Processing tanks at a site in Kansas where waste is pumped into an underground salt cavern Vaulted Deep A start-up called Vaulted Deep has signed a deal with Microsoft to pump millions of tonnes of treated human excrement, manure and other organic waste deep underground as a way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere….
This story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and co-published with the Post and Courier. On July 22, 2024, a team of researchers released a shocking discovery: deep-sea rock concentrations appeared to be producing oxygen in the blackness of the ocean’s abyss. The two of us were in the middle of filming…
Mitochondria may have a function beyond providing energy CNRI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The components of cells that provide them with energy may play an unexpected role in sleep. A study in fruit flies suggests that mitochondria in the brain help trigger sleep when they sense that the insects have been awake for too long – and…
GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss are difficult for some people to inject weekly. A new slow-release gel, tested in rats, could help.
Music isn’t just entertainment. It is one of the most accessible and powerful ways to regulate our mental state, yet we continue to underestimate its potential. It is time for society to embrace the therapeutic power of music not only in clinical settings, but also in our everyday lives. We already know that music can…
From a young age, the inevitability and finality of death becomes a shaping force in our lives. Indeed, it could be said that our ability to recognise our eventual demise and the grief that comes with losing those close to us are core elements of what it means to be human. They have also led…
Certain university courses, such as languages, have oral examinations Shutterstock/PeopleImages.com – Yuri A University students are more likely to pass oral exams if they are taken at around midday, according to a study of more than 100,000 assessments. Carmelo Vicario at the University of Messina, Italy, was inspired to investigate this after coming across a…
Green-headed tanagers (Tangara seledon) are strikingly colourful Daniel Field Brightly coloured songbirds called tanagers are so eye-catching because they have a hidden layer of black or white beneath their dazzling plumage. Painters often prime a canvas with a layer of white to enhance the colours they will eventually layer on, as well as to make…
The Pandemic Aged Everyone’s Brain—Even in Healthy People A study of nearly 1,000 people showed that brain aging was not linked to infection status By Gemma Conroy & Nature magazine The brains of healthy people aged faster during the COVID-19 pandemic than did the brains of people analysed before the pandemic began, a study of…
Monitoring daily step counts can be an easy way of gauging how active you have been volkerpreusser/Alamy We are often told to aim for 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health, but it turns out that taking just 7000 steps every 24 hours can significantly reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease,…
