Akhenaton Images/Shutterstock Christian van Nieuwerburgh, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences Doomscrolling, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing”. For many it’s a habit born of the pandemic – and one that is likely to stay. Some health experts recommend limiting access …

Shutterstock / Motortion Films María Jesús Rojas Ocaña, Universidad de Huelva and Miriam Araujo Hernández, Universidad de Huelva En estos momentos, alrededor del 26% de la población mundial sufre hipertensión. España (20 %) está por debajo de la media, mientras que Indonesia (44,5 %), Argentina (41,2 %) y Brasil (42,1 %) están bastante por encima. Es para preocuparse, porque la hipertensión aumenta el riesgo …

Room for any more at NATO? Not according to Turkey’s president. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images Ronald Suny, University of Michigan After decades of neutrality, the two Nordic states that have to date remained out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by declaring an intention to join the American-led alliance. But there is …

Our stomach and brain are connected through the ‘gut-brain axis’. Anatomy Image/ Shutterstock Lynne A Barker, Sheffield Hallam University and Caroline Jordan, Sheffield Hallam University Within our body and on our skin, trillions of bacteria and viruses exist as part of complex ecosystems called microbiomes. Microbiomes play an important role in human health and disease – and even help us …

Salida de la Tierra, fotografía tomada por William Anders ​durante la misión del Apolo 8 a la Luna el 24 de diciembre de 1968. NASA Jorge Hernández Bernal, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea and Santiago Pérez Hoyos, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea Hace no tanto tiempo las noches eran oscuras y llenas de estrellas. …

When does a ‘clash’ become an ‘assault’? AP Photo/Maya Levin Maha Nassar, University of Arizona Israeli police attacked mourners carrying the coffin of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 13, 2022, beating pallbearers with batons and kicking them when they fell to the ground. Yet those who skimmed the headlines of initial reports from several U.S. media outlets …

Michael Head, University of Southampton The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020. But it’s only in recent days, in May 2022, that the secretive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has reported its first confirmed cases of the virus. While it may seem somewhat astounding that a country has managed to get so far into …

pirke/Shutterstock Rebecca A. Drummond, University of Birmingham Fungal infections kill around the same number of people each year as tuberculosis. They mostly take hold in people who are vulnerable because they have a defective immune system caused by an underlying disease, such as cancer, or a viral infection, such as HIV or COVID. Our new study shows that antibiotics can …

Khonshu the moon God takes centre stage in Marvel’s Moon Knight. Marvel/Disney Claire Gilmour, University of Bristol Marvel’s Moon Knight follows Steven Grant who, despite living quietly as a museum gift shop employee, finds himself drawn into the strange world of Egyptian gods. He discovers that he has other personalities – mainly Marc Spector, a human vessel who is being …

ShotPrime Studio/Shutterstock Vassilios Vassiliou, University of East Anglia; Ranu Baral, University of East Anglia, and Vasiliki Tsampasian, University of East Anglia Well over two years into the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of COVID cases continue to be recorded around the world every day. With the rise of new variants, the symptoms of COVID have also evolved. Initially, the NHS regarded …