Nature Hub

  By Philippa Roxby Health reporter, BBC  Edited by -Amal Udawatta IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Few football products are designed to suit women's needs, including boots, a paper says Sports scientists are highlighting the lack of football kit designed for women, saying the use of boots and balls created for male players could be putting them at higher risk of injury. Knee-ligament injuries in women are causing concern at an elite level. Despite some progress, the researchers say no large boot manufacturer has yet invested in a design to suit women. The profile and popularity of women's football in the UK has soared since  England won Euro 2022 . But most products are still predominantly designed for men's football and little attention has been paid to the requirements of the women's game, a paper says. Stress fractures Writing in the journal Sports Engineering , a group of sports and exercise researchers, doctors and staff involved in the elite women's

  By James Gallagher Health and science correspondent - BBC , Edited by - Amal Udawatta, IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Leprosy can damage the nerves, leading to disability Leprosy bacteria may hold the secret to safely repairing and regenerating the body, researchers at the University of Edinburgh say. Animal experiments have uncovered the bacteria's remarkable ability to almost double the size of livers by stimulating healthy growth. It is a sneakily selfish act that gives the bacteria more tissue to infect. But working out how they do it could lead to new age-defying therapies, the scientists say. 'Biological alchemy' Leprosy causes disability when it infects the nerves, skin and eyes. Throughout history, those infected have been shunned. But the bacterium that causes it,  Mycobacterium leprae , has other, unusual properties, including the ability to perform " biological alchemy ", converting one type of bodily tissue into another, which are fascinat

  By Malcolm Prior   -   BBC News Rural affairs producer, Edited by - Amal Udawatta, IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES Image caption, All poultry and captive birds in England will have to be kept indoors All poultry and captive birds in England must be kept indoors from 7 November under new restrictions to fight avian flu, the government has announced. The housing order comes after turkey farmers warned of a shortage this Christmas caused by the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak. The British Poultry Council has said shoppers could be hit by price rises. About 5.5m birds have now died or been culled since October 2021. That includes 2.3m birds this October alone. In total, more than 210 cases of bird flu have been confirmed since October 2021, including 80 confirmed cases in England this month. "We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England,"