Category: Feature
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The Microbiome: Can New Sequencing Techniques Fast Track Therapeutic Discovery?
A true staple of modern pop-science, the age-old nature vs nurture debate is the bread and butter for many. However, what the Dawkins-clutching masses may not be aware of is that our bodies have a further phenotypic control mechanism. One which, quite frankly, is a little bit gross. The human microbiome or microbiota is the…
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SpaceX’s new Starship builds hopes for Mars missions
Recently, Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, laid out his plans for the company’s new Starship and Super Heavy booster projects to reach orbit within the next six months. Their current aim is to get the rocket and booster to orbit the Earth as well as complete missions to the Moon and Mars. In the longer…
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A new interpretation of dreams: Our in-dream behaviours highlight our unconscious anxieties
A dream: You’re in a room with a man who is extremely dirty. He tells you that he is sad, and he would like you to accompany him to bed because of this. In the room is a double bed, but not a normal double bed. The bed is a health and safety hazard. It…
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A tale of two wildfires: the Amazon Rainforest and the Congo Basin
When NASA released satellite imaging of the Brazil forest fires on the 24th August, it quickly became apparent that Brazil was not the only country set alight. The image, taken from NASA’s Terra Satellite, displays red bands of fire in Brazil, around Bolivia’s border with Brazil and a large band across Central Africa. Emerging from…
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PTSD: The evolutionary advantage
A third of people who survive traumatic events experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD survivors involuntarily and vividly relive their trauma through flashbacks and nightmares. To escape these painful reminders, they try to avoid any potential triggers, and they are constantly on edge. This has devastating consequences on their quality of life. Jacqui, a rape…
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The gendered dimensions of autism
Gender has been at the forefront of discussion in recent years. Amongst all the talk about social issues, is there a place for science? Can you be disadvantaged –or indeed advantaged –by your sex when it comes to disorders and disease? Sexual dimorphism is the physiological and behavioural difference between sexes. It arises through natural…
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Being a woman in science: Changed times?
As part of the Edinburgh Science Festival, the Royal Society of Edinburgh hosted a panel, “Being a Woman in Science: Changed Times?” The panel brought together three very different women, from three very different backgrounds. Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is an astrophysicist who grew up in Ireland in the 1950s and made a name…
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Neuroscientist Gina Rippon dismantled the myth of the ‘female brain’
The work of Dr Gina Rippon has veered into controversial territory. More controversial, in fact, than you might expect, given that her primary research question is simply “how do brains become different from each other?” The source of much of this controversy is a book that she has written entitled “The Gendered brain,” which challenges…
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Health trackers: help or hindrance?
CW: Mental health, eating disorders, exercise Health trackers have a huge presence in our lives, whether it’s the health app in iPhones or wearable devices such as Fitbits. They quietly record our steps, heart rate, sleep patterns and symptoms, as well as store personal information, all with the aim of helping us monitor and improve our overall health, or, in…