Beautification and cosmetology have been important to humans for many thousands of years. Obsessing over our appearance is something that seems to go back to the very roots of modern human behavior,...
An Andean mummy in Ecuador may be the missing link to understanding the expansion of rheumatoid polyarthritis from the Americas to Europe. Its naturally mummified remains are set to change both local...
Derek Gatherer / The Conversation In the first episode of BBC historical drama Wolf Hall , based on Hilary Mantel’s novel of the same name, Thomas Cromwell returns home to find his wife and two...
In the late 19th century, microscopes enabled scientists to observe the microbial effectivity of medicines in the treatment of ailments and these new skills finally dislodged many traditional ‘...
The ‘next’ button is probably the best option for those readers of a prudish or squeamish nature, as this is a news story telling of advancements in the ancient medical arts of ‘Maggot therapy’ and...
Chinese experts have determined that two skulls found in a historic site show evidence of ancient craniotomy. The finds are being taken to demonstrate that craniotomy, along with other advanced...
The 1000-year-old skeletal remains of a man aged between 25 and 30 have revealed to scientists the first physical evidence that ferns were prepared into medicinal concoctions for treating a range of...
Adam Parker / The Conversation Lifestyle company Goop – founded and run by actor and businessperson Gwyneth Paltrow – was fined US$145,000 (£112,000) for making unscientific claims about products on...
Legends, myths and folkloric systems across the western world record legendary horned creatures which have become known to us collectively as unicorns. In heraldry, the unicorn is the symbol of my...
There has long been speculation about the purpose of the tattoos on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy, who was discovered by some German tourists in the Oetz Valley, Austria, in...
The University of Copenhagen in Denmark has announced a very important discovery. During an international project to decipher ancient Egyptian texts, one expert has been able to translate a papyrus...
A surprising Google Doodle has greeted users of the search engine in the UK. The image celebrates the 1038th birthday of Persian polymath Ibn Sina. For many in the West, this may be the first...
To the surprise and excitement of researchers, a ninth century Anglo-Saxon treatment for eye infections has been used successfully to kill tenacious bacteria cultures. The ancient remedy consisting...
Here’s a 12th century medical mystery for you: What malady killed well-known Sultan Saladin? Was it small pox, tuberculosis, typhoid, or maybe malaria? Look at his symptoms – some of them were...
Medical usage? Ritual practice? Or perhaps the drugs served both purposes? Researchers are asking what the recently recovered psychoactive drug residues from ancient Mesopotamia mean. But not...
A shocking photograph is circulating which depicts a massive disemboweled Sumatran tiger, hanging in a public hall in North Sumatra, with villagers around it “trying to determine whether it was a...
World myths present a holographic array of surreal characters and events, but among the most powerful and misunderstood of all mythological concepts, are dragon’s teeth. In Western mythology, when...
Trepanation – the technique of removing bone from the skull by scraping, sawing, drilling or chiselling – has long fascinated those interested in the darker side of medical history. One stock tale is...
As the Bronze Age grew old, some of its oral traditions were recorded by poets with gods in their quills and drugs in their gardens. The Odyssey and the Vedas include verses still recited today that...
Even the best read of us sometimes come up against a word which needs a quick check in the dictionary, and Spagyric is one of those words. To discover the origins and magical meaning of this ancient...
Analysis of a collection of clay tablets confirms that a Mesopotamian doctor had to deal with more than just physical ailments. The ancient healer was expected to exorcise demons, ward off witchcraft...
Frogs and toads played a wide variety of roles in ancient cultures. Although there are some differences, they generally represented female creation energy. Frogs appear in ancient stories, myths,...
For centuries, humans have believed that the celestial realm could influence everyday life. This is the basis of astrology. The rise and fall of kingdoms and the fortunes of individuals have all been...
Einhornhöhle, which may be translated as ‘Unicorn Cave’ in English, is a cave located in the Harz, a low mountain range in a highland area Northern Germany. It has been pointed out that the Unicorn...
