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THE ROLE OF GENETICS

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we explore genetic alterations to live longer, play this video game to improve our mental health, discover the real history behind the Freemasons ... and figure out why NASA wants to go back to the moon—and beyond.

a grandmother playing with her grandchild

PHOTOGRAPH BY JASPER DOEST

Don’t you hate it when people say they live longer because they have good genes?

It’s often about the relationship of lifestyle to your genes. Men who changed physical activity, stress management, and diet were able to turn off genes associated with prostrate cancer growth. Lifestyle changes, including even modest exercise (pictured above), did the same for colon and breast cancer. Lifestyle choices play a role in 40 percent of deaths of people before age 75.

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

DNA recovered from ancient teeth and bones enables researchers to understand population shifts over time.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TOBY MORRIS, ZUMA PRESS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

This video game might actually be good for your mental health (Above, a U.S. marine relaxes by playing a game of Tetris.)

Do pets really make people happier and healthier?

It’s the most common complication of childbirth. It went untreated for millennia.

There are two northern white rhinos left on Earth. Can a controversial approach save them?

Who were the Tarim Basin mummies? Even scientists were surprised.

Which cities will still be livable in a world altered by climate change?

Why isn’t this proven cold medicine on store shelves?

What ever happened to cursive writing?

In the hunt for alien life, this planet just became a top suspect

Murder. Greed. Conspiracy. What really happened in Osage County?

Will the real Julius Caesar please stand up?

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

18th century Italian-Austrian artist Ignaz Unterberger painted this initiation ceremony in a Viennese masonic lodge in 1789.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DEAGOSTINI, GETTY IMAGES

Who were they: Satan worshippers? Some of the world’s most influential people? Responsible for high-profile murders? The Freemasons have inspired centuries of conspiracy (the initiation ceremony depicted above). We have the real history.

Related: But what about the Illuminati?

THE WORLD’S LARGEST SECRET SOCIETY

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

For 10 days four astronauts will live within 316 cubic feet, about the size of a single-car garage, in a crew module illustrated in the above graphic. Some 18 minutes after launch, solar arrays span out to power the craft. They’re expected to lose all contact with Earth for up to 45 minutes when the craft flies behind the moon.

ALBERTO LUCAS LÓPEZ, NGM STAFF. RONALD PANIAGUA

Tight quarters: Four astronauts will live within 316 cubic feet—about the size of a single-car garage—for 10 days on a lunar flyby next year. About 18 minutes after the launch, solar arrays will span out to power the craft (illustrated above). The astronauts are expected to lose all contact with Earth for up to 45 minutes when the craft flies behind the moon. What’re they looking for?

Related: How NASA plans to send humans farther into space than ever before

3, 2, 1... BLAST OFF

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

An artist's impression of 'Gef' the so-called talking mongoose that befriended Voirrey Irving, a 17-year old girl from the Isle of Man, and her family.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY CHRONICLE, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Not a squirrel: Known as witty, multilingual, “the eighth wonder of the world,” and for haunting a cottage on a remote island in the Irish Sea in the 1930s, this snake-hunting creature (depicted above) was a media sensation. Do you know what it is?

A. Marten
B. Mink
C. Mongoose
D. Weasel

CLICK FOR THE ANSWER

We asked, you answered: Our story about pets and our health prompted quick responses from readers. “I literally could not have made it through the last three years of working from home without my two cats. They have been such a source of comfort and joy through so much turmoil and uncertainty,” writes Monica McDade. “They instinctively have known when I am depressed or sick. To say that they have been lifesavers is not an overstatement, merely a fact.”

Today’s soundtrack: Sprained Ankle, Julien Baker

This newsletter has been curated and edited by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, Nancy San Martín, and David Beard. Want to say hello? We'd love to hear from you: [email protected].

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