This is The Guardian.

Once upon a time, it was thought only humans had the brains for tall use.

Then, we realised we weren't quite so special.

Chimpanzees, crows, elephants and otters.

All kinds of creatures try their hands, pores, trunks and beaks with different apparatus.

And now, a brown cow.

Researchers began studying Veronica with a K after her owner spotted her using tools to give herself a bit of a backscratch.

Veronica's not the only one in need of a good scratch.

In the UK and across several European countries, cases of scabies appear to be on the rise. It's a pretty horrible

thing to have, a parasitic infestation where microscopic mites burrow under the skin and lay their

eggs, causing a rash that can be intensely itchy.

Perhaps you've started to feel a little itchy yourself.

Maybe you're already scratching.

It goes to show the power our minds can have over our bodies.

In fact, a study this week found evidence that positive thinking could boost our immune responses to vaccines.

So today I'm chatting to Guardian Science Editor Ian Sampel about the stories that have caught our eye this week.

I'm Madeleine Finleyley and this is Science Weekly.

In the first story we're going to talk about today is a study that looked at the effect of

positive thinking on our immune responses to vaccines. Now, this is

so intriguing. So tell me a bit more. Yeah, this was a really intriguing bit of work that was

published in nature medicine and really taps into a debate that's been going on in medicine

and in science for centuries, which is really about what's

...