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Theory Of Mind Is Wrong About Autistic People

For four decades, a controversial idea has shaped how autism is understood by researchers, healthcare...

Bacteroides Fragilis May Be A Fifth Columnist Helping Colon Cancer In Your Body

The gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis has long presented researchers with a paradox. It has been...

Losing Weight Improves The Heartbreak Of Psoriasis For Some

For many people living with psoriasis, the red, scaly skin patches are only part of the story....

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...

The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, funded by the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public. The Conversation launched in Australia in March 2011.... Read More »

Babies' Gut Bacteria Are Mostly Fixed By Time Spent In The Womb

Oct 03 2014 | comment(s)

Your gut bacteria won't change much. Credit: ponchicaBG

By Nicholas Ellaby, University of Liverpool

From eyes to the gap between the toes, we are covered in bacterial colonies.

Between 500 and 1000 unique species live in our gut alone. We provide an ideal environment for bacteria: warmth, moisture, nutrients and protection.

Children Need To Play Outdoors, But We're Not Letting Them

Oct 03 2014 | comment(s)

Evidence shows children are getting less unsupervised time outdoors. Credit: Brian Yap (葉)/Flickr, CC BY-NC

By Shelby Gull Laird and Laura McFarland-Piazza

Hippocrates Didn't Write The Oath, So Why Is He The Father Of Medicine?

Oct 03 2014 | comment(s)

Not the one we have fixed in our imaginations. Peter Paul Rubens, 1638

By Helen King, The Open University

Hippocrates is considered the father of medicine, enemy of superstition, pioneer of rationality and fount of eternal wisdom.

Statues and drawings show him with a furrowed brow, thinking hard about how to heal his patients.

What Do World University Rankings Actually Mean?

Oct 03 2014 | comment(s)

In third place, Oxford University is the top UK institution in the World University Rankings 2014-15. Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Archive

By Steven C. Ward, Western Connecticut State University

From the “best beaches” to the “best slice of pizza” to the best hospital to have cardiac surgery in, we are inundated with a seemingly never-ending series of reports ranking everything that can be ranked and even things that probably shouldn’t be.