An atomic bomb kills three times. Prior to 1945, the first two deadly mechanisms — heat and pressure — were well known from previous bombings. However, the effects of radiation were not. It was only after the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th of that year, that the grim details of acute radiation poisoning became clear. Doctors struggled to understand the … Continue reading A Bombshell Discovery

Opposable thumbs, the power of speech, the capacity to think and reason: there are many reasons to relish being human. Regularly bleeding out of your vagina is not one of them. Continue reading Why do humans – and so few other animals – have periods?

Science, fundamentally, is educated guesswork. Scientists formulate a theory which makes the most sense with the information available, but technological advances force us to continuously question what we think of as fact. The story of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a perfect example of this.  MS is a neurodegenerative disease in which myelin, the fatty substance which insulates the neurons in our brain and spinal cord, … Continue reading The tumultuous history of multiple sclerosis

“Forensic tests are the catalysts which can propel a cold case investigation forward.” Continue reading The New Forensics: Solving Old Crimes with New Tools