Belinda Smith

The history of a wavy-bladed sword, bought at a Brisbane gun show around the end of the 1980s, begins with Moro raiders resisting Spanish colonists in the Philippines, but may also include Admiral Lord Nelson.

Could 'fitspiration' social media content be harming mental health?

A new study from Northwestern has investigated the effects of consuming this content online and argues that it has serious negative effects on young peoples' body image.

Guest

• Valerie Gruest, Phd Candidate, School of Communication, Northwestern University

References

• Lifting the Screen on Fitspiration: A Meta-Analysis

Urgent care clinics will receive $1.8 billion in the 2026-7 Budget to make them a permanent part of Australia's health system. 

We speak to the Health Minister Mark Butler about the decision.

Guest

• Mark Butler, Federal Health Minister

'Phage therapy' is a novel form of treatment aimed at providing an alternative to antibiotics.

What are bacteriophages, how does this therapy work and what are the obstacles to making it a first-line treatment?

References

• Cross-reactive anti-prophage antibodies and bacterial heteroresistance implicated in phage therapeutic failure

A look at some of the Health Report correspondence this week.

You can email us at healthreport@abc.net.au

In the news this week:

• Australia eliminates trachoma as a public health problem.
• Mpox vaccine coverage less than expected.
• An outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship.

References

• Australia becomes the 30th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem
• Mpox disease epidemiology, vaccine uptake and vaccination coverage in Australia 2022–2024: a descriptive study
• Hantavirus-hit cruise ship leaves Cape Verde after three evacuated

With millions of feral rabbits currently hopping around the continent, you might wonder if the viruses that kept their numbers down in the past still work.

With sunscreen testing in the spotlight this year, how do laboratories test how effectively products protect our skin from the Sun's rays?

Once hunted almost to extinction, the population of humpback whales currently migrating down Australia's east coast has bounced back and is now greater than before whaling.

There's a growing trend for dietary guidelines around the world to take into account not just human health, but also the health of the planet.

While the health effects of inhaling and consuming microplastics are not yet fully known, we asked a microplastics researcher how they minimise contact with them.

The WA government will stop trying to eradicate an invasive beetle called the polyphagous shot-hole borer and start managing it instead. Why is this pest so dangerous, and what can be done about it?

The next time you pick up a bag of spuds from the supermarket or fill up the car with petrol, you can thank a treaty signed in 1875 for the metric system that underpins daily life.

Planets don't get much more iconic than Saturn. But if you managed to see it through a backyard telescope right now, you wouldn't see its rings.

A new rule implementing cooling systems for F1 drivers was introduced this year. Racing is hot work at the best of times, so how does the new rule help?

People on Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonist drugs commonly report they no longer have constant, incessant thoughts about food. This is how the drugs work.

Bacterial vaginosis affects one in three women and often comes back after treatment, but it can be completely wiped out in most cases if their male partner is treated too.

An ongoing avian influenza outbreak in the US shows no signs of abating, as thousands of staff at the nation's leading health and science agencies have been let go.

While honey producers and beekeepers have ways to treat varroa-infested hives, the bees themselves also have a few tricks up their sleeve.

If you think the Australian summer sun feels harsher than a summer in the Northern Hemisphere, you're not wrong. But why that's the case may surprise you.

The 2014 film The Lion King has a special place in many hearts, but would Simba really end up with Nala? And why is Scar more attractive than Mufasa? We sort Pride Lands fact from fiction.

The 1975 blockbuster Jaws told the story of the hunt for a gigantic, bloodthirsty, rogue shark that attacked numerous swimmers at a fictional beach resort in the US. Its repercussions are still being felt nearly 50 years later.

The Alfred Hospital hosts one of a handful of labs around Australia working on engineered skin, a promising therapy that uses lab-grown cells suspended in sheets that can be grafted onto deep burns.

As millions of migratory birds wing their way to our shores, avian influenza surveillance is ramping up. Here's how teams of scientists and volunteers keep tabs on wild bird health.

The staggering array of penis shapes and sizes in nature can tell scientists a surprising amount about the evolution of animal biology and behaviour. Heads up: you might get a few questions if you're reading this on your commute or at work.