University College Cork

Playing the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons with others has a positive impact on mental health, according to a new study. The researchers say the game should be used as a therapeutic tool as part of a holistic approach to mental health.

A 280-million-year-old fossil from the Italian Alps is pretty much just black paint in the lizard-shaped grooves of a rock. So say researchers who examined the specimen and laid to rest questions that have long puzzled paleontologists.

A survey of nearly 1,000 long COVID patients has found 89% of respondents have not returned to their pre-COVID level of health, a year after their acute infection. The study highlights the persistent lingering impact COVID is having on many people.

A new study has investigated the anti-obesity effects of a specific strain of gut bacteria. From preclinical animal studies to a placebo-controlled human trial, the research suggests a novel bacterial strain may confer several metabolic benefits.

Scientists have begun to uncover evidence of how the digestive systems of certain animals can play a part in plastic fragmentation, with the latest concerning a small crustacean that can turn microplastics into “nanoplastics” in just four days.

A new study paints pterosaurs as far cuddlier creatures than we might have thought. According to an international team of palaeontologists, pterosaurs were covered in no less than four different types of feathers, pushing back the origin of this bodily covering by about 70 million years.