Body and Mind
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Social connection is something we crave
The brain has similar responses to isolation and fasting.
Just one day of forced social isolation evokes a similar neural response as food deprivation, US scientists have foun...
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More reasons to try to sleep right
Studies examine risks of heart failure and asthma.
Two new observational studies have highlighted some possible health advantages of regularly getting a good night’s (r...
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The shape of colour
Patterns in the brain are specific to what you see.
The age-old question of whether we all see colour the same may now have an answer. Researchers at the National Eye...
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How well can you identify faces?
New test looking for ‘super-recognisers’.
Some people have an extraordinary ability to remember faces. They can, for instance, easily recognise or recall unfam...
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Can we just breathe off excess alcohol?
Study trials innovative way to accelerate elimination from body.
Every year the evidence mounts of alcohol’s ravaging effects on the human body. In 2018, The Lancet published an i...
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How adults learn a new language
Both sides of the brain help out, it seems.
Learning languages is a breeze for young children, but once that window of opportunity closes it becomes notoriously ...
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Mum’s lifestyle linked to child’s heart risk
Study looks at cycle of preventable disease.
The children of women with heart-healthy lifestyles live nearly a decade longer without cardiovascular disease than t...
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How the gut protects the brain
Defence antibodies learn from the intestine.
The gut is well known for being the first line of defence against infection, but it seems it also protects our most i...
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Focus
Cosmos Q&A: COVID and global health
First phase lockdowns altered our habits and our wellbeing.
Given the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent societal changes, it’s not surprising that we’...
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Multi-screening may mess with your memory
Study looks at why some of us don’t remember things.
Why do some people have better memories than others? This question has taken on new significance with the explosion o...
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Brains plan for action, not limbs
Same region controls reaching by hand or foot.
The brain isn’t going out on a limb when choosing to grasp things. Instead, new research shows, there is an overar...
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The gene that tells us it’s time to pee
Research finds PIEZO2 has an important ‘sixth sense’.
US researchers say they have discovered that a gene with a “sixth sense” may be responsible for the powerful urge to ...