What causes diseases? Why the answer is complicated, and contentious
Apr 04, 2016 06:57 am UTC| Health
One of the things that has formed part of my syllabus with medical students is asking them about the cause of malaria. Before they have studied parasitology, this question elicits interesting, but reasonable, answers:...
How to reform primary health care to close the gap
Apr 04, 2016 03:04 am UTC| Insights & Views Health
Primary Health Networks were established in 2015 to reform the primary health-care system and better coordinate care across Australia. A range of services make up the primary care system in Australia. These include...
How often does Donald Trump wash his hands?
Apr 04, 2016 01:52 am UTC| Health
Move over Nate Silver! The statistician and author of The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Dont may have called 49 out of 50 states right in the 2012 US Presidential election. But today I note...
Addicted to social media? Try an e-fasting plan
Apr 03, 2016 23:50 pm UTC| Health
Social media is a double-edged sword, providing both benefits and drawbacks. In order to stay connected, many of us are becoming captivated by these pervasive tools. A social media report by Sensis in 2015 reported that...
How mind-controlling parasites can get inside your head
Apr 02, 2016 03:46 am UTC| Health
Imagine that pesky tabby cat has been pooing in your backyard again. Unbeknown to you, it has transferred some of the parasite spores it was carrying onto your herb garden. Unintentionally, while preparing a tasty salad,...
Why finding a real alternative to sugar is so difficult
Apr 01, 2016 15:57 pm UTC| Health
So much for the decades in which fats and oils were public enemy number one on our dinner plates. There is more and more evidence that sugar or more precisely, carbohydrate is behind our increasing rates of obesity and...
An ancient retrovirus has been found in human DNA – and it might still be active
Apr 01, 2016 15:54 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health
Striking evidence has emerged that an ancient virus previously known only from fossil evidence has persistently infected some humans at very low levels for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. This ancient...
South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed
Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects