In this NewsFlash, we find out how a diet of glycerol makes yeast live longer, how microbes in mosquitoes can block malaria, and how planting trees could reduce your electricity bills. We hear about the European Space Agency's Planck and Herschel missions, due to launch this week to study the formation of galaxies and the fate of the universe. Plus, Sarah Castor-Perry takes us back to this week in Science History.