In a tiny patch of tall trees and tangled undergrowth near the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, Zika-carrying mosquitoes buzz around local people who are unperturbed by the global health emergency that the virus has triggered. “Zika? That one I have never heard about – what kind of disease ... Read More »
He’s 54 years old, just over six feet tall and weighs 175 pounds. His blood pressure is low, cholesterol level enviable and resting heart rate well below average. Did we forget to mention that this man also has a (very, very important) full-time job? The White House just released a ... Read More »
A not-so-surprising new study finds that people don’t like rats. But what may be truly surprising is that rats — more than crime or other signs of urban decay — may make people depressed. Rats eat discarded food. Kirsty Wigglesworth / PA Wire via AP People living in Baltimore’s low-income ... Read More »
The former top lawyer for Turing Pharmaceuticals says he and other executives warned Martin Shkreli against the drastic price hike that triggered a national backlash against the company and its 32-year-old CEO. Turing’s former general counsel will tell Senate lawmakers that the fiftyfold price increase on Daraprim, a drug used ... Read More »
Which operation has the United Nations bungled most badly? The ponderous response to the Ebola epidemic — or the ongoing deployment of 4,500 troops in Haiti? Or was it the dispatch of peacekeepers to the Central African Republic who have ended up accused of raping and abusing the people they’re ... Read More »
German doctors are puzzled by the first outbreak of Lassa fever outside Africa. They say three people have been infected after having contact with an American who died of Lassa fever there last month. “This is now the first documented outbreak of Lassa fever virus outside of Africa,” the Robert ... Read More »
Labour peer Joan Bakewell says she is “deeply sorry” for causing “distress” by suggesting the rise of eating disorders among teenagers was a sign of “narcissism” in society. She told The Sunday Times “no one has anorexia in societies where there is not enough food”, and it was a sign ... Read More »
Volunteers who used this approach were 25% more likely to remain abstinent half a year from the date that they give up than smokers who tried to gradually wean themselves off instead. The NHS says that picking a convenient date to quit is important. Make a promise, set a date ... Read More »
Eye lens regeneration from own stem cells: ‘a paradigm shift in cataract surgery’ A new study describes a pioneering new cataract treatment – tested in animals and in a small trial with human patients – where, after the cloudy lens is removed, the eye grows a new lens from ... Read More »
