Articles

Our words and pictures explore the connections between science, medicine, life and art. Dive into one no matter where in the world you are.

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Photograph of a man and his mother sat side by side on a sofa in a living room. The man seated on the right has a medial face mask covering his eyes and is wearing his black rimmed glasses over the top of the mask. He is raising his hands towards his mother as if to try to touch and feel her face. His mother is also wearing a medical face mask but over her mouth and nose and is raising her hand in defence. Rested between her legs is the handle and top half of her walking stick. In the background is a shelving unit containing books, ornaments, bottle of spirits and family photographs. On the walls are hung an ornate gilt framed mirror and a portrait painting of a dog's head.
  • Podcast
  • Serial
Part2

The masking tapes

In episode two of his coronavirus podcast, comedian Mark Thomas talks to health workers about PPE, vulnerability and the urge to protect.

Part of Mark Thomas’s lockdown check-up

Illustration in watercolour and black ink. The background is made up of a blue watercolour wash forming patches of varying tones. In white, outlined in black ink on top of the blue are 3 rows of distinctly shaped 3D objects. Under each object is a short title, such as 'change tomb' and nutrient mixer'.
  • Article

Dying to be in nature

The modern funeral business is one that uses up precious resources and pollutes the planet. But you can make sure it’s only your memory that leaves its mark with these new and natural ways to leave this earth.

Photograph of a woman as she instructs a male performer as he performs an upside down theatrical manoeuvre within a large metal hoop suspended from the ceiling during a rehearsal. The performer in the hoop has a prosthetic right leg.
  • Article

Acting, disableism and inclusive theatre

Deaf theatre director Jenny Sealey discusses inclusivity, community and the resilience of disabled actors.

Part of Art, activism and access

Photograph of a man standing in a glass patio doorway with his mother. The man is looking straight to camera with his mouth open, eyes wide and slightly mad look on his face. In his right hand held above his head are 3 kitchen knives held in a fan shape. His mother is standing to his left in profile, looking up at his face. In her right hand she is holding a walking stick, the handle of which she has tucked under his chin in a disciplinary fashion.
  • Podcast
  • Serial
Part1

The gloves are off

In episode one of his new podcast, comedian Mark Thomas talks to health workers about coronavirus, care and the importance of touch.

Part of Mark Thomas’s lockdown check-up

Photograph of an iPad resting on a concrete textured surface. On the screen of the iPad is a computer rendered illustration of virus SARS-CoV-2 as a light grey floating orb with protruding red spikes.
  • In pictures

How we visualise viruses

Discover how images of the antigens that make us sick have evolved over time and been tailored to meet the demands of different epidemics.

Photograph of a set built scene. The scene is made out of a light green horizontal surface against a light green vertical background with a thin horizon line. On the horizontal surface are two green ‘L’ shaped blocks. In the centre of the image is a rectangular flat orange card standing upright, on which is the black and white image of a woman and a man in full length standing next to each other. The man is pointing with his right hand. Resting on the green blocks and floating above and below the orange card are four butterflies.
  • Article

A virtual view of history

Step inside Anne Frank’s house or explore the galleries in a museum destroyed by fire. VR brings history and art satisfyingly close when we’re unable to get there in person.

Photograph of an archival black and white photograph resting on a concrete textured background. The archive image shows a group of 5 individuals in an operating theatre, standing around an empty bed. They are all dressed in white gowns with black gloves and full white head marks, which only leave their eyes visible.
  • In pictures

A history of medical masks

The now ubiquitous face mask was first used by artists working with toxic substances. See how its design and use has evolved over centuries of plagues and pathogens.

In ink drawing of an elderly man grasping his throat and holding a drink.
  • In pictures

My search for a stronger voice

Find out what kinds of treatment history offered to people suffering from voice problems.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Web Comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

The End

All things come to an end. Goodbye.

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of an Art-Deco style 1930’s residential building, with alternating red and yellow brick floors. Captured with a long lens from a distance. On second balcony from the bottom there is a woman in a red blouse standing with her hands on the railings. A hard shadow cast by the sun covers one third of the building. The canopy of a tree partly obscures the left side of the frame.
  • Article

Coronavirus, Crohn’s and me

Clinically vulnerable to COVID-19, Lucia Osborne-Crowley has been shut in her flat for months. With her chronic condition transformed into a life-threatening one, she explores what the pandemic is revealing about living with long-term illness.

Watercolour and ink artwork. To the right of the frame, a doctor with a name badge reading "Dr. Aunty" is sitting at her desk, fingers interlaced. The head is not visible in the frame. On the desk there are two mobile devices, one tablet and one phone, both displaying the words VIRUS and a WhatsApp type logo. Behind the doctor are several post it notes and signs, the largest to the centre-left reads "COVID-19 SAFETY MEASURES - Gargling with warm salt water kills germs and prevents them from leaking into the lungs!". In the leftmost portion of the frame there are cupboards with honey, lemon and ginger jars. Underneath there are variously sized tubs reading "Vepor Rub".
  • Article

WhatsApp aunties and the spread of fake news

The advantages of WhatApp chat groups – especially as a cost-free way of keeping in touch with family around the world – make them fertile ground for the spread of bogus medical advice. Writer Rianna Walcott explores how to encourage ‘aunties’ in the community to question the truth of unattributed health hoaxes.

Detail from Statues comic by Rob Bidder showing a statue being pelted with various items.
  • Comic

Statues

Do statues need protection?

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of a white inflated balloon against a black background, floating vertically above a wooden tabletop horizon line. The balloon looks like it is illuminated from within. On the side of the balloon is a rectangular, monochrome archive film still. The still shows a young boy facing the camera. His chest in encased in large metal contraption which is artificial ventilator.
  • Article

A brief history of ventilation

As ventilators continue to play an important part in helping very ill coronavirus patients, medical historian Dr Lindsey Fitzharris traces their development from the first attempts at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation through centuries of medical crises.

Photographic montage artwork showing the head and shoulders of a woman with bold shoulder length hair and a turquoise sweater, looking straight to camera. She is sat in front of a blue and white patterned tiled chimney breast with shelves on either side supporting a selection of white ceramic figures depicting dogs and people. Digitally montaged over the top of the portrait to the left and right are small doll like figurines, colourful yellow and orange flowers and blue and white Dutch Delft style plates. Above the woman's head is typed "Controlling the routines is easier in these limitations" in yellow and purple fonts. Below her is typed, "I've stopped giving a fuck".
  • Article

Autistic togetherness during lockdown

While lockdown has presented autistic people with greater challenges than life pre-COVID, many have found strength and comfort in the situation. Autistic writer and performer Kate Fox explains how.

Webcomic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Paused

Is your mind and body ready for the end of lockdown?

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of a man wearing a white t-shirt in a landscape of trees and wild bushes. A sealed footpath snakes trough the scene and in the distance the overcast skyline is dominated by a large electricity pylon. The man is located in the overgrown verge, reaching up to pick flowers.
  • Article

Foraging for a taste of the past

Follow tips from a professional forager to recreate delicious 18th-century recipes from plants growing wild in parks and on urban wasteland.

A physician wearing a seventeenth century plague preventive costume
  • In pictures

The celebrity physician and the plague

The iconic “plague prevention costume” invented by a 17th-century French doctor secured his fame in royal circles. But other aspects of Charles de Lorme’s career made him a controversial figure.

Photograph of a woman in a textile factory wearing a blue tunic. She is look straight to camera with her hands outstretched to either side resting on a blue medical garment. In the background are cardboard boxes and other workstations.
  • Photo story

From chef’s whites to medical scrubs

Meet the machinists who have rapidly switched from making clothing for hospitality staff to uniforms for hospital workers.

Photograph of a 'bird's eye' view of three pairs on shoes on a lime washed floor-boarded floor. The shoes are lined up in size order from largest on the left and smallest on the right. The largest are a pair of adults brown suede shoes with the laces tied and worn toe caps. In the middle are a pair of girl's sandals with rainbow coloured front straps and pink angle straps. On the far right are the smallest shoes, a pair of sparkly purple girls ballerina style pumps, with small black bows on the toes.
  • Article

On being a father with OCD

As a parent to young children, Ben Falk worries whether he could somehow pass his OCD on to them. Here’s what the experts say.

Photograph of a clinical light blue background with the corner of two dark blue surfaces floating above the light blue and appearing from the top left and right hand corners. Propped up to the left hand side of the image is a black and white archive photograph showing two men and a woman in a domestic setting. The woman is seated and one man perches on a tabletop. The other man is standing and is zipped into a large plastic rectangular suit, the top section of which is transparent such that his head can be seen. On the right side of the image are a pair of latex surgical gloves laid flat and overlapping each other and a surgical face mask.
  • Article

Remote romance and the common cold

Getting creatively romantic due to a virus sounds all too contemporary, but our archives show what socially distanced seduction looked like seven decades ago.

Part of Inside Our Collections