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.)

Comic

Right now on Earth

What are you doing right now?

Part of Worry Lines

Photograph of a pile of brown cardboard boxes quite closeup. Next to the boxes on the left is part of a silver tinselled Christmas tree, bare of decorations. Sticking out of one of the cardboard boxes is a balck and white print of a bearded mad with a ruff from the 16th century. One the right hand side, appearing from behind a box is a white plastic unicorn figurine with an orange horn and a purple mane.

Story

The doctor who challenged the unicorn myth

Our era of fake news and medical misinformation is nothing new. Estelle Paranque relays the thrusts and parries of a 440-year-old row over a magical cure-all, the unicorn horn.

Digital collaged artwork using black and white archive imagery and over-drawn colourful graphical elements. The artwork shows an archive image of a man with a moustache in military uniform from the early 20th century. This portrait is in the centre of the artwork. He is surrounded by a stone evil eye amulet. Behind him is a blue background. To his left and right are characters set against an urban landscape; a couple of children sat on a wall, a man carrying a large number of boxes, a girl pushing a pram and a figure holding up posters. Swirling around the landscape are ribbons of colour, pinks, crimsons and yellows.

Article

A symbol of a lost homeland

The story of one protective amulet from Palestine reveals a complex tale. Encompassing the personal history of an influential doctor and collector, it provides a window onto dispossession and exile, and the painful repercussions that are still felt today.

Comic

Stuff Humans Don't Like

What is it that you don't like?

Part of Worry Lines

Photograph of a white, slightly glossy self against a white wall. On the shelf standing upright are two smartphones. On the screen on the left hand phone is a portrait of an older woman dressed in black from the waist up looking off to the left. On the screen on the right hand phone is a portrait of a younger woman dressed in black from the waist up looking off to the right. Between the two phones are two white ramekins one behind the other, containing dried Chrysanthemums in one and dried Angelia in the other.

Article

My mother, and metaphors of a pandemic

A pandemic. Two members of one family, living thousands of miles apart. And months of calls and messages that helped them grow closer.

Mark Thomas’s lockdown check-up

In this six-part podcast Mark Thomas reflects on lockdown life with his elderly mum while investigating the wider impact of Covid-19. Every night Mark calls health and care workers across the country for a chat. Humbling and often heartbreaking, these conversations reveal what life is like on the coronavirus front line.