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The gold standard for clinical trials of vaccines is the randomised, placebo-controlled trial. In other words, participants are randomly assigned to receive either the actual treatment or a placebo. Most people think of a placebo as an inert treatment – a sugar pill or a saline injection (for a vaccine trial) – but that’s not always the case.
Often researchers don’t mention what’s in the placebo. But it matters because it’s the difference between the effects of the actual treatment against the placebo that the researchers are looking for. Thankfully, Jeremy Howick and colleagues have published a template for reporting what’s in placebo controls. If it is widely adopted, we can get more accurate information on how beneficial and harmful treatments really are. Something that is really important right now.
Are sceptics right that plug-in hybrid cars aren’t as good for the environment as we once thought? Here’s how their emissions are measured. And here’s a look at how periods and the pill can affect athletic
performance.
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Clint Witchalls
Health + Medicine Editor (UK edition)
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siam.pukkato/Shutterstock
Jeremy Howick, University of Oxford
Researchers rarely report what's in a placebo.
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Petovarga/Shutterstock
Ashley Fly, Loughborough University
Drivers with long commutes who rarely charge their plug-in hybrid car are likely to emit much more CO₂ than official test figures suggest.
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These effects may have the greatest impact on elite athletes.
Leonard Zhukovsky/ Shutterstock
Dan Gordon, Anglia Ruskin University
Some evidence shows that hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle can both increase and decrease athletic performance.
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Politics + Society
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Christian van Nieuwerburgh, University of East London
Hope can energise, motivate and help us see through to a time when things will be better. To pull together in a crisis, we should put hope to work.
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James Sweeney, Lancaster University
When troops are injured in the line of duty as a result of negligence, they would have a limited time to take legal action, according to proposed changes.
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Caren Morrison, Georgia State University
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death has sparked a battle over the future of the Supreme Court. Against that backdrop, a nominee faces prescribed steps towards a confirmation vote in the Senate.
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Emma Long, University of East Anglia
With a new vacancy on the US Supreme Court, Donald Trump has the opportunity to alter the court's direction for decades. He's not the first.
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Mills Soko, University of the Witwatersrand
An EU-UK trade deal will reinforce the certainty and continuity that South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Eswatini – plus Mozambique are seeking in their relationship with the UK.
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Nicholas Westcott, SOAS, University of London
There could be diplomatic costs to the online UN general assembly.
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Arts + Culture
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Fiona McCall, University of Portsmouth
Puritans were often depicted as fools until they had a shot at government, and then the humour got darker.
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Featured events
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Lecture Theatre 1, Richmond Building, Portland Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3DE, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Portsmouth
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Blavatnik School of Government, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 6GG, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Oxford
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