Children whose GPs are easy to access are less likely to visit A&E than those whose GPs are less able to provide appointments. During weekdays, children's visits to A&E peak after school hours.

Heartbeats can now be measured without placing sensors on the body, thanks to a new way to measure heartbeats remotely, in real time, and under controlled conditions with as much accuracy as electrocardiographs.

The researchers say this will allow for the development of "casual sensing" -- taking measurements as people go about their daily activities, for instance, when they are going to bed or getting ready to start the day. Kind of like a Fitbit, except accurate

"Taking measurements with sensors on the body can be stressful and troublesome, because you have to stop what you're doing," says Hiroyuki Sakai, a researcher at Panasonic. "What we tried to make was something that would offer people a way to monitor their body in a casual and relaxed environment."

New research from the University of Southampton indicates that the public are being exposed, without their knowledge, to airborne ultrasound.

The study found increasing exposure to ultrasound in locations such as railway stations, museums, libraries, schools and sports stadiums, in which there have been complaints of nausea, dizziness, migraine, fatigue and tinnitus.

Ultrasound in public places can be generated from a number of sources including loudspeakers, door sensors and public address systems.

NAIROBI, KENYA (20 January 2016)--Small, family farmers in Africa purchase more than half of their seeds every year through local markets and other informal sources--neglected outlets that present a major opportunity for improving access to better crop varieties crucial to dealing with climate, nutrition, and other production challenges in a region where food security remains a major concern. That's a key finding from comprehensive new research released today in the Journal Food Security that examined some 10,000 seed transactions across five African countries and Haiti.

Social media may seem to be a way to make and maintain hundreds of friendships. But University of Oxford research, supported by Dorset bakers Thomas J. Fudge's, suggests that the constraints that limit the number of friends we have offline also apply online. The study is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

Offline, research has given rise to what's called the Social Brain Hypothesis. This says that our brain's ability to process multiple relationships creates a natural group size for humans of 100 - 200 people. This size is also constrained by the time required to maintain relationships - we only have so much time to devote to meeting or talking to people.

Though hyper-exaggerated pictures of garbage patches and models extrapolated from a fishing line study in the 1980s get all of the media attention when it comes to pollution, it causes activist groups to raise money by focusing on the wrong thing. The most efficient way to clean up ocean plastics and avoid harming ecosystems is to stop litter on the coasts.