Scientists and students at Oregon State University have developed a new chemical test (known as an assay) that detects whether medication sold to treat malaria is genuine. Malaria affects more than 4 million people a year, killing more than 600,000, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The most useful drug for severe cases is artesunate, but at…

Analysing patients’ eyes and sense of smell could help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease years before traditional medical tests, according to new research presented at this year’s Alzheimer’s Association international conference in Copenhagen. A group of researchers from Harvard found that greater brain cell death was linked to a worsened ability to smell. In another study,…

I’m sorry to break it to you, but if you want to get over jet lag on your summer holiday this year, it looks like you’re going to have to eat more. I know: it’s devastating news. But you’ll just have to force yourself to reach for another slice of chocolate cake so you can…

First we found out that texting improves spelling and grammar, now it turns out it could save your liver, too. According to a new study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, young adults whose history of binge drinking landed them in the emergency room cut their alcohol intake by as much as 50% after receiving…

Last week we brought you news of microchip contraception, this week it’s microchip diagnosis. While this one doesn’t go under your skin, it does want your blood. But only so it can assess your health. Researchers from Stanford University have developed a chip that can both diagnose diabetes and detect people who are at risk…

For years, scientists have been trying to identify a protein molecule that sneaks through the membrane surrounding bacteria, helping it to build strong cell walls, resist antibiotics, and make people very ill. If they could find out what that sneaky protein (known generically as a flippase) was, they might be able to find a way…

Most of us are plugged in to our headphones a lot of the time (what did we do before we always had our music and podcasts on the go, actually spend time alone with our thoughts? Ew). But aside from cancelling out our neuroses and a bit (or a lot) of external noise, our headphones…