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Phil Starks

Phil Starks

The Conversation

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Placebo effect can work as well as real medicine – but your body may need permission to use it

Placebo effect can work as well as real medicine – but your body may need permission to use it

The placebo effect is more than just mental – it’s a biological system that can measurably improve a patient’s symptoms. But someone else needs...

21.04.2026 6

The Conversation

Phil Starks

What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ

The appendix has independently evolved at least 32 times across 361 mammalian species. What makes it an evolutionary darling when it’s more of a...

09.03.2026 10

The Conversation

Phil Starks

From furry friends to fish, turning up the heat helps animals fight germs − how Mother Nature’s cure offers humans a lesson on fever

Fever isn’t necessarily a bad thing − it’s actually a useful response to infections.

23.05.2025 10

The Conversation

Phil Starks