From parasitic mind control to feasting waxwings and bubble-breathing lizards, the second BMC Ecology and Evolution Image Competition has produced a spectacular collection of images that showcase the wonder of the natural world and emphasise the growing need to protect it from human activity. All images are open access and freely available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CCBY) license.

Giving out vape starter kit vouchers on the NHS could help even hardened smokers quit, according to a new study from the University of East Anglia. Researchers worked with GPs and the NHS stop smoking service, which is commissioned locally by Public Health at Norfolk County Council, to set up a pilot vape shop voucher scheme to help patients who had tried and failed to quit smoking in the past. An evaluation of the scheme, funded by Norfolk County Council, showed it was a big success – with 42% of the entrenched smokers who were referred to it and redeemed their vape voucher having quit within a month.

The steepest annual rise in new cases of advanced womb (cervical) cancer in the US is among White women, who are significantly less likely to have the preventive HPV (human papillomavirus) jab or to be screened for the disease, finds research published online in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.