What's That Rash?

Have you heard the phrases, "aches and pain, coming rains" or about "ill health due to evil winds"? 
Many people believe they can feel a change in weather coming on because pain flares in their joints. 
Norman and Tegan unpack what could be going on, and whether it's backed by scientific evidence. 
References:
Associations between weather conditions and osteoarthritis pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis 
Come rain or shine: Is weather a risk factor for musculoskeletal pain? A systematic review with meta-analysis of case-crossover studies
Cloudy with a chance of pain: How the weather affects the pain of citizen scientists using a smartphone app 
Temperature extremes causing gout flare hospitalisation
Can aching joints really predict the weather? Exploring the science behind the stormy debate 
What triggers weather-related joint pain? - Harvard Health
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It’s good to be on top of your health – but how far would you go to ensure you’re staying healthy?
Ads have popped up for full-body MRIs, promising to catch things from cancer to aneurysms.
Norman and Tegan scan through the potential benefits and risks of looking inside seemingly healthy bodies. 
References:
Principles of screening - Cancer Council
Incidental Findings and Low-Value Care
Prevalence of abnormalities in knees detected by MRI in adults without knee osteoarthritis: population based observational study (Framingham Osteoarthritis Study)
Whole‐body MRI for preventive health screening: A systematic review of the literature
The effects of incidental findings from whole-body MRI on the frequency of biopsies and detected malignancies or benign conditions in a general population cohort study
Clinical value of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in health screening of general adult population
Long-Term Psychosocial Consequences of Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Reporting of Incidental Findings in a Population-Based Cohort Study 
Impact of whole-body MRI in a general population study
Elective MRI Screening of the General Public—Buyer Beware
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You might've heard the qualifier that exercise is good for you – but you need to be progressing that exercise over time.
Running further, lifting heavier, exercising for longer. How important is it to up the stakes?
Norman and Tegan flex their muscles on progressive training and its benefits.
References:
Thomas L. DeLorme and the Science of Progressive Resistance Exercise
Associations of Muscle Mass and Strength with All-Cause Mortality among US Older Adults
Skeletal Muscle Strength as a Predictor of All-Cause Mortality in Healthy Men 
Progressive overload without progressing load? The effects of load or repetition progression on muscular adaptations 
Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations Between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis 
Physical activity types, variety, and mortality: results from two prospective cohort studies 
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A cruise ship at the centre of a virus outbreak — sound familiar?
Passengers and crew are beginning to disembark the MV Hondius after several cases of hantavirus sent them into quarantine. 
The virus is usually caught through contact with infected rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Transmission between humans is rare. 
Norman and Tegan answer common questions about the hantavirus, and how it compares to the handling of COVID-19.

It’s easy to catch a yawn – you might even yawn while you’re reading this.
It’s not just humans that yawn, but all kinds of verterbrates, even fish! But contagious yawning is rarer.
Norman and Tegan unpack why we yawn in this live recording at the World Science Festival Brisbane.
References:
Yawning: no effect of 3-5% CO2, 100% O2, and exercise 
Brain size and neuron numbers drive differences in yawn duration across mammals and birds 
Excessive yawning and thermoregulation: two case histories of chronic, debilitating bouts of yawning
Different yawns, different functions? Testing social hypotheses on spontaneous yawning in Theropithecus gelada
Why yawns are contagious—in all kinds of animals: Evolutionary biologist Andrew Gallup explains why we yawn after others 
Mirror neuron activity during contagious yawning—an fMRI study 
The mirror-neuron system 
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