When doctors in rural Italy began to see a surge in cancer cases, they were baffled. Then they made the link with industrial waste being dumped by local crime syndicates. Ian Birrell learns about the tragic consequences.
The ‘gay-cure’ experiments that were written out of scientific history
Why are some people able to become happy, well-adjusted adults even after growing up with violence or neglect? Their life stories – from 1950s Hawaii to the orphanages of Romania – could provide answers that will help more children to thrive. By Lucy Maddox.
Love is not enough for a child to get over a difficult start in life. Lucy Maddox asks: what is?
Rats can smell tuberculosis. Dogs can smell cancer. Now they're being trained to save your life. Emma Young reports.
Being overly sensitive to sights and sounds can be deeply traumatic, but there may be an upside. By Emma Young.
Like many parents, Sandy is concerned about how much time her 18-month-old spends in front of screens. Weighing up the available evidence, Olivia Solon explains that she might be worrying too much.
We asked three- and four-year-olds how they use smart devices.
Marian Partington is working to forgive Rosemary West – one of her sister’s killers – because she thinks the only way to break the cycle of female violence is to understand it. Katharine Quarmby reports.
Exploring the challenges women in prison face, and moves to reduce the number jailed.
When healthcare is expensive, the Amish culture of autonomy and thrift may be a way to balance communal support and individual responsibility. Sara Talpos finds out more.
For decades, unidentified bodies have been consigned to the back rooms of morgues and all but forgotten. Now a handful of campaigners are on a quest to find out who they are and where they come from. Deborah Halber reports.
Carrie Arnold reports on an ancient treatment being revived to help heal painful infected injuries.
A film about living with persistent wounds and the search for better ways to help them heal.
In Austin, widespread drug use led to the single largest outbreak of HIV in the United States. Jessica Wapner asks if a new approach to public health can rescue the town.
Meet the donors, patients, doctors and scientists involved in the complex global network of rare – and very rare – blood.
Exploring how the breakdown of our bodies after death gives birth to new life.
One nerve connects your vital organs, sensing and shaping your health. If we learn to control it, the future of medicine will be electric.
What drives the partners of men who have died to try and have their babies? Jenny Morber delves into the legally and ethically fraught world of post-mortem sperm donation.
A visual history of school design.
We put burning marathon questions to our panel.
Take a trip to "agro-Disneyland".
As old age approaches, Geoff Watts confronts an inevitable future in the care of robots. But that doesn’t mean he likes it.
More than a century after their discovery, we still don’t really know what blood types are for.
Why, in every country in the world, do male suicides outnumber female?
Brian Bartlett lost his leg at 24. Rose Eveleth hears how a man who just wanted to ski again invented a new kind of knee.
Peter Bowes has been on a new diet that claims to guard against disease and slow ageing. Then he met a group with a mutation that lets them eat what they want while enjoying the same protection.
What can we learn from a group of people in Ecuador with a rare genetic mutation that affects their growth, but also makes them less susceptible to age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes?
Is there a place for traditional spiritual healers in Australia’s healthcare system? Georgina Kenyon reports.
Adults with anorexia often have distinctive traits that lock them into a destructive relationship with food. Carrie Arnold discovers how those same traits could help them escape it.
Carrie Arnold shares her experience of more than 15 years of anorexia.
What have we learned over the past several decades about this illness? We hear from author Carrie Arnold.
We know that our diet has a huge influence on our health, but is it possible to use food as medicine for a specific disease? Emma Young, who has type 2 diabetes, is sceptical but intrigued.
A special diet for people with epilepsy will often stop or reduce their seizures.
Could a simple anti-inflammatory drug like aspirin really help keep us all healthier?
One morning, completely unexpectedly, Samantha Anderson woke to find that she could no longer swallow. Three-and-a-half years and many medical appointments later, she’s finally regaining her ability to eat. Bryn Nelson finds out more.
For some people with swallowing difficulties, hope is a wagging tail.
A group in Seattle opens its doors to Bryn Nelson.
A film about meals that look, smell and taste just like they should, but that are much easier to eat than regular food.
Frieda Klotz visited the ‘world’s first cyborg fair’ with one question: are cyborgs a real thing, or are these people just kidding themselves?
Holly Cave wants to know why her pregnancy ended at nine weeks. There are no easy answers, but talking about miscarriage could help us change the way we think about it.
Miscarriage is an often under-reported and poorly understood subject that can be extremely traumatising for women and families. Hear from writer Holly Cave about how she made sense of her miscarriage.
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