Zika: a rare benign virus suddenly turns nasty, and heads for the US
Feb 02, 2016 06:46 am UTC| Health
Virologists have been expressing concern about Zika virus for a couple of years now, but its only with its arrival in Puerto Rico during the holiday season that it has really started to make the news. Some of the...
Why using birth control in bid to combat Zika virus is a good idea
Feb 02, 2016 06:43 am UTC| Health
The World Health Organisation is to hold an emergency meeting about the Zika virus in South America. The epidemic has been of considerable concern particularly because it is being linked to microcephaly (unusually small...

Explainer: Where did Zika virus come from and why is it a problem in Brazil?
Feb 02, 2016 06:42 am UTC| Health
FromOctober 2015 to January 2016, there were almost 4,000 cases of babies born with microcephaly in Brazil. Before then, there were just 150 cases per year. The suspected culprit is a mosquito-borne virus called Zika....

Here's why we don't have a vaccine for Zika (and other mosquito-borne viruses)
Feb 02, 2016 06:40 am UTC| Health
As Zika fear rises, especially in the wake of the World Health Organization last night declaring a state of public health emergency, people are inevitably asking why we dont have a vaccine to protect against the...
What does our attention span mean?
Feb 02, 2016 06:00 am UTC| Health
Coming back to work after a holiday break presents many challenges. We need to reset our circadian rhythms to get up early, remember the password on the computer, and try to focus on a task for longer than 30 seconds...
When teenagers and antidepressants are not a good mix
Feb 01, 2016 13:04 pm UTC| Health
We have an absolute moral imperative to alleviate human suffering. Most of all for children. How a society treats its children is a benchmark of humanity. And our success in medical science is astounding. Puerperal sepsis...
Why we need to remember how to forget
Feb 01, 2016 13:02 pm UTC| Health
Three US neuroscientists published a case study in 2005 detailing how a woman, AJ, was plagued by memories of her own life and of public events such as the dates of death of Elvis and Princess Diana. The discussion of AJs...