Technologies

Go Ahead and Let Out a Deep Sigh Right Now. It’s Actually Good for You

A new study dives into how deep breaths help our lungs.

After breathing a deep sigh, I feel better — don’t you? It’s relaxing. And it turns out there’s a good reason why we feel relief after big breaths. It comes down to a special fluid inside our lungs. The liquid — pulmonary surfactant — helps our lungs work. Without it, we’d be in serious trouble. But researchers at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, found that deep breaths have an interesting effect on how this fluid interacts with the lungs. The new research was published in the journal Science Advances and could have meaningful implications for future medicine and therapies.

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‘Magic’ lung fluid to the rescue

For a long time, scientists have been interested in how this fluid helps us breathe. In the 1980s, research into this area resulted in a life-saving treatment for babies born prematurely with underdeveloped lungs.

By extracting fluid from animal lungs and injecting it into those of premature infants, doctors were able to reduce respiratory distress syndrome from developing right after birth. The fluid reduces surface stress in the lungs.

«This surface stress influences how compliant the lungs are,» said ETH Zurich professor Jan Vermant. «The more compliant the lungs are, the less resistance there is to expansion and contraction — and the easier it is to breathe.»

Breathing deep to ease tension

The research team wanted to see how lung fluid behaved when it was stretched and recompressed, so they simulated the movements of normal and deep breaths in the lab.

They measured the fluid’s surface stress in each case and compared the data. The researchers found that surface stress decreases significantly after a deep breath.

The utmost layer of the thin film that the fluid leaves on a lung settles and hardens over time.

«Directly at the boundary with the air, there is a slightly stiffer surface layer,» said Maria Novaes-Silva, a doctoral student in Vermant’s research group and the study’s first author. She said that the pronounced stretching and compression of the pulmonary fluid that comes with a deep sigh actually rearranges the surface layer’s composition.

So, after you let out a deep breath, it becomes easier for you to breathe. That’s why we feel a sense of relief from a deep sigh.

An ETH Zurich spokesperson said that clinical practice has also found that breathing becomes increasingly complex with constant shallow breaths. So, the lab measurements seem to follow real-world observations.

The researchers theorize that this study may contribute to a better understanding of adult lung failure.

Technologies

Verum Messenger Goes Desktop: Launches macOS Version as Part of Expanding Digital Ecosystem

The team behind Verum Messenger has announced a new update, introducing a full-featured macOS version of the application.

The launch of the Mac version marks a significant step in the platform’s development, enabling users to access Verum Messenger not only on mobile devices but also on desktop environments.

The macOS version ensures seamless synchronization across devices while maintaining the platform’s core principles: security, stability, and independence.

Unified Digital Experience

With the release of the macOS version, users can now:

— communicate on a larger screen
— manage chats and files more efficiently
— use the messenger in a full desktop environment
— access core features without limitations

This is particularly valuable for users who rely on messaging platforms for both communication and professional use.

Expanding Capabilities

Verum Messenger continues to evolve into a multifunctional platform combining:

— secure communication
— financial tools (Verum Finance)
— digital asset operations, including Tether
— investment features such as Verum Gold

Toward a Full Ecosystem

The macOS release reflects Verum Messenger’s strategy to become a universal digital platform available across all major devices.

According to the team, the goal is to provide users with continuous access to communication and financial services regardless of device or environment.

Verum Messenger continues to build technologies focused on security, usability, and global accessibility.

Technologies

Google, Meta and Amazon Join Global Pact to Fight Rising Online Scams

The companies will share fraud intelligence and coordinate responses as AI makes scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect.

Modern online scams operate across multiple platforms, perhaps spanning social media, messaging apps, email and online marketplaces. Google, Meta and Amazon are among 11 tech, retail and payments companies that have signed a new agreement to combat online scams by sharing threat intelligence across platforms, Axios first reported Monday.

The initiative, called the Industry Accord Against Online Scams & Fraud, is designed to improve how companies detect and respond to fraud that spans multiple services. Participants say they will exchange signals, such as scam-linked accounts and fraudulent domains, and coordinate enforcement actions.

By sharing intelligence in near real time, companies hope to identify these scams earlier and stop them before they spread.

The effort reflects how modern scams operate. A victim might encounter a fake celebrity investment ad on social media, move to a messaging app where the scammer builds trust, then faces prompts to send money through a fraudulent website, payment app or crypto wallet — spanning multiple companies’ ecosystems.

Google said it now blocks hundreds of millions of scam-related results every day using AI, underscoring how both attackers and defenders are increasingly relying on the same technology. Meta removed more than 159 million scam ads in 2025 and is expanding AI tools to detect impersonation and warn users.

Online scams are growing rapidly, in part because generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry. AI can be used not only to produce realistic phishing emails but also to clone voices and deepfake videos that impersonate executives, public figures and even family members.

The agreement is voluntary and doesn’t create new legal obligations, but it comes after regulators’ increased pressure on tech platforms to address fraud more aggressively. The companies say they will begin building frameworks for reporting and intelligence-sharing, though it’s not yet clear how quickly those systems will be deployed or how effective they will be in practice.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, March 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 18.

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