Should doctors recommend homeopathy? Sometimes placebos work, that is why placebo has an Effect named after it and, because they are inert, they can't do any harm. But when patients or taxpayers are…

The incidence of serious strep infections has risen dramatically in the last three decades, and this increase is largely attributed to the spread around the globe of a single strain of strep known as…

Population studies indicate that up to 90 percent of cases of autism and what are referred to as autism spectrum disorders have some genetic component, but only 10 percent of cases can be attributed…

There's no one universal 'intelligence gene' but many thousands each contributing a small increment – and here are three.Credit: Andrew Huff/Flickr (cropped), CC BY By Beben Benyamin, The University…

Forget the Turing and Lovelace tests on artificial intelligence: I want to see a robot pass the Frampton Test. Let me explain why rock legend Peter Frampton enters the debate on AI. For many…

More Americans than ever before are supporting their local food markets, but it's not just because they believe the food is fresher or tastes better. Instead, people are shopping at farmers markets…

By using medicines in unconventional ways and treating patients with a 'stepped care' approach (where the most effective yet least intensive treatment is delivered to patients first), scientists have…

As a whistle-blower and interdisciplinary scientist who appreciates the strength of philosophical arguments (read: logic!), I receive idiotic rejections declining to publish my work, perusing…

As we approach the August bank holiday and a three-day weekend, it is worth reassessing the amount of time we devote to work. What if all weekends could last for three or even four days? What if the…

Australian guidelines for the ethical use of IVF allow selecting a child’s sex for medical reasons. But draft guidelines that are now open for public submissions raise the possibility of extending…

As part of a periodic review, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is calling for public submissions on its draft guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in…

As college students have made their way back to campus this month, many also return to the habits, some good, some bad, that dorm-life promotes. A new survey finds that adults under 25, including…

Natural American Spirit has discovered how to gain market share; tout the organic, all-natural status of its product. It must be healthier, right? Not when it comes to cigarettes, but it has been…

Despite the glitz and glory of Usain Bolt’s comeback victories and Jessica Ennis-Hill’s heptathlon triumph at the World Championships, 2015 is shaping up as quite the annus horribilis for athletics…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announces a determination of non-regulated status for a genetically engineered (GE) potato variety…

Nina Fedoroff, molecular biologist and former Science and Technology Adviser to Condoleezza Rice and then Hillary Clinton, says that genetic modification (GM) is the most critical technology in…

Testing the saliva of healthy older people for the level of the stress hormone cortisol may help identify individuals who should be screened for problems with thinking skills, according to a study…

Could the sperm harpoon the egg to facilitate fertilization? That's the intriguing possibility raised by the University of Virginia School of Medicine's discovery that a protein within the head of…

By: Michael Greshko, Inside Science – Some filmmakers really know how to get into their audience’s heads, new research suggests. Last month, a team led by Matt Bezdek, a cognitive psychologist at the…

A new device transforms paralysis victims’ breath into words. Billed as a tool to help bring back the art of conversation for sufferers of severe paralysis and loss of speech, the prototype analyses…