All posts tagged: bodies

Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske

Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske

Published by Jenni Sidey

On the first morning of the Grand Exam, five final-year scholars walk into a chamber of the Rondelle expecting a patient and a folded paper question. They find a classmate dead on the floor instead. Then the proctor geas closes over them, the standing spell that stops any scholar discussing an exam case with anyone outside their group, and it turns out to have swallowed this too. There are five days of examination still to sit. For all five of them, none of these people will be physically able to say what they saw. Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske begins with that gag fitted, and every good decision in the book follows from it. How the Grand Exam Works Healing mages are produced in exactly one place on the continent, and the Grand Duchy of Sieuxerr has built an entire economy on the accident. Children are mage-tested, sorted by specialty, and any child who tests as a healer is funnelled into the Academie Sieuxerr whether or not that child ever wanted the work. Five …

Our Brains and Bodies on Meditation

Our Brains and Bodies on Meditation

Published by Jenni Sidey

When it comes to meditation, the more we learn, the more compelling the case for establishing a meditation practice becomes. A meditation practice essentially allows us, for a prescribed period of time, to turn our attention away from the outer world and focus inward, in silence. While there are many types of meditation, the goal of meditation is to calm the mind. The scientifically proven benefits of meditation are many and varied. Mental health benefits include reduced stress, depression, and anxiety; improved attention, memory, and focus; and a greater sense of calm. Physical benefits include lower cortisol levels, which lead to improvements in heart rate and blood pressure, rest, and digestion, and pain reduction. What’s more, a meditation practice also enhances our ability to process emotions, enabling us to respond with compassion rather than react to challenging events and situations. Recent Research on Meditation Despite the thousands of research studies on the benefits of meditation, researchers continue to study its mechanisms, benefits, and effects on our physical and mental health. Two recently published research studies …

Bodies of all 9 skiers killed in devastating avalanche recovered

Bodies of all 9 skiers killed in devastating avalanche recovered

Published by Sam Flores

California search-and-rescue teams have recovered the bodies of all nine missing skiers killed Tuesday in a devastating avalanche in a remote region of Sierra Nevada north of Lake Tahoe. When a catastrophic avalanche rumbled over a stretch of the High Sierra, dozens of law enforcement officers scoured the mountainside for a group of 15 skiers, including four mountain guides. Within hours, crews rescued six survivors and discovered eight deceased skiers near the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts. Another skier was still missing, but was presumed dead. After five days of navigating deep snowpack and treacherous weather conditions, authorities announced they had found the body of the ninth victim. During a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Nevada County identified the victims as six skiers and three professional mountain guides: Andrew Alissandratos, 34, of Verdi, Nev., a Blackbird Mountain Guide Carrie Atkin, 46, of Soda Springs, Calif. Nicole Choo, 42, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Blackbird Mountain Guide Lizabeth Clabaugh, 52, of Boise, Idaho Michael Henry, 30, from Soda Springs, Calif., a Blackbird Mountain Guide Danielle Keatley, 44, …

‘There were layers of bodies stacked on top of each other’

‘There were layers of bodies stacked on top of each other’

Published by Sam Flores

At the Kahrizak forensic center in Tehran, January 10, 2026. @VAHID ONLINE VIA TELEGRAM Kiarash had only managed a few hours of sleep since Saturday, January 10. The dull thud of three bodies collapsing around him during a protest in Tehran still echoed in his mind. “I was at Kadj Square [northwest]. We were chanting: ‘Death to [Ali] Khamenei.’ I saw a woman in a chador walk by. Then I heard: ‘Click. Click.’ A man fell to the ground next to me. The woman in the chador moved forward. I saw her pistol with a silencer. Click. Click. One bullet to the head. One bullet to the legs. A second body fell, then a third. I shouted: ‘Catch her! She’s shooting at people!’ I don’t know if it was really a woman or a man disguised under the chador. She ran off, and I lost sight of her in the crowd.” Kiarash (who preferred not to reveal his last name) was in Iran during the recent wave of protests. He returned home to Europe on …

We’re learning more about what vitamin D does to our bodies

We’re learning more about what vitamin D does to our bodies

Published by Miika Tikkanen

In fairness to researchers, it can be difficult to run a randomized clinical trial for vitamin D supplements. That’s because most of us get the bulk of our vitamin D from sunlight. Our skin converts UVB rays into a form of the vitamin that our bodies can use. We get it in our diets, too, but not much. (The main sources are oily fish, egg yolks, mushrooms, and some fortified cereals and milk alternatives.) The standard way to measure a person’s vitamin D status is to look at blood levels of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D), which is formed when the liver metabolizes vitamin D. But not everyone can agree on what the “ideal” level is. Even if everyone did agree on a figure, it isn’t obvious how much vitamin D a person would need to consume to reach this target, or how much sunlight exposure it would take. One complicating factor is that people respond to UV rays in different ways—a lot of that can depend on how much melanin is in your skin. Similarly, if you’re …