Experience the Life Sciences

Exercise at the start of a fast can make a big difference. A BYU study finds when participants exercised, they reached ketosis on average three and a half hours earlier in the fast and produced 43% more the ketone-like chemical BHB.

Students from all across campus had the opportunity to combine their creativity skills with their curiosity for science by painting Agar plates using harmless E. coli bacteria at the semiannual Agar Art Contest sponsored by the College of Life Sciences Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology (MMBIO).

Their research shows that passive heat therapy practically eliminates a near 30% decline in artery health that happens when people, perhaps because due to injury, become less physically active.

Environmental degradation harms every individual by causing pervasive decline of life on Earth, but it doesn’t impact everyone to the same degree. Environmental justice addresses two things: sharing of benefits and proportional distribution of consequences related to environmental degradation. No matter how you are affected, it is crucial to solve these problems in an equitable manner. Plant and Wildlife Sciences professor Ben Abbott shares three ways to improve your understanding on how environmental justice affects you and your community.

The diversity on Earth aids the health and quality of human life. It provides the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the air we breathe. But what do we do to serve the Earth? Human impact makes the environment less able to sustain life due to “human-induced rapid environmental changes.” There is no way to escape the effect we have, but there are ways to lessen it in order to protect the beauty of Earth and the many species that inhabit it.

In addition to the well-known benefits, long-distance running has positive effects on your spine and body composition. Exercise Science Professor Ulrike Mitchell shares findings from her research to explain the less well-known effects of endurance running.