If you do an online search about sugar, you may become convinced that it’s evil and addictive – and that your sweet tooth will lead you to ruin. You’ll also see plenty of advice for how to curb your craving for sugary goodness. But what do we really know about how sugar affects us?…
Humans and canines have been best pals for at least the past 15,000 years. We’ve been taking them for walkies for at least half that time. And now we have a better idea of what’s going on inside their cute, fuzzy little skulls. A new study on the genetic activity of fox pituitary glands…
Urine tasting. Bloodletting. Plague. The life of a 15th- and 16th-century doctor wasn’t always savory, but it was never dull – and it was made easier with a groundbreaking anatomy book. The book, Fasciculus Medicinae, was a guide to all things medical, including treating wounds and diagnosing complications in pregnant women. Now, thanks to…
A week after the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy, the most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX has analysed what went wrong, and Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to explain why the core booster did not land as it was supposed to. The simultaneous landing of Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters was like a…
The war goes on. In a series of deadly raids day and night, the African Matabele ant sets out from its bunkered nests to hunt its prey: phalanxes of termite soldiers, assembled in number at feeding sites. Many ants don’t make it back alive. Others that do carry terrible injuries, with limbs torn off…
If your Valentines Day isn’t living up to your expectations, don’t worry – researchers are reminding us just how much less romantic things could get through the #AcademicValentines hashtag. The hashtag has gone viral with academics taking to Twitter to celebrate their love for their research… and also highlight some of the not so…
The next time you’re standing in a motel bathroom staring at the previous guest’s hair inside the drain, maybe with a nail file in your hand and a look of nauseous determination on your face, consider: From whence came this hair? What great things might its owner have done, or go on to do? Do…
A new technique for measuring the mass of galaxies has been applied to our closest galactic neighbour – and it has found that the Andromeda galaxy is roughly the same size as the Milky Way, and not two to three times bigger as was previously thought. This means, when the two galaxies merge in…
She told doctors that she wanted to breast-feed her baby. She explained that her partner was pregnant but was not planning to breast-feed when the child was born, so she wanted to take it on herself. The 30-year-old, who is transgender, was willing to accept the risks. Following months of hormone therapy last year,…
The Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu has long been marked as a prime candidate to get swallowed up by the ocean as sea levels rise, but new research shows the land mass of the nation is actually expanding. That’s based on aerial photographs and satellite imagery taken of Tuvalu’s nine atolls and 101 reef…
They say money can’t buy happiness, but let’s be honest, they say a lot of things – and they’re not always right. When it comes to income, scientists say there actually is an ideal yearly amount we can earn to feel emotionally content and satisfied – and believe it or not, if you have too…
Archaeologists in Sweden have unearthed human remains of a type never before found in Scandinavia. The enigmatic Mesolithic bones show evidence of blunt force trauma to several skulls – and evidence that heads were displayed on stakes. But none of it is straightforward, which presents a number of really intriguing mysteries. For one, the bones…