Public Health England’s new guideline for the food industry is unlikely to curb obesity
Body weight is a complex issue and going after one culprit is not enough.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Analysis and Comment
What’s the best source of protein for building muscle – meat or plants?
New research on whether animal- or plant-based protein sources are better have been severely misrepresented.
The strange science of odour memory
Studying odour memory is more than just an interesting diversion, it has practical uses too.
From decapitation to positive psychology: how one nerve connects body, brain and mind
Neuroscientists are questioning how it is that physical matter comes together to make the mind.
Beware of claims that mindful eating will help you lose weight
Many mindfulness studies on weight loss are flawed. Others only measure surrogate outcomes, such as snacking less.
IVF has little effect on health of the child
A twins study shows that children born via IVF have similar epigenetic changes compared with those born naturally.
Deadly heat stress could threaten hundreds of millions even if climate targets reached
A global temperature rise of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels could have devastating consequences for city dwellers.
Subsidies for healthy foods are a price worth paying to tackle obesity
Weighing up the cost of improving people's diets.
Freud’s divide between psychiatry and neurology is redundant – here’s why
The causes of motor neurone disease and schizophrenia have something important in common.
Adrenaline zen: what ‘normal people’ can learn from extreme sports
Why extreme sports can change your life for the better.
Why worms and fish are good models for epilepsy
Simpler animal models can give researchers a much clearer picture of human diseases.
Touch in infancy is important for healthy brain development
New research underscores the importance of positive touch in infancy.
26 years ago the UK signed up to formula milk advertising rules – so why isn’t it law yet?
Parents need to know the truth about formula milk.
Are omega-3 fish oil supplements good for your heart?
Recent evidence seems to deny the benefit of fish oil supplements for heart health. But the quality of the studies is not that great.
It’s the age of the antibiotic revolution, not apocalypse
Resistance is growing but there are ways that hospitals – as well as the public – can stem the tide.
Drugs and addiction
There’s no such thing as an ‘addictive personality’ – here’s why
Drugs, coffee, television – they can all be described as 'addictive'. But when do they become a problem?
Why new law banning all psychoactive substances will be just another ‘war on drugs’ disaster
As of next month, all legal highs will be banned in the UK when a new law comes into effect. Don't expect it to work.
The five most addictive substances on Earth – and what they do to your brain
Be careful: many of us have tried at least two of them.
On Human Experiments
Human experiments – the good, the bad, and the ugly
The first part of our series On Human Experiments looks at the parameters of human research and its ethical bounds.
Ethics vs economics: the cost of outsourcing clinical trials to developing countries
On Human Experiments – As demand grows for newer and better drugs for an expanding range of conditions, so too does the need for clinical testing.
How black slaves were routinely sold as ‘specimens’ to ambitious white doctors
The horrors of slavery also spread to research: black bodies provided easy targets for medical experiments.
Podcast
Research and Expert Database
Editors’ Picks
Our study suggests alcohol may actually protect eyewitness memory – here’s how
If you believe intoxicated people always give unreliable eyewitness testimonies, think again.
East African hunter-gatherer research suggests the human microbiome is an ecological disaster zone
We need micro-environmentalists to fight for the cause.
Is there really a link between owning a cat and mental illness?
Owning a cat during pregnancy has been linked with later mental health problems in the child. But moggies may have been unfairly maligned.
The human brain makes fructose, researchers discover – here’s why that might be a big deal
The discovery by researchers at Yale University that the brain is capable of converting glucose into fructose may lead to changes in how we target neurological complications in diabetes.
Copper is great at killing superbugs – so why don’t hospitals use it?
Lack of knowledge and perceived cost issues could be holding back the fight against the superbugs.
Events
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Peeling back the label - Food regulation in post Brexit UK — Manchester Metropolitan University
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The Micro:bit Story: The Highs and Lows of Creating a Million Tiny Computers — Lancaster University
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A form in search of itself: some reflections on recent pieces — City, University of London
How we are different
10 reasons
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- What’s the best source of protein for building muscle – meat or plants?
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