People with life-threatening or incurable diseases may be willing to try experimental drugs and unproven treatments. Credit: juicyrai/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND By Tina Cockburn, Queensland University of…

Research undertaken on beagles and the contraceptive pill in the 1970s was found to be fabricated - there never were any beagles. Flickr/Understanding Animal Research, CC BY-SA By Mark Israel,…

If you're at high risk of skin cancer, check your skin regularly. Roman Königshofer/Flickr, CC BY-ND By H. Peter Soyer, The University of Queensland and Anna Finnane, The University of Queensland The…

We don't actually know whether probiotics have a measurable impact on digestive health - and if it is positive. brownpau/Flickr, CC BY-SA By Paul Bertrand, RMIT University; Andrew Ball, RMIT…

 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is one of a group of preventable, lifelong conditions (the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) that may result from high alcohol use in pregnancy. It can cause low IQ,…

In a radio interview , Prime Minister Tony Abbott raised what he described as the “potential health impacts” of wind farms. Yesterday’s article in The Australian by Liberal Democrat senator David…

Preventing inflammation in obese fat tissue may hold the key to preventing or even reversing type 2 diabetes, new research has found. Researchers from Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and…

Imagine being able to tone down appetite and promote weight loss, while improving the body’s ability to handle blood sugar levels. That’s just what Tony Means, PhD, and his team at the Duke…

What causes us to lose muscle strength as we age and how exercise can prevent it from happening has never been thoroughly understood, but McMaster University researchers have discovered a key protein…

A large international analysis of 174,000 patients has shown conclusively that statin treatment reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in women. The study was an international meta-analysis…

Caloric restriction in mice has been touted for accomplishing everything from increasing longevity to lowering cholesterol, but those animals are weaned on that from birth, and humans will go to jail…

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…