First Call With Putin After Pause in Ukraine Weapons Shipments
President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone on Thursday, in the two leaders' first conversation since the U.S. paused a series of weapons shipments for Ukraine. Trump urged Putin to quickly end the war in Ukraine but the Russian president refused, according to a Kremlin briefing on the hourlong call. The White House has yet to release its own summary.
