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  • Article

When skin bleaching goes wrong

Warnings about permanent health damage don’t deter those using skin-bleaching products for years on end. Read the story of one woman who suffered from liver failure after years of striving to be paler.

  • Article

The origins and meanings of pharmacy symbols

What have snakes, unicorns and crocodiles got to do with pharmacies? The history of these modern signs goes back to the Greek gods.

  • Book extract

The psychology of Ouija

Explore the science behind table tilting and Ouija boards, and discover how the unscrupulous still make money from exploiting the ‘ideomotor’ effect.

  • Article

Vivekananda’s journey

How a young Indian monk’s travels around the world inspired modern yoga.

All stories (8)

Images

  • Bratislava: the International Danube trade show, 1924. Lithograph by Ant. Chlebeček, 1924.
  • King Arcesilaus of Cyrenaica overseeing the packaging of silphium (the country's main source of income) into ships for export. Gouache painting by S.W. Kelly, 1937,after a Spartan cylix, c. 580-550 B.C.
  • A baroque sculpture forming an allegory of dentifrice at the entrance to an international toothpowder exhibition. Drawing by A. Oberländer, ca. 1900.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: Dong Xun (1810-1892), Minister of Foreign Affairs, late Qing. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: Dong Xun (1810-1892), Minister of Foreign Affairs, late Qing. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Two profile faces, one with dotted shapes as facial features, advertising the 4th International Conference for People with HIV/AIDS in Madrid from 23rd to 27th May 1990; organised by the Comité Ciudadano Anti-SIDA. Colour lithograph, 1990.
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Catalogue

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