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: Jordan Smith, University of Newcastle
Current guidelines suggest adults should accrue at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. However, 60% of us fail to meet this recommendation, and around one in six aren’t doing any regular exercise at all.
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- Written by: Kristina Sauerwein, Washington University in St. Louis
The drugs are sold under the brand names Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium, and Protonix, among others. More than 15 million Americans have prescriptions for PPIs, although the number of people taking PPIs is likely higher because the figure does not include PPIs bought over-the-counter without prescriptions.
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- Written by: Jared Piazza, Lancaster University
“I’m vegetarian.” “I’m vegan.” These statements typically will be met with a range of reactions, varying from bafflement to praise. But what makes people adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet?
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- Written by: Karen Keane, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Drinking cherry concentrate can lower systolic blood pressure for up to three hours, our latest study found. If tart Montmorency cherry concentrate was a drug, it would probably get FDA approval.
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- Written by: Chris Elliott, Queen's University Belfast
Anybody suffering from a food allergy will know what a huge cause of anxiety it can be. From forensically examining information on food packaging to having to repeatedly ask restaurant staff detailed questions about their ingredients, it can take up a lot of time and energy. And, even then, there are still uncertainties to deal with.
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- Written by: Clare Collins, University of Newcastle
Historically called the disease of kings, gout was common among wealthy gents who could afford to eat and drink to excess. These days it doesn’t just affect the rich: rates of gout have been increasing globally since the 1960s. It now affects around 70,000 Australians a year and is more common in men aged over 70.
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- Written by: John (Jock) Kerr Findlay, Hudson Institute; Karla Hutt, Monash University, and Kate Stern, University of Melbourne
Most women will have been made aware they have a “biological clock” and that it’s ticking. Most know the older women become the harder it is for them to conceive. But most probably don’t know it’s because women are born with a limited supply of eggs, and eventually they will run out.
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- Written by: Nicola Jones, University of Warwick
People who ate 100 grams of chocolate a day—basically one bar—had reduced insulin resistance and improved liver enzymes. Insulin sensitivity is a well-established risk factor to cardiovascular disease.
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- Written by: Jeremy Grummet, Monash University
Conversation about how often you have to get up at night for a piddle is probably not the most scintillating discourse. But there’s a much bigger reason men don’t like to talk about prostate conditions.
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- Written by: Cynthia Lee, McGill University
Children who had vitamin D stores above the threshold recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Society averaged around 450 grams (or about one pound) less body fat at 3 years of age.
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- Written by: Emily Sohn, Ensia
The calls and e-mails arrive as often as several times a week from people with concerns about drinking water. Some of the callers — who include homeowners, architects and builders — want to know why their water smells like gasoline.
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- Written by: Richard Faragher, University of Brighton
How long you live depends in part on the genes you inherit. For example, those suffering from Werner’s syndrome have inherited two defective copies of a gene coding for an enzyme that is involved in DNA replication and repair.
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- Written by: Andrew Smith, Drexel University
In case you’ve forgotten the section on the food web from high school biology, here’s a quick refresher. Plants make up the base of every food chain of the food web (also called the food cycle).
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- Written by: MacDonald Christie, University of Sydney
Whether a drug is prescribed by the doctor, bought over the counter or obtained illegally, we mostly take their mechanism of action for granted and trust they will do what they’re supposed to.
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- Written by: Allison Hydzik, University of Pittsburgh
"There's long been evidence suggesting that light and circadian rhythms profoundly influence our biology, and specifically the physiological response to stress," says Matthew R. Rosengart.
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- Written by: Saskia Angenent, University of York
"The principal interest of this piece of work is that it provides direct evidence for early dairying at high altitude in the Alps," says Kevin Walsh.
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- Written by: Matthew Swayne, Penn State
Older adults who strength trained at least twice a week had 46 percent lower odds of death for any reason, 41 percent lower odds of cardiac death, and 19 percent lower odds of dying from cancer.
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- Written by: Andy Henion, Michigan State University
Even after taking into account residents' wealth, age, sex, and other neighborhood factors, the study found that having a view of the ocean was associated with improved mental health.
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- Written by: Rod Pyle, Caltech
Beginning in infancy, people who have autism spectrum disorder observe and interpret images and social cues differently than others do. Researchers now have new insight into just how this occurs, which eventually may help doctors diagnose, and more effectively treat, the various forms of the disorder.
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- Written by: Cathy Wilde, University at Buffalo
The mice in the enriched environment, where they exercised more, lived anywhere from 16 to 22 percent longer than those in a deprived environment, depending on the level of gene expression.
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- Written by: AJ Earley
A good night’s sleep is a crucial aspect to overall health and well-being, yet so many Americans are lacking in that department. A 2013 Gallup poll found that 40% of American adults get less than the recommended amount of sleep.
