Life

Health, science, climate, and society-focused reporting.

Briefing: Scientists discover sleep switch that builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts brainpower

Strategic angle: Deep sleep activates a brain-driven system that enhances growth hormone, impacting muscle strength, metabolism, and mental performance.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: How the solar wind really works

Strategic angle: The sun, our nearest star, never stops breathing. Every second of every day, it exhales a vast stream of charged particles that sweeps outward through the solar system.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: How scientists prepare expeditions in remote environments

Strategic angle: Scientific expeditions require meticulous planning and preparation to ensure success in challenging conditions.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: Spaceflight Captures Audiences When It Centers on People

Strategic angle: Human space travel is hazardous, making personal stories resonate more with viewers.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: What learning English means to migrants

Strategic angle: Learning English is crucial for adult migrants in the UK, yet many struggle with the language.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: Human touch leaves chicks feeling happy, study finds

Strategic angle: New research shows that gentle human interactions can positively affect baby chicks.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: Panicking scientists, canceled experiments: Federal funding cuts turn research dean to crisis management specialist

Strategic angle: Fielding frantic faculty emails and panicked texts was not how I had hoped my 2025 would begin.

Editorial Staff Mar 31

Life

Briefing: Second Starlink satellite suffers anomaly, generating debris

Strategic angle: For the second time in just over three months, a SpaceX Starlink satellite has generated debris from an apparent on-orbit malfunction.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Water flow in prairie watersheds is increasingly unpredictable—but AI could help

Strategic angle: Recent climate swings in the Prairies complicate water flow predictions, but AI offers potential solutions.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Positive views of the #Tradwife movement linked to higher levels of sexism among men

Strategic angle: A study reveals that men with negative perceptions of women are more likely to support the #Tradwife movement.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Quantum twisting microscope reveals electron-electron interactions in graphene at room temperature

Strategic angle: An international team of researchers has successfully observed electron interactions in graphene using a quantum microscope.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

NISAR Views Mount St. Helens

NASA's NISAR satellite captures stunning imagery of Mount St. Helens.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Animals are powerful landscape engineers shaping the Earth's surface, global study finds

Strategic angle: Wild animals play a crucial role in reshaping ecosystems through their natural behaviors.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Unexpected potential bacterial symbiosis found in fungus that causes angular leaf spot

Strategic angle: Scientists uncover a microbial relationship that may explain disease severity in common beans.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Next-generation optical sensor can read photon spin across UV-to-infrared wavelengths

Strategic angle: A research team led by Professor Jiwoong Yang has developed technology capable of precisely detecting light properties.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: How plants could betray themselves across the galaxy

Strategic angle: A thought experiment explores whether distant observers could detect life on Earth through its reflected light.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Understanding cell structures: Novel tool enables analysis of the plant actin cytoskeleton

Strategic angle: A research team led by Potsdam-based bioinformatician Prof. Dr. Zoran Nikoloski has developed a computational approach and an accompanying tool for detailed analysis of actin filamentous structures in plants.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Why a potential anti-cancer agent stalled in trials: New enzyme insights may boost yield and purity

Strategic angle: Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have deciphered key steps in the biosynthetic mechanism of fostriecin, a potential anti-cancer agent.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Dozens of deep-sea species discovered as new crustaceans named

Strategic angle: 24 new species of deep-sea crustaceans have been discovered as part of a project to name 1,000 unknown animals by 2030.

Editorial Staff Mar 30

Life

Briefing: Portable unit can quickly detect deadly whale and dolphin diseases

Strategic angle: Novel marine mammal health surveillance can now detect deadly diseases in whales and dolphins in oceans, beaches and remote locations.

Editorial Staff Mar 30