laboratory research

Researchers report a discovery with implications for understanding how life began, made in a modest $80-a-night motel room rather than a laboratory. The unlikely setting has drawn attention alongside the scientific claim itself, with readers discussing how simple, low-cost conditions could produce findings relevant to one of science's biggest open questions.

The International Space Station is focusing on advanced health research this week while it awaits the arrival of NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission. Experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory are examining how the human body responds to long-duration spaceflight, work that supports future deep-space missions. Attention now turns to the upcoming crew launch and docking at the station.

Roche has outlined plans to move towards autonomous laboratories powered by artificial intelligence, where research experiments could be designed, run and analysed with minimal human involvement. The Swiss pharmaceutical group's roadmap points to AI systems handling much of the drug discovery workflow. Details of timelines and investment were limited in the initial reporting, leaving analysts awaiting specifics.