COVID Virus Crisis

What autoimmune disorder is newly linked to Zika?

Apr 19, 2016 06:54 am UTC| Health

The ongoing Zika virus outbreak in South America has brought media and research attention to several rare neurological disorders. Early reports suggested links between Zika infection and microcephaly (abnormal smallness...

Losing your virginity: how we discovered that genes could play a part

Apr 19, 2016 06:50 am UTC| Health

As far as big life decisions go, choosing when to lose your virginity or the best time start a family are probably right up there for most people. It may seem that such decisions are mostly driven by social factors, such...

Night shifts may be more disruptive to women than men, brain study suggests

Apr 19, 2016 06:43 am UTC| Health

We all appreciate the importance of getting enough sleep. Not doing so affects our ability to function effectively, something that becomes painfully apparent during shift-work, especially night shifts. Now research...

Not everyone who takes painkillers for fun is an addict; some have just found a different way to cope

Apr 19, 2016 04:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Health Law

The misuse or abuse of pharmaceutical pain medications usually opioids has received increasing media attention recently. The focus of such news items has largely been on people who transition from oral use of medication...

How to start nudging people to drink less alcohol

Apr 19, 2016 04:21 am UTC| Health

Millions of pounds is spent each year to bombard us with information on the risks of alcohol. But do such campaigns work? Our research shows that some simple tweaks to how the message is delivered by applying findings...

Why the baby brain can learn two languages at the same time

Apr 18, 2016 08:49 am UTC| Health

Any adult who has attempted to learn a foreign language can attest to how difficult and confusing it can be. So when a three-year-old growing up in a bilingual household inserts Spanish words into his English sentences,...

Why the Internet isn't making us smarter – and how to fight back

Apr 18, 2016 08:28 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

In the hours since I first sat down to write this piece, my laptop tells me the National Basketball Association has had to deny that it threatened to cancel its 2017 All-Star Game over a new anti-LGBT law in North Carolina...