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Healthcare In Space - The First Medical Evacuation From The ISS

For the first time in 25 years of continuous crewed operations, an astronaut has been medically...

I Earned It, You're Privileged - The Paradox In How We View Achievement

The concept of “hard work v privilege”, and what either one says about someone’s social status...

Not Just The Holidays: The Hormonal Shift Of Perimenopause Could Be Causing Weight Gain

You’re in your mid-40s, eating healthy and exercising regularly. It’s the same routine that...

Anxiety For Christmas: How To Cope

Christmas can be hard. For some people, it increases loneliness, grief, hopelessness and family...

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How Gut Bacteria Ensure A Healthy Brain – and Could Play A Role In Treating Depression

How Gut Bacteria Ensure A Healthy Brain – and Could Play A Role In Treating Depression

Oct 23 2014 | comment(s)


Your second brain? Credit: hey__paul, CC BY

By Clio Korn, University of Oxford

Will Holding Thermal Printer Paper Really Send Your BPA Levels Soaring?

Will Holding Thermal Printer Paper Really Send Your BPA Levels Soaring?

Oct 22 2014 | comment(s)


Structure of Bisphenol A. Credit: Ian Musgrave

By Ian Musgrave

Bisphenol A is in the news again. A paper just published in the Public Library of Science with the alarming title of “Holding Thermal Receipt Paper and Eating Food after Using Hand Sanitizer Results in High Serum Bioactive and Urine Total Levels of Bisphenol A (BPA)” is bound to ratchet up anxiety levels about this chemical yet again.

Why Do We Find It So Hard To Write About Ourselves?

Why Do We Find It So Hard To Write About Ourselves?

Oct 22 2014 | comment(s)


Credit: The Conversation

By Jordan Gaines Lewis, Penn State College of Medicine

If you’ve ever applied for a job, you know how hard it is to write the perfect cover letter that will make you stand out above all the other applicants. It’s a competitive job market, and more often than not, career seekers find themselves face-to-face with blank computer screens in an attempt to pen that one short masterpiece.

Obesity, Cancer, Mental Health: What Links Them All?

Obesity, Cancer, Mental Health: What Links Them All?

Oct 22 2014 | comment(s)

By Alessandro R Demaio, Harvard University

There’s been a lot of discussion about obesity this week. Whether or not it’s a disease (as it is in the USA now) and how this label would positively or negatively influence action taken by society and governments in addressing this large and growing burden.

This conversation is important, but I have noticed very often it ends with confusion. Questions around why we begin talking about obesity - and end discussing mental health, cancer, heart disease or diabetes. To make things even more confusing, the term ‘Non-Communicable Diseases’ might even be mentioned.

Dams Are Not The Smart Way To Secure Water For Agriculture

Dams Are Not The Smart Way To Secure Water For Agriculture

Oct 22 2014 | comment(s)


The Ord River dam, completed in 1971, formed Australia's largest artificial lake in the far north west. Graeme Churchard/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

By Willem Vervoort, University of Sydney

Some 27 irrigation and dam projects are highlighted in the green paper for agricultural competitiveness released this week by agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce.

Why Climate 'Uncertainty' Is No Excuse For Doing Nothing

Why Climate 'Uncertainty' Is No Excuse For Doing Nothing

Oct 22 2014 | comment(s)


Science can't tell us exactly when the rising oceans will swallow up the Maldives, but it can give us a good idea. Credit: Hiroyuki-H, CC BY-SA

By Richard Pancost, University of Bristol and Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol