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: Peter Garrard, St Georges, University of London
Might the economic burden and individual suffering associated with Alzheimer’s disease be reduced by the simple and inexpensive expedient of prescribing B-vitamins to those with high levels of homocysteine?
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- Written by: Richard Steed, University of Copenhagen
Scientists say a new biomarker that predicts the risk of developing dementia can be detected with a simple blood test—a test they hope will be applicable in clinical practice.
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- Written by: Kat Kerlin, UC Davis
Women whose mothers smoked while pregnant are two to three times as likely to be diabetic as adults. Fathers who smoked while their daughter was in utero also contribute to an increased diabetes risk, but more research is needed to establish the true effect.
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- Written by: Darren Saunders, Garvan Institute
What causes cancer? This deceptively simple question has a devilishly complex answer. So when US researchers proposed a relatively simple mathematical formula to explain a long-standing conundrum in cancer earlier this year, it was bound to get a lot of attention.
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- Written by: Cathy Wilde, University at Buffalo
Marijuana appears to ease symptoms of depression caused by chronic stress, new research with animals suggests. The study focused on endocannabinoids, which are brain chemicals similar to substances found in marijuana.
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- Written by: Imogen Rehm, Hailey Meaklim, and Jo Abbott, Swinburne University of Technology
We all have a poor night’s sleep from time to time: those nights when you lie awake for hours trying desperately to go to sleep but can’t stop worrying about tomorrow. Or when you repeatedly wake up throughout the night, or can’t get back to sleep in the early hours of the morning.
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- Written by: Anthony Hannan, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
The human brain is the most extraordinary and complex object in the known universe. So it’s a little surprising that only recently has the concept of brain health begun to emerge. After all, if the body is a “temple”, then surely the brain must be the “high altar” as it generates all our thoughts, feelings and movements.
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- Written by: Nathan Hurst, Univ. of Missouri
Separation from iPhones can cause users serious psychological and physiological effects, including poor performance on cognitive tests, according to new research.
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- Written by: Ekaterina Pesheva, Johns Hopkins University
Income, race, and ethnic origin have far more impact on a child’s risk for asthma than whether or not they live in an urban neighborhood, research shows.
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- Written by: Michael Kennedy, University of Toronto
How quickly your body breaks down nicotine may determine if a pill or a patch will be the most effective way to quit smoking. “In this new trial, we’ve shown that it is possible to optimize quit rates for smokers, while minimizing side effects, by selecting treatment based on whether people break down nicotine slowly or normally
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- Written by: Vincent Ho, University of Western Sydney
We’ve all experienced the abdominal cramps and the urge to get to a toilet – quickly! When the stomach and intestinal tract become inflamed, our bodies respond with the sudden onset of diarrhoea, associated nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramping and pain.
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- Written by: Benjamin Burke, University of Hull
Scorpion venom has been gaining interest as a source of new drugs. It contains a mixture of biological chemicals called peptides, some of which are known to trigger cell death by forming pores in biological membranes. Cell death can be useful if we are able to target, say, tumour cells to auto-destruct.
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- Written by: Doug Marsh
Experts have been studying the eye from many different angles for over a couple of centuries, yet the researchers seem no closer to understanding how vision really works than when the quest first started. At least nineteen theories have been postulated about the cause of myopia. Opinions also vary widely on how to treat myopia...
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- Written by: Harrison Wein, Ph. D.
Researchers gained new insight into how an immune cell involved in several autoimmune disorders is regulated. Among their discoveries was a potential link with salt consumption....
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- Written by: Barry Vissell
Sometimes Joyce and I laugh about the possibility of our future grown-up grandchildren being paid by our children to accompany me on a river trip... Then one of my grandchildren will approach me and enthusiastically ask, “Grandpa, can I please go with you on your next river trip?”
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- Written by: Emma Rayner, University of Nottingham
Does being outgoing affect your immune system? New research reveals how personality traits may influence inflammation and infection response.
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- Written by: Ivy Shiue, Heriot Watt University
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the catch-all term for diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels – including heart attack and stroke – is the leading global killer. And bad heart health can lead to health impairments from loss of body function to mental disturbances that can greatly affect our quality of life.
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- Written by: Matthew Swayne, Penn State University
Americans who live in the suburbs seem to be happier than those who live in rural areas and inner cities—unless they have a long commute to work. A recent study also shows that residents in the most unhappy communities say they spent 8.3 days a month in a negative mood.
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- Written by: Michal Schwartz, Aleksandra Deczkowska, and Kuti Baruch, Weizmann Institute of Science
Dementia and memory loss are some of the most devastating hallmarks of ageing, for the elderly, their families, and the healthcare system. This is why researchers want to find ways to rejuvenate the brain and therefore maintain the young mind and cognition in old age.
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- Written by: Kevin LaBar, Duke University
Modern life can feel defined by low-level anxiety swirling through society. Continual reports about terrorism and war. A struggle to stay on top of family finances and hold onto jobs. At the heart of issues like these lies uncertainty – the unknown likelihood of how ongoing crises will evolve over time.
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- Written by: Angela Gutchess, Brandeis University
For years, conventional wisdom held that growing older tends to be bad news for brains. Past behavioral data largely pointed to loss in cognitive – that is, thinking – abilities with age, including poorer memory and greater distractibility. Physical measures of brain structure also showed...
