Next Breath

04/30/2026

Imagine waking up in a world without science. There are no phones, no lights, no medicines — only darkness, mystery, and fear of the unknown. Science, which has guided humanity from caves to cities, from myths to knowledge, simply doesn’t exist. What kind of world would that be?

Bring your creativity and brain power to this Student competition. Details are below.

Deadline is June 15!

More information also available on our website: https://www.nextbreath.global/initiatives/in-a-world-without-science

Lorie Karnath Xaviere Masson Dziemian Molecular Frontiers Foundation Science Channel Sciences et Avenir

01/29/2026

During the , Italian documented something interesting: in areas with more per capita, the number and severity of COVID-19 cases were lower than in places with fewer trees, even when accounting for differences in human population density1. This work is part of a growing body of research around the world investigating whether time spent in and nature can provide protection from , such as COVID-19 and ; conditions, such as , and ; and even .
‘Touch ’ has become the rejoinder to stop using electronic devices and to go outside. It’s part of a long-held belief that Nature is good for us. The ancient Celts prescribed time sitting next to certain as for particular ailments, says conservationist Melinda Gilhen-Baker at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - British Columbia (CPAWS-BC) in Ottawa. In , forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is the traditional practice of spending time in the woods for one’s health.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00105-x

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lorie Karnath Allan Schwarz Xaviere Masson Dziemian UCLA

Wooded environments release organic compounds that seem to improve respiratory health, but the magnitude and mechanism of the effect remains unclear.

01/27/2026

Microplastics are everywhere, but new research points to a need to standardize measurements of microparticles.
Read the full article on Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00184-w Lorie Karnath Nature Xaviere Masson Dziemian U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Microplastics are everywhere, but new research points to a need to standardize measurements of microparticles.

01/13/2026

E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution

In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting limits, and not the monetary value of saving lives, documents show.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/climate/trump-epa-air-pollution.html?unlocked_article_code=1.D1A.R1kW.PlxT8ZXcGDlR&smid=em-share

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lorie Karnath Xaviere Masson Dziemian

In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.

12/07/2025

New research has found that the common can significantly reduce the and damage caused by everyday, low-level exposure to .5. https://newatlas.com/diet-nutrition/vitamin-c-air-pollution-damage/?utm_source=newsletter.newatlas.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adaptive-suspension-for-legs&_bhlid=c1ff88821682ac6618aa55fb2c6fdcfa0143273b University of Technology Sydney Lorie Karnath National Institutes of Health (NIH) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Xaviere Masson Dziemian

Vitamin C may offer meaningful protection against one of the world's invisible but pervasive health threats – fine-particle air pollution. New research has found that the common antioxidant can significantly reduce the lung inflammation and cellular damage caused by everyday, low-level exposure to...

10/08/2025

Congratulations to Pr Omar Yaghi who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa, for the development of metal–organic frameworks. Below is an interview conducted by our co-founder and president, Dr. Lorie Karnath for the Molecular Frontiers Journal work.https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lv197wuniyw Lorie Karnath Nobel Prize Molecular Frontiers Foundation UC Berkeley

The 21st Century Materials that will Change the World – Interview with Omar Yaghi by Lorie Karnath, Molecular Frontiers JournalProfessor Omar Yaghi is consid...

09/30/2025

"Over 87,000 premature worldwide can be traced to the impact of 's explosive 2023 season, new research estimates.

burned 71,043 square miles (18.4 million hectares) of that year, about 5% of the total forest in the country. The smoke plumes from the fires heavily impacted the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, and they even wafted across the Atlantic to Europe and northern Africa.

Now, a new study published Sept. 10 in the journal Nature suggests that short-term exposure to particulate from these fires contributed to an estimated 5,400 deaths in the United States and Canada. The fires, which burned for weeks, also contributed to , which accumulates over each person's lifetime. This from the fires was responsible for another premature 82,100 deaths worldwide, according to the new study."

https://www.livescience.com/health/canadas-2023-wildfires-contributed-to-87-000-early-deaths-worldwide-study-estimates Tsinghua University Lorie Karnath U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Nature Colorado State University University of British Columbia Stanford University LiveScience

The health impacts from Canada's worst wildfire stretched into Europe, Asia and Africa, a new study reveals.

09/24/2025

from , intensified by rising , is on track to become one of America’s deadliest . https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/climate/wildfire-smoke-health-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=1.n08.6Vf_.RvHczW4ERL7p&smid=em-share Lorie Karnath The New York Times Nature Yale University Yale School of Public Health Harvard University National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stony Brook University U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Pollution from fires, intensified by rising temperatures, is on track to become one of America’s deadliest climate disasters.

09/15/2025

Doctors compare brain effects to concussions in NFL players. A Wall Street Journal investigation shows the problem is getting worse and not much is being done about it https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/air-travel-toxic-fumes-64839d6e?st=vVKWL6&reflink=article_email_share The Wall Street Journal Lorie Karnath

Doctors compare brain effects to concussions in NFL players. A Wall Street Journal investigation shows such incidents are increasingly common.

08/06/2025

" teeth can reveal a lot more than just how these creatures ate and who they were related to – they can also tell us what the air was like in times. As it turns out, humans might have found it hard to if we were around the same time as dinosaurs, because there was a lot more in the than you'd expect.

That's from a fascinating study by a team of and at the University of Göttingen [Georg-August-Universität Göttingen] in Germany. The researchers looked at off of teeth from several dinosaurs found in North America, Africa, and Europe, in which they found isotopic traces of they breathed as far back as 150 million years ago.

A strange place to look for an indicator of air quality, I know. But since tooth enamel is extremely stable, it can preserve tiny amounts of the air vertebrates breathe and incorporate into their body water pool through biomineralization. This allowed the scientists to deduce atmospheric composition from all those millions of years ago."

https://newatlas.com/environment/dinosaur-teeth-fossils-prehistoric-air-quality/

Lorie Karnath PNAS Science Alert ScienceAlert Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Fossilized dinosaur teeth can reveal a lot more than just how these creatures ate and who they were related to – they can also tell us what the air was like in prehistoric times. As it turns out, humans might have found it hard to breathe if we were around the same time as dinosaurs, because there...

08/01/2025

Research out of the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès 2025 – International & Erasmus Students, France, has revealed that we're probably harming our a lot more than we knew. Every day, we're inhaling teeny tiny bits of that are smaller than a speck of without even leaving the house – and the findings show the amount is 100 times greater than previously estimated.

That's from a study led by researcher Nadiia Yakovenko, who measured fine seven times thinner than a strand of human hair, suspended in the air in both homes and cars (including Yakovenko's own apartment) a couple of years ago. Yakovenko's paper on the research appeared in PLOS this week.

We've known about the presence of microplastics for a couple of decades now, and they've been our , our , and our for much longer than that. As Yakovenko explained in an interview, these miniscule fragments "can enter deep into our and potentially cause or . Microplastics carry , such as , or , which can reach our . While research is still ongoing, there is concern that long-term exposure to microplastics and their additives may contribute to , disrupt and increase risk for , reproductive , , , and ."

https://newatlas.com/environment/inhaling-68000-microplastics-home-car-daily/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=47669ff7a7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_08_01_08_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-47669ff7a7-92411261 Lorie Karnath Hello FEND Sensory Cloud

Research out of the University of Toulouse, France, has revealed that we're probably harming our lungs a lot more than we knew. Every day, we're inhaling teeny tiny bits of plastic that are smaller than a speck of dust without even leaving the house – and the findings show the amount is 100 times....