The Conversation

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea We developed a new method for assessing health risks that our research suggests should make it a lot easier for people to determine which health advice to follow – and which to ignore. The approach, recently published in the journal Nature […]

U.S. retailers began selling over-the-counter hearing aids on Oct. 17, 2022, a long-awaited move that some experts predict could be a game-changer in making these devices accessible and affordable. A prescription is no longer needed, nor is a visit to a doctor or even a fitting appointment with a hearing specialist. Instead, Americans can purchase […]

Halloween is a time to embrace all that is disgusting, from bloody slasher films to haunted houses full of fake guts and gore. But the attraction to stuff that grosses us out goes beyond this annual holiday. Flip through TV channels and you’ll come across “adventurous eating” programs, in which hosts and contestants are served […]

After 50 years of research, eminent Stanford University sleep researcher William Dement reportedly said the only solid explanation he knows for why we sleep is “because we get sleepy”. Even though sleep may be, as one researcher put it, “the only major behaviour in search of a function”, it clearly does matter for our health […]

Brushing your teeth is essential for maintaining optimal oral health, but like most aspects of health, the full story is more complicated. As directors of the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia, we know firsthand that inequalities exist when it comes to oral health, including in children. Some people or groups have considerably more […]

How to optimize the pursuit of well-being and happiness is a question researchers have tried to tackle from a range of angles. The social effects of the pandemic led many people to focus more closely on their mental health and buffer against threats to well-being — in short, to pursue happiness. As a social scientist, […]