While the rest of world has warmed, Antarctica has grown chillier, scientists say. According to a new study, air temperature on the southernmost continent fell by 0.7 degree Celsius per decade between 1986 and 2000 – a cooling trend that has come with ecological consequences.

The findings may come as a surprise to climate researchers. Conventional wisdom holds that the polar regions should be the first to show the effects of global warming. And previous work has indeed detected increased t

Most mothers-to-be must simply hope for healthy offspring. But female house finches tip the odds in their babies’ favor by pre-determining their gender, a new study suggests. According to a report published in the current issue of the journal Science, enterprising mother house finches adjust the sex and growth of their offspring to account for the order in which the eggs are laid, thereby reducing the mortality of their sons and daughters by 10 to 20 percent.

Alexander Badyaev of the Univer

The ‘humble’ aspirin, which has been known for at least a decade to prevent heart attacks and strokes in thousands of people at high risk of cardiovascular disease, is still massively underused, according to new research published today (Fri Jan 11) in the British Medical Journal.

Previous studies show that aspirin (and other antiplatelet drugs) could prevent around 100,000 premature deaths worldwide every year, including at least 7,000 per year in Britain alone. As a result, aspirin is almo

General practitioners prescribe antibiotics to three-quarters of UK adults with acute bronchitis each year, even though there is little evidence to justify it. Yet, a study in this week’s BMJ finds that reassuring these patients and sharing the uncertainty about prescribing in an information leaflet reduces antibiotic use.

In this study, over 250 adults with acute bronchitis were divided into two groups. In group A, 212 patients were judged by their general practitioner not to need antibioti

Middle-aged men are over three times more likely to suffer a fatal stroke if they suffer from depression, according to latest research published in `Stroke`.
The results are taken from an on-going study, funded by The Stroke Association, of 2,124 men aged between 49-64 years old, living in Caerphilly, South Wales. The men were studied for over 14 years after an initial medical check up and a history of mood, smoking, blood pressure levels and other risk factors were collected.

During t

Authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET conclude that smokers should avoid smoking for around two months before surgery to reduce the risk of cardiovascular or wound-healing complications.

Smokers are at higher risk of cardiopulmonary and wound-related postoperative complications than non-smokers due to the adverse effects of tobacco smoke on the body’s cardiopulmonary function and immune system. Ann Moller and colleagues from Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmar