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A fake smile can lead to feelings of happiness… and exhaustion.

Discover why some Black people feel more attractive with lighter skin. Ngunan Adamu speaks to three women who explain how they got hooked on skin bleaching.

The citizens of Belgrade, one of the most polluted cities in Europe, are finally pushing back against the polluters, whose activities they’ve been encouraged to accept.

It can be OK to ask a direct question… sometimes skirting around the topic of cancer can make it the elephant in the room that hangs around awkwardly.

A young child’s unusual feelings, reactions and assertions are routinely dismissed by adults. Find out how manga horror stories became a source of strength, and helped them trust their adult body.

Evidence shows that strategies to prevent some types of violence can be very effective, while other, less well-acknowledged forms continue unabated. But hope can still guide us into a more peaceful future.

Artist Diana Boyer portrays a farmer's thoughts as she goes about her work in a high-risk area for bovine TB.

Men break their silence about total hair loss in these intimate portraits and interviews by Orlando Gili.

The long and devastating aftermath of an attack have given writer and broadcaster Bidisha unique insight into the suffering of other victims. Here she explores survival and healing in those who have experienced trauma.

As a 35-year-old man, I am sure that my fear of getting old is not uncommon. But for me, that fear goes deeper. I have spina bifida.

Fruit and vegetables link our hungry bodies to the world of plants. Yet many of us have little understanding of the farming industry and the impact that bringing crops to our plates has on the planet.

Characters travel back in time to challenge key sexologists, whose ideas still shape society’s thinking about sex and gender today.

Sex and sexuality have long been explored in the history of the graphic novel.

Artist Daniel Regan manages his emotions and stays grounded through photography, allowing him to engage in the world around him.

In Shakespeare’s times, people’s personalities were categorised by four temperaments. The choleric temperament was hot-tempered and active.

Does displaying dead animals bring us closer to nature, or drive us further apart?

Discover some of the major chemicals that govern activity in our brains, how they work, and why certain drugs have the effects they do.

Kate Summerscale explores the history of our anxieties and compulsions, and the new phobias and manias that are always emerging.

Explore the thoughts of an autistic loneliness researcher in this quietly expressive extract from Daniel Tammet’s book ‘Nine Minds: Inner Lives on the Spectrum’.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s description of the moment in 1887 when he saw a brain cell for the first time never fails to move neuroscientist Richard Wingate to tears. Here he captures that enduring sense of wonder.