Life

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

Artemis Mission Proposes Lunar Crater Naming in Honor of Commander Wiseman's Late Wife

During the Artemis mission, astronauts proposed naming a lunar crater after Reid Wiseman's deceased wife, highlighting the emotional and symbolic significance of this gesture.

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

As Iran war exposes global dependence on fossil fuels, the biggest emitters are reaping the rewards

Infrastructure lens: Worst polluters hold world’s future in their hands as they benefit from higher fossil fuel prices, but global trends favour renewables Oil stands at about $110 a barrel and some forecasts have predicted it could reach $1

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

Earth’s most powerful ocean current didn’t form the way we thought

Infrastructure lens: A colossal ocean current encircling Antarctica—stronger than all the world’s rivers combined—played a far more complex role in shaping Earth’s climate than scientists once thought. New research shows it didn’t form just

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

Drought Parches Florida

Infrastructure lens: The state was unusually dry for much of 2025, but the intensity of the drought has ratcheted up since January 2026.

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

GMO pictures may reinforce existing views, deepening the divide of attitudes towards them

Infrastructure lens: Images have long played a powerful role in shaping public perceptions of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), often reinforcing emotional reactions more than scientific understanding. A new experimental study published

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

Scientists found a “lost world” of animals that shouldn’t exist yet

Infrastructure lens: A remarkable fossil discovery in southwest China is rewriting the story of how complex animal life began, showing that many key animal groups appeared millions of years earlier than scientists once believed. Dating back

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

Scientists discover the “Goldilocks” secret behind life on Earth

Infrastructure lens: Earth may have won a cosmic chemistry lottery. Researchers found that during the planet’s earliest formation, oxygen had to be in an extremely narrow “Goldilocks zone” for two life-essential elements, phosphorus and nitr

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

This “forbidden” exoplanet has an atmosphere scientists can’t explain

Infrastructure lens: A strange “forbidden” planet spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope is turning planetary science on its head. TOI-5205 b, a Jupiter-sized world orbiting a small, cool star, has an atmosphere surprisingly poor in heavy

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

New method rapidly analyzes cell proteins and metabolites

Infrastructure lens: Researchers at Cedars-Sinai have developed a fast, new technique for analyzing cells, described in the journal Angewandte Chemie. The approach, called single-injection multi-omics analysis by direct infusion (SMAD), can

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

Artemis 2 swings around the moon

Infrastructure lens: Four astronauts from the United States and Canada became the humans to travel the furthest from the Earth April 6 as they went around the moon on the Artemis 2 mission. The post Artemis 2 swings around the moon appeared

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

How an eye physician who translated classical Greek medicine into Arabic helped form Western medical thought

Infrastructure lens: A medieval ophthalmologist who translated Greek works by Galen, Hippocrates, and Plato into Arabic played a pivotal role in shaping Western medical scholarship, according to a study published in the journal Cogent Arts a

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

By age 7, most children quickly spot individuals' social biases toward social groups, study finds

Infrastructure lens: Most elementary school-aged children have a surprising cognitive ability: they can detect—nearly as well as adults—when someone treats people from one social group differently than another. The study, "Children's and adu

Editorial Staff Apr 7

Life

The brain might not create consciousness after all

Infrastructure lens: Is consciousness something the brain produces, or is it woven into the fabric of reality itself? Renowned neuroscientist Christof Koch is challenging long-held scientific assumptions by confronting the “hard problem” of

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

3D-printed 'spanlastics' could change how cancer drugs reach tumors

Infrastructure lens: University of Mississippi research offers hope that cancer drug therapies packaged in 3D-printed carriers could deliver medication directly to tumors while reducing many of the side effects that cancer patients endure. I

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

Scientists discover hidden brain switch that tells you to stop eating

Infrastructure lens: Your brain’s “stop eating” signal may come from an unexpected source. Researchers found that astrocytes—once thought to just support neurons—actually play a key role in controlling appetite. After a meal, glucose trigger

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

Study finds 70% of remediated Los Angeles yards still exceed lead limit

Infrastructure lens: Even after one of the largest environmental remediation efforts in California history, dangerous levels of lead persist in residential neighborhoods surrounding a former battery smelter in Southeast Los Angeles, accordin

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

Review details photocatalyst–biocatalyst systems for semi-artificial photosynthesis

Infrastructure lens: A new review from Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) summarizes the biocatalysts involved in semi-artificial photosynthesis, an exciting research field that combines natural photosynthesis with artificial technology to

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

Global warming may be a boon for this aggressive prairie plant

Infrastructure lens: Climate change may reduce yields of crops like corn and soybeans, but it can also give some plants an edge. That's one of the takeaways of a recent study of tall goldenrod, a common wildflower that runs rampant in fields

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

Water-repelling surfaces reveal surprising charging effects

Infrastructure lens: Materials that repel water are used in countless applications, including industrial separation processes, routine laboratory pipetting, and medical devices. When water touches these surfaces, the interface where they mee

Editorial Staff Apr 6

Life

If life exists in Venus's atmosphere, it could have come from Earth

Infrastructure lens: The theory of panspermia holds that life is spread through the cosmos via asteroids, comets, and other objects. When the building blocks of life emerge on one planet, impacts can eject surface material into space, which

Editorial Staff Apr 6