Life

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

Briefing: Mining a methane-degrading bioreactor for protein rubies

Strategic angle: Scientists discover a new iron-storing protein in methane-degrading microbes, highlighting the need for characterizing hard-to-isolate proteins.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Moby Dick 'ship sinking' sperm whales caught headbutting on camera

Strategic angle: New research reveals sperm whales engaging in headbutting behavior, confirming historical accounts.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Scientists Rarely Use Humor at Conferences, Study Finds

Strategic angle: A new report reveals that humor is often absent in scientific presentations, despite its potential to engage audiences.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: NASA’s Hubble Revisits Crab Nebula to Track 25 Years of Expansion

Strategic angle: A quarter-century after its first observations, Hubble provides a detailed look at the Crab Nebula's evolution.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Electric current stabilizes spins at unstable points for new types of computing

Strategic angle: A research team has discovered a new way to control tiny magnetic properties inside materials using electric current, potentially paving the way for innovative computing technologies.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: How soil microbes may control the future of our planet

Strategic angle: The soil beneath our feet is a huge carbon bank storing up to approximately three times more carbon than the entire atmosphere.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: 'Space archaeology' reveals first dynamic history of a giant spiral galaxy

Strategic angle: Astronomers use galactic archaeology to trace the history of a distant galaxy.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Scientists discover Alzheimer’s hidden “death switch” in the brain

Strategic angle: A toxic pairing of proteins may drive Alzheimer’s disease, but researchers have found a way to turn it off in mice.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Russia resumes use of space launch site damaged in accident

Strategic angle: Russia has successfully launched a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 31 for the first time since its damage last November.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Planet trapped record heat in 2025: UN

Strategic angle: The amount of heat trapped by Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: A Fault Line in Full Bloom

Strategic angle: Plains around the San Andreas Fault and across Carrizo Plain National Monument are awash with yellow as wildflowers bloom.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Swissto12 to build small optical relay GEO satellite for Space Compass

Strategic angle: Swissto12 signs contract to develop the first optical relay spacecraft using its HummingSat platform.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Neutrality can speed up and stabilize collective decisions, new study shows

Strategic angle: A new study from the University of Bath reveals that neutrality in discussions can enhance decision-making efficiency.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: World’s first quantum battery could enable ultra fast charging

Strategic angle: Scientists in Australia have demonstrated a prototype quantum battery that could revolutionize energy storage.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: This floating time crystal breaks Newton’s third law of motion

Strategic angle: Scientists have created a new kind of time crystal using sound waves to levitate tiny beads in mid-air.

Editorial Staff Mar 23

Life

Briefing: Measuring Irreversibility in Gene Transcription

Strategic angle: Understanding the irreversible processes in living cells that drive gene transcription.

Editorial Staff Mar 22

Life

Briefing: Two-thirds of workers are burned out—here's what science says about how to tackle it

Strategic angle: Burnout is at an all-time high, with studies indicating that two-thirds of employees cite it as a major challenge.

Editorial Staff Mar 22

Life

Briefing: How conversation works—and why people with hearing loss rely more on their powers of prediction

Strategic angle: "Ultimately, the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or friendship, is conversation," wrote Oscar Wilde.

Editorial Staff Mar 22

Life

Briefing: Sea turtle shells reveal hidden records of ocean change

Strategic angle: Techniques developed to study the distant past are now being repurposed to help us better understand the lives of modern sea turtles.

Editorial Staff Mar 22

Life

Briefing: Fiber-optic sensors reveal how farming destroys soil's natural structure

Strategic angle: Soil is a dynamic, living system, but agricultural practices threaten its integrity.

Editorial Staff Mar 22