In the last 20,000 years, Europeans and Asians became numerous and their descendants now comprise the bulk of our 7 billion population. Prior to that, for 130,000 years, the Khoisan (they call…

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) found in flame retardant cloth, paint, adhesives and electrical transformers, have been banned since 1979, but if you live on top of a waste disposal site or you…

Some new mothers who are breast-feeding (and some who should have stopped by now) have turned to medications to help increase their milk supply - and that meant off-label use of domperidone, a nausea…

Your memory can play tricks on you. Shutterstock By Catherine Loveday, University of Westminster Six weeks ago I arrived back in London after my first trip to Australia. It felt considerably colder…

A new optical technique by which audio information can be extracted from high-speed video recordings, by using an image-matching process based on vibration from sound waves. The technique is based on…

Some paper have suggested a link between the diabetes medication pioglitazone and bladder cancer but a new analysis, including more than 1,000,000 people in six populations worldwide, has found no…

It's the research that counts. Shutterstock By Ottoline Leyser, University of Cambridge I love my job. I’m trying to understand how plants build themselves out of thin air. It’s exciting, it’s…

Even while the Roman empire was in decline, precious substances, such as frankincense, were being transported to its furthest northern outpost in Britain. Archaeologists writing in the…

You can be a doctor without becoming an American citizen, people move here all of the time and go to medical school. They just do it legally. The US president has used an executive order to…

The highly anticipated maiden flight of NASA's next-generation Orion spacecraft is just hours away. Orion is slated to lift off Thursday, igniting a chase for America's dream of space exploration…

A few years ago, Europe had a policy making it illegal to sell fruit that was not cosmetically ideal. People overpaying for food deserve to have it aesthetically pleasing as well, was the reasoning,…

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), in which an injectable or implanted medication is used to disrupt the body's ability to make testosterone, is a common treatment for prostate cancer but should not…

The holiday season is upon us and alcohol is frequently more visible and free flowing during this time.  Exactly where the line is between heavy drinking and clinical alcoholism can be vague. A…

A paper in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics finds that personality traits are strong indicators of real-estate decisions. Are you neurotic? You probably have a cognitive bias…

The fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome has spread to bat colonies throughout eastern North America over the past few years, causing bat populations to crash and leading to various claims…

Popular meniscal tear surgery may increase the risk of osteoarthritis and cartilage loss, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. The new study…

We can't figure it out. Changehali, CC BY By Edward Hanna, University of Sheffield For several years now climatologists have puzzled over an apparent conundrum: why is Antarctic sea ice continuing to…

In a bygone era, the macho stereotype of the maverick doctor bucking convention, or the Marine running toward danger rather than away from it, inspired young men to want to be bold. No longer. Modern…

Sunlight is the best medicine. rishibando, CC BY-NC By Christopher Sampson, University of Nottingham What is it that sets academic publications apart from articles on The Conversation? Peer review…

Ten years after carbon emissions happen, the warming effect is maximized. Methane is even quicker, and far more potent, though it also disappears much more rapidly. CO2 emissions certainly matter…