Stories

Our words and pictures explore the connections between science, medicine, life and art. Dive into a story no matter where in the world you are. (Want to write for us? Here's how.)

Photograph of the front of a house with the front door slightly open and forensic crime scene numbered yellow markers on the ground. In the foreground is a police cordon with 'Police Do Not Cross' written across the tape.
  • Essay

Are doctors medical detectives?

Do doctors really identify medical conditions in the same way that detectives solve crimes? Neurologist Jules Montague makes her diagnosis.
Photograph of Image of a large letter saying: Dr. Frank Truth, Nerve specialist. I consider you require an entire change in your surroundings. In fact you must get right away from the conditions you have been living under. A woman appears behind the letter, with a man walking away in the foreground.
  • Image gallery

When civilisation made people sick

Sickness from nervous exhaustion is not a new thing. Over a hundred years ago, neurasthenia afflicted society’s ‘brain-workers’.

Part of From Our Collections

Photograph of a woman wearing a pink head scarf facing towards the camera. Her face is out of focus and partially obscured by a bunch of flowers.
  • Serial
Part5

Identifying skin lightening agents in cosmetics

Could your moisturiser be damaging your health? If it contains skin-lightening agents, the answer is yes. But this is an area where consumers definitely do not have the upper hand.

Part of Skin Bleaching

Photograph of a woman dressed in a top hat and tails peeping around the red curtain on a theatre stage. Behind her is another glittering red curtain.
  • Essay

How the magician’s assistant creates the illusion

Without breaking the spell, performer Naomi Paxton reveals the subtle ways the magician’s assistant helps the audience to keep believing.
Photograph of the top half of a colour engraving showing the Sun and solar phenomena.
  • Image gallery

The healing sun

From ancient sun gods to artificial light, our relationship to our star has morphed over the centuries, but the sun's power to affect our health is more noticeable than ever.

Part of From Our Collections

The Architecture Diaries

Emily Sargent examines the influence of health on architecture, tracing the changing priorities in wider society, and gives her view on how successful architecture has been in improving health.

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Groan comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Groan

Groans are to our primitive nature what language is to civilization. Uggggghhhh.

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of a woman wearing a blue head scarf facing away from the camera. The viewpoint is low down looking up at her. In the background is the warm yellow and orange colours of patterned lamp shades in a shop display.
  • Serial
Part4

The case for safe skin bleaching

Skin bleaching tends to attract a negative press for a whole host of reasons. But when used to treat medical problems, its positive side becomes clear.

Part of Skin Bleaching

Photograph of an illustration in a 17th century early printed book, of an imagined monster. Behind the book is a brown fur background.
  • Essay

Fantastic beasts and unnatural history

Find out how a 17th-century compendium of the natural world came to present fantastical beasts –like dragons – as real, living creatures.

Part of From Our Collections

Photograph of a watercolour painting against a textile background, depicting a semi naked man and woman kneeling in dirt next to a skeleton. Factory chimneys billowing smoke are in the background.
  • Image gallery

In pursuit of purity

Many cultures associate physical cleanliness with spiritual purity, while disease and dirt are signs of moral pollution.

Part of From Our Collections

Thought comic by Rob Bidder (detail)
  • Comic

Thought

Ever find your thoughts leading you down the same old paths?

Part of Body Squabbles

Photograph of a woman wearing a black head scarf facing away from the camera, with her hand held up against her cheek. In the background is the red front door of a house, some black railings and plants in a window box.
  • Serial
Part3

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.

Part of Skin Bleaching