Mark Roth studies suspended animation: the art of shutting down life processes and then starting them up again. It's wild stuff, but it's not science fiction. Induced by careful use of an otherwise toxic gas, suspended animation can potentially help trauma and heart attack victims survive long enough to be treated.

Asteroid strikes get all the coverage, but "Medea Hypothesis" author Peter Ward argues that most of Earth's mass extinctions were caused by lowly bacteria. The culprit, a poison called hydrogen sulfide, may have an interesting application in medicine.

I was born in the small state of Manipur. Despite growing up in Thailand, my mother would always tell me about her family and culture. Whenever my mother introduced herself to others, I found it intriguing why they were confused when they heard about the place, Manipur. As I grew up, I learned that many people are not familiar with Manipur. I to...