Grace O’Connor — Health & Science Editor 
Hundreds of thousands of women in England have accessed emergency contraception free of charge through high street pharmacies in the first five months of a major NHS rollout, helping eliminate regional barriers and reducing the need for traditional GP appointments. A national healthcare initiative launched to expand women’s health services has delivered nearly 305,000 doses … Read more
Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends that the XVIVO perfusion system be used in the National Health Service (NHS) for a four-year period to assess its effectiveness and value for money, according to Theguardian. Nice estimates that the machine could rescue four in every five donated lungs that … Read more
At the Commonwealth Games 2026, Indian weightlifter Bindyarani Devi Sorokhaibam claimed the bronze medal in the women’s 58 kg category on July 27, 2026. Her podium finish secured India’s sixth overall medal of the multi-sport event, adding to a dominant showing by the country’s weightlifting delegation. Bindyarani Devi Secures Bronze in the Women’s 58 kg … Read more
Researchers have harnessed a bacterial CRISPR enzyme called Cas12a2 to function as a programmable chemotherapy, recognizing specific messenger RNAs in cancer cells and shredding their genomes to trigger self-destruction. Akribion Therapeutics is developing the technology to target HPV-related head and neck cancers, aiming for clinical trial data by 2030. The Molecular Kill Switch: How Cas12a2 … Read more
Recent scientific research links diets high in fat and rising obesity rates to accelerated brain aging, memory loss, and early cellular damage in the hippocampus. Studies across Arizona State University, Virginia Tech, and University of North Carolina identify specific molecular disruptions—including overactive neurons and protein accumulation—that begin far earlier in adulthood than previously understood. Scientists … Read more
Updated cholesterol guidelines issued by major medical societies lower risk thresholds and expand statin eligibility to an estimated 21.5 million additional U.S. adults. The updated framework introduces the PREVENT risk calculator and shifts the focus toward cardiovascular prevention starting at age 30. Millions more Americans are now considered candidates for cholesterol-lowering medication following a sweeping … Read more
Decades of persistent financial hardship can accelerate age-related cognitive decline and cause measurable brain shrinkage by early old age, according to a study tracking thousands of people born in March 1946 across the United Kingdom. Financial stress is often discussed in terms of immediate anxiety over overdue bills or balancing a household budget. But new … Read more
Researchers in Vermont have discovered a contagious skin cancer spreading among brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog. Published in Nature, this finding marks the first transmissible cancer identified in a freshwater animal and only the fourth known naturally occurring contagious cancer in the natural world. An angler pulling a brown bullhead out of Lake Memphremagog … Read more
Decades of persistent financial hardship can accelerate age-related cognitive decline and cause measurable brain shrinkage by late life, according to a UCL-led study published in Innovation in Aging that tracked thousands of British adults born in 1946 across seven decades. The toll of poverty on the human mind is rarely a matter of a single … Read more
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen Ebola infections surge to 3,200 cases and 1,405 deaths as of July 27, 2026. This 17th national outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain, has spread across five provinces and is currently the third largest Ebola outbreak on record. The escalation is stark. In just 10 days, … Read more