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These plants smell like rotten meat — Now we know how they do it

Plants are vastly intelligent in ways many people may not understand or appreciate. They have to be, since most of them move very little (if at all), so they require complex chemistry to communicate and protect themselves, often adorning themselves…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

We treat corporations like living things with rights. Why not rivers?

English writer Robert Macfarlane is often described as a nature and travel writer, but that label barely scratches the surface. His work — spanning books and collaborations with artists, musicians, documentarians and now, rivers themselves — is far more expansive.…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Animals are talking — will the legal system listen?

The character of Dr. Dolittle, who “walks with the animals, talks with the animals,” was the central figure in an early 20th century series of children’s books written by Hugh Lofting, acting as a kind of personal antidote to his…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Does extraterrestrial life smell like the sea?

Dimethyl sulfide, also known as DMS, sounds like it could be a chemical compound you’d try to avoid on an ingredient label or the poisonous ingredient in a murder mystery. But some scientists view this simple compound as a biosignature…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

It’s time to make friends with your viruses

For years, we’ve known that not all bacteria are enemies — some are actually good for us, and belong inside us. That understanding sparked a boom in probiotics science and a multibillion dollar probiotics industry. But viruses? They still get…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Be proud — science says it’s healthy

When Emy Rodriguez Flores was growing up, he didn’t feel like he had space to come out as a queer person. It wasn’t until he moved to New York City in 2009 to go to college that he felt free…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

Indigenous land defenders face rising threats amid global push for critical minerals

Miguel Guimaraes, a Shipibo-Konibo leader, has spent his life protesting palm oil plantations and other agribusiness ventures exploiting the Amazon rainforest in his homeland of Peru. Last spring, as he attended a United Nations conference on protecting human rights defenders…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

In space, no one can hear you scream — but it still gets incredibly noisy

You’ve probably heard astronauts talking to mission control while they perform operations in space. In these recordings, you can hear the back-and-forth chatter, along with the astronaut’s breathing and the background noise of their spacesuit pumping oxygen into their helmet…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

“More problems than it was helping”: Behind the growing distrust of antidepressants

In 2017, Julie moved to Massachusetts to start a new job in biotech. She was maintaining her relationship with her partner long distance, and starting a new position in an unknown city alone had her distressed. Her psychologist and doctor…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0

We’ve finally slowed the surge in overdose deaths. The Trump admin may undo all of it

On May 14, 2025, the Division of Overdose Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the number of overdose deaths in 2024 had dropped 27%. This was an extraordinary, even historic announcement, given overdoses had risen…

October 24, 2025 · by Friedrich Arndt · 0