For decades, some people have embraced the idea that there might be major health benefits from taking vitamins in quantities well beyond the recommended daily requirement. The concept was very popular for a while in the media, but research findings to the contrary gradually made it virtually untouchable for scientists.

When you hear someone laugh behind you, you probably picture them on the phone or with a friend – smiling and experiencing a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Chances are just the sound of the laughter could make you smile or even laugh along. But imagine that the person laughing is just walking around alone in the street, or sitting behind you at a funeral. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so inviting.

Most people have probably encountered someone who appears to use lip-reading to overcome a hearing difficulty. But it is not as simple as that. Speech is “bimodal”, in that we use both sounds and facial movements and gestures to communicate, so deaf or seriously hearing-impaired people often use lip-reading or “speech-reading” – watching facial movement, body language and mannerisms – to understand what people are saying to them.

We would all like to boost our cognitive ability beyond the limits set by Mother Nature. So it’s no wonder that brain-training programmes – which typically focus on training our working memory – are a multibillion-dollar industry. But can this kind of training really make us smarter?

There are foods that can split families, or even just couples. Love it or hate it foods. Marmite (and the Antipodean alternative, Vegemite) is one. Then there’s Brussels sprouts, blue cheese, chilli peppers, coriander (cilantro), tomatoes (especially the cooked variety) … and liquorice.

Catnap, kip, snooze, siesta; whatever you call naps, there is no doubt these once frowned-upon short sleeps are gaining acceptance. The increase in popularity is not surprising, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US finding around a third of American adults do not get the recommended seven hours sleep each night.

During the early part of the last century, dyes were frequently used to disinfect wounds. During the first world war, thousands of lives were saved by “flavine therapy” which used dyes such as Brilliant Green and Acriflavine. The dyes were applied to bullet or shrapnel wounds to kill the bacteria at the site of the injury – for example, bacteria which causes gas gangrene. But now these dyes are being resurrected to treat bacterial infections, but with a new twist: light.

Sleep is important for a child’s development – it has been associated with attention, school performance and emotional regulation which is important in developing social skills and making friends.

If you have ever been nervous about something that is about to happen, then you may have felt the sensations of nausea and “fluttering” – the recognisable and odd sensation deep in your gut known as having “butterflies in the stomach”.

The life expectancy of human beings will soon exceed 90 years for the first time, scientists have predicted. An international study suggests that people will be living far longer in 2030, with the gap between men and women starting to close.

Some of us can definitely say we have a sweet tooth. Whether it’s cakes, chocolates, cookies, lollies or soft drinks, our world is filled with intensely pleasurable sweet treats. Sometimes eating these foods is just too hard to resist.

Love is a complex and powerful force, one that plays out in a number of emotional, cognitive and social ways. There are many styles, from passionate Eros to caring Agape and many in between.