Life

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

Briefing: What to Know About the BALANCE Model for GLP-1s in Medicare and Medicaid

Strategic angle: This brief describes current coverage of GLP-1s in Medicare and Medicaid, and CMS's efforts to expand access and lower costs through the BALANCE model.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Gilead to acquire immunology biotech, offers lifeline to Galapagos

Strategic angle: In today's Readout newsletter: Gilead to acquire an immunology biotech and Merck partners with Flagship company on IBD targets.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Pharmalittle: Trump Drug Pricing Flaw and Gilead Deal Insights

Strategic angle: Comments from a top Trump administration health official highlight significant issues in the president’s drug pricing plans.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds

Strategic angle: Vast journeys, among world’s great wonders, found to be under threat as freshwater fish populations crash by 81%.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: A spinel crystal structure exhibits unusual, pressure-induced superconductivity

Strategic angle: Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with an electrical resistance of zero, typically at extremely low temperatures.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: New lipid nanoparticle design improves precision of mRNA vaccine delivery

Strategic angle: Penn Engineers have redesigned a key component of lipid nanoparticles to enhance targeting and reduce off-target effects.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Vital freshwater fish migrations are collapsing, says UN report

Strategic angle: A major assessment reveals the alarming decline of crucial fish migrations in global rivers.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Supercomputers just solved a 50-year-old mystery about giant stars

Strategic angle: Astronomers have finally cracked a decades-old mystery about red giant stars—how material from their deep interiors makes its way to the surface.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Mathematical framework maps landscape of student knowledge via short quizzes

Strategic angle: A new study reveals how short quizzes can help visualize and enhance student understanding by mapping their knowledge landscape.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Stolen chloroplasts maintained by host-made proteins offer clues to plant cell origins

Strategic angle: Every plant cell is the product of a biological merger billions of years ago, revealing insights into the evolution of life.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: More North Sea drilling will put UK at mercy of fossil fuel markets, ministers say

Strategic angle: Ministers warn that expanding North Sea drilling could jeopardize the UK's energy sovereignty.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Opinion: Every pandemic is followed by amnesia. But Covid’s is very different

Strategic angle: In this excerpt from their new book “Whiplash,” David Blumenthal and James A. Morone describe how scientists became villains to MAGA.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: The potential loophole in Trump’s plan to get other countries to pay more for drugs

Strategic angle: Diverging messages on the main effort to address U.S. drug prices point to a loophole in Trump's plan.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: What growing up in an end-times church taught a science communicator about dispelling misinformation

Strategic angle: A passion for snakes opened a crack in the religious beliefs science communicator Paul Martin Jensen grew up with in a end-times Pentecostal church.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Insulin pills may soon replace daily injections

Strategic angle: For over a century, scientists have chased the dream of insulin pills, but the digestive system kept destroying the drug before it could work.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: XRISM identifies gamma Cas X-ray origin, solving a 50-year-old stellar mystery

Strategic angle: Astrophysicists unravel the mystery of γ Cas, a star in Cassiopeia emitting unexpected X-rays.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Nanoparticles enable large-scale production of advanced cell therapies

Strategic angle: Researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University have developed a streamlined process for producing therapeutic particles called exosomes.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: What are zettajoules – and what do they tell us about Earth’s energy imbalance?

Strategic angle: Understanding the significance of zettajoules in the context of climate change and energy measurement.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Eel fisher takes on authorities at Belfast court over pollution in UK’s largest lake

Strategic angle: Declan Conlon will argue officials have failed to act despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of Lough Neagh.

editorial-staff Mar 24

Life

Briefing: Agricultural soils exposed to controversial weedkiller may be unexpected breeding ground for hospital 'superbugs'

Strategic angle: Research reveals a link between antimicrobial resistance and agricultural practices.

editorial-staff Mar 24