For The Better

A revolutionary pacemaker that re-establishes the heart’s naturally irregular beat is set to be trialled in New Zealand heart patients this year.

Research inspired by Terminator 2’s shape-shifting, liquid metal robot sees liquid-metal electrical conductors manipulated in mid-air without contact. The liquid wires can be controlled to move in any direction, and manipulated into unique, levitated s…

In a landmark study of airborne microorganisms from ground level up to 3,500 meters, scientists have found that bacteria and fungi populate the planet’s lower atmosphere in very specific ways, and if changed, may negatively impact human health and food…

Scientists have used atlases of the human brain informed by genetics to identify hundreds of genomic loci. The findings illuminate how genes impact the brain and diseases.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a research team went looking for and found a way to make standard surgical masks better at keeping out small airborne droplets that might contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Rapidly growing communities in the American West’s forests and shrublands are nestled in zones where local soil and plant traits amplify the effect of climate change on wildfire hazards and lead to bigger burns.

Mechanical hearts spur some regeneration in dormant parts of failing hearts, according to a pilot study that shows promise for developing regenerative heart therapies.

An international team has discovered novel properties of the protein Gasdermin B that promotes repair of cells lining the gastrointestinal tract in people with chronic inflammatory disorders like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Researchers have been monitoring wastewater on the UC Davis campus and in the city of Davis for COVID-19 through the Healthy Davis Together program. A new article reviews their experiences and the advantages and limitations of wastewater testing as a p…

Unprecedented mass loss from three Antarctic glaciers could signal global climate trouble ahead, a researcher warns. A multinational collaboration is using an advanced remote imaging system to document the Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers with clarity a…

At the boundaries between tectonic plates, narrow rifts can form as Earth’s crust slowly pulls apart. But how, exactly, does this rifting happen? Does pressure from magma rising from belowground force the land apart? Or is a rift just a rip, created ma…

Individual aspects of poor sleep can be detrimental to heart health. But if you combine them, the risk of heart disease can increase by as much as 141 percent.

People with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or bipolar disorder living in rural areas engaged well with telehealth-based telepsychiatry, though the ones who received local psychotherapy completed more sessions.

An international team has used ancient DNA to rewrite the history of the Scottish Orkney islands to show that Orkney actually experienced large-scale immigration during the Early Bronze Age, which replaced much of the local population.