Are you really what your mother ate, drank or got stressed about? The simple answer is “no”, but not in the way you think.

We are products of nature via nurture. Our genes and environments interact. And “environment” can be what we are experiencing now or at any time during our life.

An overwhelming body of evidence, from both humans and other animals, has shown that the environment we experience in the first 1,000 days of life influences our risk of chronic diseases: conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, psychiatric disorders and some cancers.

Science, many people believe, is kept in check by scientists reviewing each other’s work. This has recently extended to re-analysis of data to see if results can be replicated, and has overturned important findings in medicine, economics, and sociology.

We re-analyzed an influential randomized controlled trial of deworming in Kenyan schools. We found that even for a randomized controlled trial – lauded as the most robust method to identify impact – there are aspects of analysis and reporting where re-analysis can shed new light.

New research provides mathematical evidence that Michelangelo used the Golden Ratio of 1.6 when painting The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Golden Ratio is found when you divide a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is equal to the whole length divided by the longer part.

The Golden Ratio has been linked with greater structural efficiency and has puzzled scientists for centuries due to its frequent occurrence in nature--for example in snail shells and flower petals. The Golden Ratio can also be found in a variety of works by architects and designers, in famous musical compositions, and in the creations of many artists.

How did the snake get its slither? Ever since the crafty serpent in Genesis tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, we’ve been fascinated by snakes. And, despite our interest in this animal, we have a poor understanding of how it actually evolved.

But scientists have now released a new study on the fossil of a snake that appears to have lived between 100m and 146m years ago. And what’s more it had legs.

In America there has been yet another shooting and the common denominator has been the presence of psychiatric medication. Clearly better diagnosis of people is not what is needed, better outcomes are. Medications are wildly over-prescribed and they don't work very well. For some patients, a nicotine patch is as effective as medication after two months.

New research based on modern techniques suggests that recommendations for protein intake in healthy populations may be incorrect. In a paper just published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, an NRC Research Press journal (a division of Canadian Science Publishing), researchers put the focus on protein as an essential component of a healthy diet.

Protein helps people stay full longer, preserve muscle mass, and when combined with adequate physical activity, has the potential to serve as a key nutrient for important health outcomes and benefits.

It's not only how much protein you eat, it's the type of protein that is important.

NASA’s announcement of the discovery of a new extrasolar planet has been met with a lot of excitement.

But the truth is that it is impossible to judge whether it is similar to Earth with the few parameters we have – it might just as well resemble Venus, or something entirely different.

The process of distilling water, crude oil or ethyl alcohol are all based on similar science.  When two or more chemicals are thoroughly mixed in a liquid, being able to separate them can be quite a challenge. 

If probiotics have success for boosting human health (that is in doubt, despite the number of papers capitalizing on the craze) it may depend partly upon the food or other material carrying the probiotics, according to a paper in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

In the July 24th New York Times, there is a featured article about a new, thorny issue—what to do about the millions of Americans who are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). What makes this particular issue especially tricky is that it involves rationing— about as close to a dirty word in the discussion of modern medicine as you'll ever come across. Rationing of medical care is cruel, inherently wrong, arbitrary, and unacceptable in any fair-minded society. Or is it?