Smoking in pregnancy damages an unborn baby’s DNA – increasing its risk of smoking-related conditions in adulthood and a premature death, new research has found. The study serves as a caution for mother smokers, more than half of whom continue during pregnancy, say scientists. Mother’s smoking changes chemicals in
With more than 3.5 million botulinum toxin procedures worldwide in 2014, the global botulinum toxin market is currently worth £3 billion and is expected to grow 7.2% each year
Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a rare cancer of the skin, which occurs when T cells, a type of white blood cell in the lymphatic system, grow out of control within the skin. This is often initially mistaken for other skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis or eczema, as it presents
The gap between the life expectancy of the richest and poorest sectors of society in England is increasing, according to new research from Imperial College London. The study, which was published in the journal Lancet Public Health and funded by the Wellcome Trust, analysed Office for National Statistics data on
Can’t crawl up to the lecture theatre before all that caffeine kicks in? Science writer Paula Rowińska explains why exactly we fell in love with a drink that all our natural insticts should flag as poisonous.
Over the last few million years, humans and many other animal lineages have evolved larger brains – but why? Recent research from Dr. Michael Muthukrishna and colleagues suggests the development of socially transmitted behaviours within populations, or “culture”, may be a driving force behind this trend. They coined this theory the
Recent research from Durham University has identified a promising new method of malarial detection, that may assist or even replace current laboratory methods – sniffer dogs.
How old should one be to watch Harry Potter? What about The Hunger Games? Or Transformers? So far, age ratings for movies depended on subjective opinions. However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz suggested that we could base the age classification on the isoprene concentration in
Recent research from Stanford University has shed light on a phenomenon: liquid water stored in pockets within solid ice. This discovery has important implications for predicting sea level rises under climate change – rises that will impact the lives of billions of people.
World War II is widely known to be the most devastating and deadly war in the history of mankind. However, the study of its impacts beyond Earth is very recent and could play a major role in improving modern technologies. In a study published last month, professor of astrophysics Chris
Would you kill one person to save five people? With the increasing popularity of self-driving cars, the famous ‘trolley problem’ has turned from a philosophical riddle into a real issue awaiting a solution.
While all-you-can-eat buffets always sound like a great idea, our bad choices can quickly turn them into much-more-than-you-can-eat sources of stomach aches and guilt. How do we choose between a juicy burger and mouth-watering lasagne? How do we figure out how much of this tempting apple pie is enough? Neuroscientists