Jee Hyun Kim, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Memory is difficult to define without being circular. People often define memory as “something you can remember”. But we cannot deny the existence of a memory when there is no recollection. Sigmund Freud…
Excessive anxiety causes serious distress and problems in important areas of life.
Thomas/Flickr
Most of us are intimately familiar with anxiety. We experience it as we walk towards the room to where our job interview is held, when we stand up to give a speech at our best friend’s wedding, or when…
Transparency in donation processes gives families confidence about giving tissue and organs.
Senior couple talking to doctor photo from www.shutterstock.com
Every year a number of grieving families will be asked to donate tissue following the death of a relative. The consequences of their decision have implications for patient’s awaiting transplantation, and…
Imagine a magic prism for the entire range of electromagnetic waves.
TORLEY
Visible light forms part of the electromagnetic spectrum. So do emissions from TV and radio transmitters, mobile phones and the energy inside microwave ovens. The X-rays used in diagnostic imaging and…
The stories behind the Human Genome Project are themselves extraordinarily human.
widdowquinn
For many decades humans have pursued work to characterise the human genome. Today, publicly available references to genome sequences are available and have been instrumental in effecting recent advances…
Breastfeeding is good for the health of both babies and their mothers.
Ozgur POYRAZOGLU
Breast milk is one of the most important components of infant care. It provides complete nutrition and helps to prevent and fight infections. And it’s also safer – in much of the world, artificial infant…
“Most people just get used to the concept and get on with their lives.”
Roger McLassus
Our notion of reality is built on everyday experiences. But wave-particle duality is so strange that we are forced to re-examine our common conceptions. Wave-particle duality refers to the fundamental…
This is how a person without colour blindness would see these coloured test tubes.
Bigstockphoto / Craig Colvin
Here are six test tubes filled with coloured dyes. How many different colours do you see? Most people say six, but some people would say only two or three. There are even some (very rare) people who see…
Lynette Rowe (right) has tears wiped from her eyes by her mother Wendy.
AAP
Melbourne woman Lynette Rowe was yesterday awarded a multi-million dollar legal settlement after suffering birth defects as a result of her mother taking anti-morning sickness pills containing the drug…
Between 10% and 45% of children have one or more sleep problems.
Jack French
Any parent will tell you the meaning of the saying “slept like a baby” is completely opposite to reality. Thankfully, many parents succeed in establishing a routine to their baby’s initial erratic sleep…
Chron’s disease causes the wall of the intestine to become inflamed.
Flickr/Rob Wiltshire
Scientific and medical articles, and websites by Crohn’s disease associations give similar definitions of the illness: “Crohn’s disease is a chronic, inflammatory disorder which may involve any part of…
The H3 strain of influenza has made a come back but immunity from past infectious is likely to have waned.
Tranchis
Each year, different strains of influenza cause varying rates of illness throughout the community. So what strains are around this year and what kind of protection is offered by seasonal influenza vaccines…
One day we may have a global quantum internet.
Robert Couse-Baker"
What is a quantum technology? Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that explains the behaviour of matter and energy at the atomic scale. So does “quantum technology’’ just mean technology based on…
Eating disorders are more than fad diets gone wrong.
Flickr -S
Eating disorders are an increasing problem in children and adolescents. Recent Australian studies have indicated eating disorder behaviour has increased twofold in Australia in the last five years and…
Ripples in a pond help to illustrate wave motion and the Doppler effect.
*˜Dawn˜*
When an ambulance passes with its siren blaring, you hear the pitch of the siren change: as it approaches, the siren’s pitch sounds higher than when it is moving away from you. This change is a common…
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder which affects between 1% and 6% of the population.
thewoodenshoes/Flickr
During a manic episode, the main character of popular television series Homeland, CIA agent Carrie Mathison (played by Claire Danes) colour codes the evidence in a terrorism case, making vital links that…
Labelling a person as “obese” may not always be helpful in prompting positive changes in behaviour.
HighContrast
OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it - Australia is becoming an obese nation. Today we launch a series looking at how this has happened and, more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic…
We all know obesity increases our risk of chronic disease, but how does excess fat actually affect our body?
OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it - Australia is becoming an obese nation. Today we launch a series looking at how this has happened and, more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic…
There’s far more to the night sky than the human eye can see.
Joseph Dsilva
Humans have always had a deep affinity with the night sky. Over millennia the stars have guided us in our travels, provided a grand canvas for the great stories of mythology and invoked a sense of wonder…
Hypnosis is a state of conscious awareness which most people experience many times each day.
Beyonder
Hypnosis in one form or another has been around for thousands of years, but until recently, evidence to support its biological and clinically powerful effects have been lacking. Today hypnosis is used…