Nitazenes and xylazine: what’s behind the rise of dangerous synthetic drugs?
Social affairs correspondent Robert Booth tells Madeleine Finlay why a class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, first developed in the 1950s, is leading to a worrying number of fatal overdoses in ...
20 Feb 202416min
What apes can tell us about the origins of teasing
We all know people who find it hilarious to prod and poke, pinch and tickle, all in the name of fun. But are humans the only ones who like to tease each other? Or are other animals in on the act? Ian ...
15 Feb 202414min
Retinol, acids and serums for kids? A dermatologist’s guide to age appropriate skincare
Last month the British Association of Dermatologists warned that children as young as eight years old were using potentially damaging anti-ageing skin care products. Madeleine Finlay speaks to consult...
13 Feb 202414min
Why are we still waiting for a male contraceptive pill?
Despite research into a male contraceptive pill starting around the same time as its female counterpart, no product has ever made it to market. But that could soon change, with a new non-hormonal male...
8 Feb 202416min
What happens now bird flu has reached the Antarctic?
The moment scientists had been dreading arrived late last year, when H5N1, or bird flu, was found for the first time in the Antarctic. Last week a king penguin on the island of South Georgia became th...
6 Feb 202413min
A fasting prime minister and a mind-reading billionaire: the week in science
Ian Sample and science correspondent Hannah Devlin discuss the big science stories of the week – from news that Elon Musk’s Neuralink has implanted its first chip into a human, to research suggesting ...
1 Feb 202416min
Secrets of the microbiome: the skin
The trillions of microbes living on and inside the human body are an important part of who we are, from mediating all of our interactions with the environment to determining our cancer risk and influe...
30 Jan 202415min
Secrets of the microbiome: the vagina
The trillions of microbes living on and inside the human body are an important part of who we are, from mediating all our interactions with the environment to determining our cancer risk and influenci...
25 Jan 202415min
