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CAN ENDING INFLAMMATION
HELP BEAT DEPRESSION?

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we venture to the far north to see the planet’s fastest-warming place, seek to break the inflammation-depression connection, learn about the collision that created the moon, discover the savageness of a 160 million year-old fish ... and learn how the body jump-starts after cutting out alcohol.

This x-ray image shows the left knee of a 54-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis.

IMAGE BY ZEPHYR, SCIENCE SOURCE

Inflammation is a driver of most of our chronic illnesses; only now are we learning how it can worsen the depression that often goes along with them.

The findings on how inflammation can affect the brain and alter mood could lead to new solutions. And answer questions such as: How does childhood trauma trigger inflammation? And why does chronic stress at any age activate inflammatory pathways (above, an arthritic knee of a 54-year-old woman)?

WHAT SCIENCE SAYS

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

A woman drinking pink cocktail from a martini glass, garnished with a twist of orange peel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ARTUR WIDAK, NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

What cutting out alcohol can do to your body

But what about a cocktail before bed? Related: Alcohol is killing more women than ever before (Above, sipping a cocktail in Krakow, Poland)

Half of the planet will be short-sighted by 2050. Why is myopia rising so dramatically?

Did a Mars-sized planet crash into Earth—and parts of it are still embedded today?

A massive ’bomb cyclone’ is aiming for Europe. What is a bomb cyclone?

Some nutrients are just better together. (Think calcium and iron.)

They could be the oldest population of humans living outside of Africa—yet still fighting for recognition

Where to travel in November

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

A savage, 160 million-year-old fish

ILLUSTRATION BY HEMING ZHANG

What is this beast? It has been around for more than 160 million years. It has been known to gouge out the eyes of other fish. What is it?

A. Coelacanth
B. Lamprey
C. Nautilidae
D. Megalodon

CLICK FOR THE ANSWER

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Friends and family inspect the body of Debora Maupa’, who died in 2009 at age 73. A well-preserved body, mummified with a solution of formaldehyde and water, is thought to bring good fortune.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN LEHMANN

When death isn't an abrupt goodbye: For Indonesia’s Torajan people, the death of the body isn’t the final, severing event. A well-preserved body, mummified with a solution of formaldehyde and water, is thought to bring good fortune. They tend to departed loved ones at home for weeks, months, or even years after death. (Above, inspecting the body of a person who died in 2009 at age 73.)

READ THE FULL STORY

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEFANO UNTERTHINER

Melting fjords, increasing avalanches, imperiled wildlife. Nowhere on Earth are temperatures warming faster—and that’s what drew Italian photographer Stefano Unterthiner to this wonderous place. Where is he?

A. The Falklands Islands
B. The Aleutian peninsula
C. The Faroe Islands
D. The Svalbard archipelago

HERE’S THE ANSWER

Today’s soundtrack: Le Freak, Nile Rodgers and CHIC

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! It was curated and edited by Jen Tse, Nancy San Martín, and David Beard. Have an idea for us? Let us know! See you tomorrow!

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