Life

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

Briefing: Gravitational waves suggest a 'forbidden zone' for stellar-origin black holes

Strategic angle: An international team led by Monash University has uncovered evidence of a rare form of exploding star, helping to shed light on one of the most cataclysmic events in the universe.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Helical liquid crystals can flip light's chirality under ultralow electric fields

Strategic angle: RIKEN researchers demonstrate the ability to reverse the rotation of circularly polarized light with a simple voltage application.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Study suggests platforms invite third-party analytics to raise seller prices

Strategic angle: E-commerce platforms may be leveraging third-party analytics to increase prices for sellers, according to a new study.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Free software lets laptops simulate how aging evolves under selection

Strategic angle: Researchers develop AEGIS, a tool to explore the evolution of aging across species.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Inclusive schools see fewer young people drop out and become 'NEET'

Strategic angle: New research indicates that more inclusive secondary schools lead to lower dropout rates and fewer students becoming 'not in education, employment or training'.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Ghost bat dialects emerge across colonies, study suggests

Strategic angle: New research reveals that Australia's largest carnivorous bat exhibits regional dialects similar to human accents.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Only one-quarter of Colombia's protected areas effectively protect freshwater fishes, researchers find

Strategic angle: A recent study reveals that only 25% of priority areas for freshwater fish protection in Colombia overlap with existing protected areas.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: A new crab is settling in the Mediterranean: Early evidence of establishment of a Lessepsian species in the Ionian Sea

Strategic angle: The Mediterranean Sea is undergoing rapid ecological transformations driven by climate change and human-mediated species introductions.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: One of cholera's great enemies is found in the human gut

Strategic angle: Cholera-causing bacteria are locked in an evolutionary arms race with a viral nemesis, according to a new genomic study.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: High nickel concentrations in Martian bedrock point to potential biosignatures

Strategic angle: NASA's Perseverance rover discovers unexpected nickel levels in Martian bedrock, suggesting possible signs of life.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Useful quantum computers could be built with as few as 10,000 qubits, team finds

Strategic angle: New research from Caltech suggests a feasible path to practical quantum computing.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: A new way to detect breakthroughs in science: Large-scale analysis reveals 'disruptive' innovations in research history

Strategic angle: A research team has developed a method to identify significant scientific breakthroughs through large-scale analysis.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Are relationship surveys measuring the wrong thing?

Strategic angle: How one 'Q-factor' shapes most answers in romantic relationship assessments.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Cosmic collision of galaxies mapped by Maunakea telescope

Strategic angle: An astronomer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo uses data from the Canada–France–Hawaiʻi Telescope to reconstruct a slow-motion cosmic collision.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Teledyne forms dedicated space unit to capture rising demand

Strategic angle: The aerospace supplier is combining imaging, electronics and component lines under Teledyne Space.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Soil biodiversity linked to lower human infectious disease risk

Strategic angle: Diverse soil microbial communities may help suppress pathogens naturally, acting as a biological barrier against their establishment and spread.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Ultrafast quantum light pulses measured for the first time

Strategic angle: Researchers at the Technion have successfully measured the duration of individual bright squeezed vacuum light pulses.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: How gossiping mushroom networks share your public urination secrets

Strategic angle: Mushrooms communicate through underground networks, sharing secrets and information with their neighbors.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Florida tourists gather to 'witness history' ahead of Moon launch

Strategic angle: Families travel to Florida to experience the historic launch of NASA's Artemis 2 mission.

editorial-staff Apr 1

Life

Briefing: Scientists open 40-year-old salmon and find a surprising sign of ocean recovery

Strategic angle: Old canned salmon turned out to be a time capsule of ocean health.

editorial-staff Apr 1