Click, watch, listen: health stories told differently

Editor's note

At The Conversation, we love telling stories. As journalists and editors who work closely with academics, we aim to bring you factual stories that enlighten and entertain. And most importantly, stories you can trust.

Quite often, the best way to tell these stories is through text. But not always. An interactive visualisation can transform a large and daunting dataset into something personal and insightful. A single graphic can illustrate concepts too complex even for a thousand words. And an animated video can take you on a journey to places a traditional video cannot.

We recently published an interactive that mapped the cancer rates across Australia and our readers — well, you — loved it.

Today we bring you some of our favourite interactives, videos and podcasts for you to enjoy with your coffee and croissant. These are all on health, but we’ll bring you others in future newsletters.

Emil Jeyaratnam

Multimedia Editor

Play and interact

What trends might emerge when we map cancer incidence and mortality rates across Australia? Shutterstock

INTERACTIVE: We mapped cancer rates across Australia – search for your postcode here

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

It's clear that socioeconomic position has a strong influence on cancer incidence and mortality in Australia.

What is CRISPR gene editing, and how does it work?

Merlin Crossley, UNSW

CRISPR harnesses the natural defence mechanisms of some bacteria to cut human DNA strands. Then the DNA strand either heals itself or we inject new DNA to mend the gap. This is gene editing.

Explainer: what are blood groups and why do they matter?

Erica Wood, Monash University; Lucy Fox, Monash University

Our bodies contain trillions of red blood cells. Each is covered in an array of proteins and sugars, inherited from our parents, which determine our blood group.

Interactive body map: what really gives you cancer?

Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation; Sasha Petrova, The Conversation

This body map brings together evidence on proven cancer causes. Using credible, scientific sources it answers questions about whether alcohol, red meat or sun exposure increase your cancer risk.

Interactive body map: physical inactivity and the risks to your health

Carol Maher, University of South Australia; Tim Olds, University of South Australia

Being physically inactive has been shown to significantly increase the risk of many causes of death and disease. This interactive body map highlights the links between physical inactivity and disease.

Watch

There’s a reason we apologise to our livers after a big night, and it’s not pretty. Wes Mountain/The Conversation

Drink, drank, drunk: what happens when we drink alcohol in four short videos

Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation; Wes Mountain, The Conversation

What is it that makes us feel drunk when we drink? And why do we keep drinking if it can make us feel so terrible?

Explainer: how do drugs get from the point of discovery to the pharmacy shelf?

Sabine Braat, University of Melbourne; Elaine Mary Pascoe, The University of Queensland; Katherine J Lee, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Laurent Billot, UNSW

Only around 10% of new drugs in development make it onto the market. A drug needs to go through animal trials, and then four phases of human trials to be deemed suitable for use in patients.

Healthy guts are swarming with bugs, so what do they do?

Robert Moore, RMIT University

The make-up of our gut is constantly changing and affects everything from our immune system and digestion, to our brain function.

Listen

Trust Me, I’m an Expert: Risk

Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation

This month, we're talking risk. Three experts give their perspective on how long you might live, how to deal with loneliness – and how to step outside your comfort zone.

Trust Me I’m An Expert: The science of pain

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Sasha Petrova, The Conversation; Sophie Heizer, The Conversation; Benjamin Ansell, The Conversation

Our podcast Trust Me, I'm An Expert, goes beyond the headlines and asks researchers to explain the evidence on issues making news. Today, we're talking pain and what science says about managing it.