Good sleep starts in the gut

You might think good sleep happens in your brain, but restorative sleep actually begins much lower in the body: in the gut. The community of trillions of microbes living in your digestive tract, known as the gut microbiome, plays a powerful role in regulating sleep quality, mood and overall wellbeing. When the gut microbiome is […]

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Formula milk prices are not being cut as some claim – here’s what’s really happening

If you’ve been celebrating the news that the government will save you £500 a year on baby formula, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news: that’s not what’s actually happening. The UK government has just published its response to a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into high baby formula prices, and media […]

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The world is facing a cancer crisis that’s hitting the most vulnerable hardest

When I worked on the latest Global Burden of Disease cancer study, a global project that tracks cancer patterns and deaths across countries, I found myself pausing as the numbers loaded on the screen. Even as a scientist used to large datasets, the scale was hard to process. Behind every line of code was a […]

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Why we created a phone-sized device to take blood diagnostics out of the lab into the real world

When your doctor thinks you might have an infection or an allergy, a simple blood test should give answers within hours. But for much of the world, that test can take days – or never happen at all. The problem is not usually the test itself, but an overlooked step between taking your blood and […]

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Addressing sustainability and space environmental issues with AI – UKRI

Deep Planet and Space DOTS have been selected as the first cohort of the newly established European Space Agency (ESA) Phi-Lab UK. They received nearly £380,000 (€450,000) in seed funding for projects that use AI to address sustainable agriculture and space environmental challenges. The announcement was made on 4 December 2025, at the Appleton Space […]

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Separating RFK Jr’s claims from scientific evidence

The US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, believes that aluminium in vaccines can cause health issues, such as neurological disorders, allergies and autoimmune diseases. This contradicts scientific evidence from many studies that have confirmed the safety of vaccines and aluminium “adjuvants” – substances that boost vaccines’ effectiveness. In November 2025, RFK Jr “personally ordered” […]

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Endurance athletes have a four times higher risk of irregular heartbeat – and this may be why

Exercise is one of the best things we can do for a healthy heart. Yet research shows that endurance athletes have up to a four times higher risk of atrial fibrillation (an irregular or fast heartbeat) than non-athletes. This heart condition increases risk of both heart failure and stroke. If regular exercise and being fit […]

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UK Launches New Support Fund for Displaced Social Care Workers

London — December 2025 — The UK’s National Health Executive has announced the launch of a dedicated support fund for displaced social care workers, aiming to stabilise a sector facing acute staffing pressures and rising demand for community‑based care. The initiative is designed to assist workers who have lost their roles due to service closures, […]

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African football legends join forces to give a red card to polio

In partnership with the UN-backed Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), they have launched the ‘Kick Out Polio’ campaign ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 which begins in Morocco on 21 December. “Polio is an illness that we simply need to take seriously,” said Naby Keïta of the Guinea National Team who plays […]

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Malaria: Drug resistance and underfunding threaten progress towards eliminating killer disease

The parasitic mosquito-borne disease is both preventable and curable but it remains a serious and deadly global health threat – claiming hundreds of thousands of lives – mostly among young children and pregnant women, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO’s latest annual update shows impressive progress since 2000: intervention has saved an estimated 14 million […]

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