Fit with just five minutes’ exercise a day? I don’t believe it
Everyone these days wants to optimise their workouts, but when a study seems too good to be true, it usually is, says public health expert Devi Sridhar
Is it true that … you have five seconds’ grace after dropping food on the floor?
Many of us have reassured ourselves with the ‘five second rule’, but bacteria can transfer almost immediately – and sticks around for hours
The doctor who mends broken brains: why there is room for hope after a stroke or head injury
The neurologist Orlando Swayne doesn’t suggest everyone can recover. But he does argue that early, targeted and intense therapy can sometimes bring about life-changing improvements – and we have a moral obligation to provide it
Poor sleep linked to rising cancer risk in under-50s
Findings add to growing efforts to explain why cancer rates are increasing among younger adults worldwide
A moment that changed me: My diagnosis seemed like a death sentence – how have I survived for another 40 years?
To HIV researchers, I am an ‘elite controller’ – someone whose immune system has enabled them to live for decades without symptoms or medication. I hope that one day science will understand this tiny but lucky minority
Readers reply: Which organisms are most beneficial to humans without us realising?
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
Sound baths are supposed to help relax and ‘soothe’ your nervous system. But do any of these claims ring true?
Social media is awash with clips of people paying to be ‘bathed’ in sound. But what’s the science behind the practice?
I made my husband ill with a few words – nobody is immune to the power of the nocebo effect
My prank demonstrated how our minds can adversely affect our health, and scientists are increasingly showing that negative thoughts can produce very real symptoms, says science writer Helen Pilcher
Ann Barrett obituary
Oncologist and authority on paediatric radiotherapy who championed a multidisciplinary, holistic approach
There are two kinds of people: those who enjoyed school PE lessons – and the rest of us
The horror of sports lessons put three in 10 of British 50 to 65-year-olds off exercise for life. I wish I’d known sooner that movement can feel so good, writes Emma Beddington