Michael Dregni

4 weeks ago | experiencelife.lifetime.life | Craig Cox |Michael Dregni

How scientists have been manipulating the human brain in recent years is as fascinating as it is frightening. The folks at Neuralink, for instance, believe they will someday be able to connect our gray matter with our smartphones so we can call someone simply by thinking about it. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, meanwhile, have used a brain-computer interface to allow a man rendered speechless by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to make himself heard.

1 month ago | experiencelife.lifetime.life | Craig Cox |Alexandra Smith |Michael Dregni

Like a certain portion of the American public, I’ve been feeling a little low lately while struggling to find some equilibrium amid what seems like a daily dose of political and cultural chaos. There’s no escaping the zeitgeist, however, so I was oddly pleased the other day to learn that the real source of my sagging spirits may have less to do with current events than with my advanced age.

1 month ago | experiencelife.lifetime.life | Jamie Martin |Michael Dregni |Jill Metzler Patton |Jon Spayde

There’s a quote in this issue’s cover story, “The Universal Language of Food,” that made me pause. Chef Yia Vang shares: “I grew up cooking for my family. Food drew people together — this is something I noticed at a very young age.”Although I didn’t do much cooking when I was growing up, I deeply relate to Vang’s words. Food has always connected people, a truth I’ve experienced in my own life.

1 month ago | experiencelife.lifetime.life | Craig Cox |Michael Dregni

It’s perfectly reasonable for an older person to briefly wonder whether they’re sliding inexorably toward dementia when they forget where they left their car keys or find themselves frantically searching the archives of their gray matter for the name of a once-familiar relative. (Been there, done that.) But, until recently, seriously investigating those suspicions involved some serious clinical procedures — MRIs, PET scans, spinal taps.

1 month ago | experiencelife.lifetime.life | Michael Dregni

Once upon a time, bread was simply made from flour, water, yeast, and salt. Nowadays, understanding the list of ingredients in ultraprocessed bread might require a chemistry degree. Take a look inside a typical gluten-free hamburger bun, often considered a healthier choice.