Planets & Transits
New Moon in Leo August 12, 2026
The New Moon arrives in Leo August 12 at 8:36 PM UTC, and with it comes a singular...
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- Written by: Sheena Rice, University of Missouri
As women enter menopause, their levels of physical activity decrease, but it hasn’t been understood why.
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- Written by: Mark Michaud, University of Rochester
Scientists have identified an inner ear deficiency in children with autism that may affect their ability to recognize speech. The finding suggests that a hearing test could one day be used identify children at risk for the disorder at an early age.
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- Written by: David Orenstein, Brown University
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has released a report saying there isn’t enough evidence to recommend that clinicians perform visual screening for melanomas for patients with no known risk for the skin cancer.
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- Written by: Maureen Sangiorgio
Beginning exerciser to triathlete, we know that exercise does us good. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends a fitness program combining cardio and strength training. But what you eat is just as important...
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- Written by: Kati Kleber, BSN, RN, CCRN
Anyone admitted to a hospital faces stress and anxiety, often in tandem with pain and trauma. Add into this mix a bombardment of information and instructions from a sea of strangers, and it's easy to become overwhelmed. How can patients and their loved ones keep track of everything they need to know?
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- Written by: Matthew Broome, University of Oxford
Manipulating the brain has been a tool used in the treatment of mental illness for centuries, and treatments have often been controversial.
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- Written by: Cory Nealon University at Buffalo
In a series of experiments, an embryonic stem cell gene kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries, and other telltale signs of growing old.
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- Written by: Louisa Owens, University of Western Australia and Adam Jaffe, UNSW Australia
When a child is diagnosed with asthma, parents usually have a number of questions. How serious is asthma? Will the child grow out of it?
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- Written by: Marla Paul, Northwestern University
The number of new cases of metastatic prostate cancer climbed 72 percent from 2004 to 2013, but it’s unclear whether the rise is due to a recent trend of fewer screenings, the disease becoming more aggressive, or both.
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- Written by: Jason Ellis, Northumbria University, Newcastle
It should be one of the most relaxing times of the day. You climb into bed, get comfortable and cosy, start to feel your brain slowing down … and then suddenly you experience a shocking falling sensation.
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- Written by: Nadira Faber, University of Oxford
It is an open secret: while athletes dope their bodies, regular office workers dope their brains. They buy prescription drugs such as Ritalin or Provigil on the internet’s flourishing black market to boost their cognitive performance.
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- Written by: Jessica Loyer, University of Adelaide
Superfoods are everywhere these days. Once found only in niche health food shops, displays of “exotic” superfoods like açai from the Brazilian Amazon and maca from the Peruvian Andes now appear in supermarket chains, chemists, and convenience stores.
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- Written by: Roger Sturmey, University of Hull
Scientists in Greece claimed recently to have reversed the menopause. They did this by injecting blood plasma that contains platelets into the ovaries of eight women who had not menstruated for around five months in order to stimulate ovarian regeneration.
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- Written by: Annalijn I Conklin, University of California, Los Angeles; Nita Forouhi, University of Cambridge, and Pablo Monsivais, University of Cambridge
In a study of over 25,000 adults with detailed information about their eating habits, people with a greater diversity of foods in their diet showed a 30% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a ten-year period.
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- Written by: Shilo Rea, Carnegie Mellon University
Ordering lunch at least an hour before you eat could help you cut calories and avoid unhealthy impulse choices.
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- Written by: Beth Darnall, Ph.D.
If you take prescription opioids, you may have experienced withdrawal symptoms at some point—perhaps when you forgot to take a scheduled dose of medication. Opioid withdrawal is highly unpleasant. If you experience withdrawal symptoms, this does not meant that you cannot get off opioids...
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- Written by: Stephanie Desmon, Johns Hopkins University
"It doesn't matter how old you are or if you're in a wealthy country or a poorer one or if you've had it before—you can get it again," says Sarah M. Bartsch. "And it is really unpleasant. But if we don't focus on norovirus and teach people how to prevent it, little headway will be made to combat it."
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- Written by: Alexandra Alvergne, University of Oxford
It is a popular belief that women who live together synchronise their menstrual cycles, and that it’s mediated by their pheromones – the airborne molecules that enable members of the same species to communicate non-verbally.
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- Written by: Nora Caron
Ever since I was a child, I chased the sun. I was ecstatic in the summer and miserable in the winter. My parents would have to chase after me to wear a hat and long sleeves because I wouldn’t think about sunburns or skin cancer at all, all I could think about was JOY.
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- Written by: Andy Fell, University of California, Davis
A new study of pigeons in New York City shows that levels of lead in the birds track with neighborhoods where children show high levels of lead exposure.
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- Written by: Ben Baumberg Geiger, University of Kent
For those of us that partake, drinking alcohol is often seen as a balancing act that weighs up the pleasures of drinking against the pains. Government regulation is often seen the same way, weighing the benefits of pleasure and freedom of the individual on one hand against the cost of crime and health harms on the other
