Refractor: Science & Health

According to new research from Rutgers University, being a 'girl dad' might just make Bandit the ideal partner. It turns out that having daughters can transform fathers in ways that strengthen their romantic relationships.

For the first time, a European Southern Observatory (ESO) study has quantified the threat to astronomy posed by a large number of highly reflective satellites planned to launch in the coming years.

Blue Zone residents around the globe have become famous for having remarkable life expectancies, on average. Not only that, they live healthier for longer. Could their personalities be influencing health markers in these super-agers?

Europe's most active volcano, Mount Etna, has always been a geological puzzle. The Sicilian volcano has erupted several times a year, and glassy peaks of over 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) have fascinated scientists for decades.

Huge sinkholes in nature have traditionally been viewed as a win for biodiversity, protecting plants that would otherwise be exposed to environmental stressors above ground. However, a new genetic study indicates they are an evolutionary death trap.

A newly described single-celled protist can metamorphose into much larger “supergiants” that shift their shape, alter their movement, and begin hunting and eating their own genetically identical relatives.

Following studies suggesting sleep disruptions may put us at greater risk of heart attack and stroke, a new investigation has found evidence of a jump in retinal vascular diseases in the wake of daylight saving changes.

Ten months on from the huge news that a chlamydia vaccine had been approved for Australia's koalas, a young female has become the first to receive the groundbreaking medicine in a new dose-and-implant format that makes large-scale treatment possible.

China's eastern coastal region is associated with lower obesity, cardiovascular risk, and higher life expectancy. It's also where, for generations, market stalls selling fresh leafy greens, lotus seed pods, vegetables, tofu, and freshwater fish have shaped the diet of those living there.

Daddy longlegs, also called harvestmen, have been documented catching and consuming living frogs larger than themselves in South American rainforests. All without the use of venom.