The Conversation

John O'Keefe , left, and Edvard and May-Britt Moser. Credits: David Bishop, UCL and NTNUBy Luc Henry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in LausanneThe 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded with one half to John O'Keefe and the other half jointly to May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain”.

Just before totality on a total lunar eclipse. Credit: Flickr/John Johnson, CC BY-NC-SABy Tanya Hill, Museum VictoriaAt least twice a year, Earth comes between the sun and the moon. The result is a lunar eclipse, where we see the splendid sight of Earth’s shadow falling across the moon.

You're not getting any pudding. Credit: Steve Parsons/PABy Robert Young, University of SalfordI run 50 kilometers per week on my treadmill and eat a calorie-restricted diet; this is something our ancestors didn’t have to do. But then they didn’t sit at a desk all day and certainly did not have access to such energy rich food. Unfortunately our animals have joined us on the couch. Take a walk down the pet food aisle in the supermarket and you may be surprised to see rows of diet cat and dog food.

Worth it for cheap cotton? Credit:so11e/flckr, CC BY-NC-NDBy Anson Mackay, University College LondonThe Aral Sea has reached a new low, literally and figuratively; new satellite images from NASA show that, for the first time in its recorded history, the largest basin has completely dried up.

In June of this year, Facebook provoked a widespread public outcry after it became known that it had tried to manipulate the emotions of nearly 700,000 of its users as part of a social “experiment.”

Coming to get you. Credit: D Simmonds, CC BY-SABy Mark Blumberg, University of Iowa; Alexandre Tiriac, University of Iowa, and Carlos del Rio Bermudez, University of Iowa

Your gut bacteria won't change much. Credit: ponchicaBGBy Nicholas Ellaby, University of LiverpoolFrom eyes to the gap between the toes, we are covered in bacterial colonies. Between 500 and 1000 unique species live in our gut alone. We provide an ideal environment for bacteria: warmth, moisture, nutrients and protection.

Evidence shows children are getting less unsupervised time outdoors. Credit: Brian Yap (葉)/Flickr, CC BY-NCBy Shelby Gull Laird and Laura McFarland-Piazza

Not the one we have fixed in our imaginations. Peter Paul Rubens, 1638By Helen King, The Open UniversityHippocrates is considered the father of medicine, enemy of superstition, pioneer of rationality and fount of eternal wisdom. Statues and drawings show him with a furrowed brow, thinking hard about how to heal his patients.

In third place, Oxford University is the top UK institution in the World University Rankings 2014-15. Image:  Andrew Matthews/PA ArchiveBy Steven C. Ward, Western Connecticut State UniversityFrom the “best beaches” to the “best slice of pizza” to the best hospital to have cardiac surgery in, we are inundated with a seemingly never-ending series of reports ranking everything that can be ranked and even things that probably shouldn’t be.

Phytosaur: still got it. Credit: BFS Man, CC BYBy Stephanie Drumheller, University of Tennessee; Michelle Stocker, Virginia Tech, and Sterling Nesbitt, Virginia Tech

Oh no – not that mistake again. Credit: Flickr/Alex Proimos, CC BY-NCBy Will J Grant, Australian National University and Rod Lamberts, Australian National University