All Stories by Ben Harder
- Animals
A tale of new whiskers
A newly discovered, featherweight tree mouse with an unexpected evolutionary past has survived widespread habitat destruction on the Philippine island of Luzon.
- Health & Medicine
Narcolepsy Science Reawakens
Recent advances in understanding the biological underpinnings of narcolepsy have created a new diagnostic tool and point toward possible future therapies.
- Humans
Young Talent on Display: Tomorrow’s scientists and engineers win recognition, rewards
The three top winners of the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair hail from high schools on different continents.
- Health & Medicine
Herbal erection pills may be spiked
Some pills marketed as herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction contain drugs that should be available only by prescription.
- Humans
Plan B ruling is prescription for controversy
Contravening a recent recommendation from one of its advisory panels, the Food and Drug Administration denied an application to make the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B available without a doctor's prescription.
- Health & Medicine
Nanoparticles could mark spots for surgery
A new molecule studded with magnetically active ions may soon help surgeons extract, with minimal cutting, lymph nodes likely to harbor cancer.
- Earth
Boats puff up outdoor carbon monoxide risk
Large congregations of motorboats can produce enough carbon monoxide gas in open air to be hazardous to people.
- Health & Medicine
Delaying Dementia
The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.
- Humans
Mouse Mourned: Yoda dies at age 4
An age-defying laboratory mouse known as Yoda died peacefully in his cage in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 22, at the age of 4 years and 12 days.
- Earth
Harm from Plastic Additive Challenged: Early exposure shows no ill effects
Presumed exposure shortly after birth to a chemical ingredient in plastics shows no evidence of disrupting development in people, according to a small study of teens who, as newborns, received intensive medical care involving plastic hospital equipment.
- Earth
Sea Change: Ocean report urges new policies
To combat environmental degradation and encourage sustainable use of resources off the nation's shores, the U.S. government needs to double its investment in marine research, integrate management of coastal and inland ecosystems, restructure agencies that influence the oceans' health and productivity, and take other far-reaching steps, according to a commission created by Congress.
- Health & Medicine
Gene ups oral-cancer risk for drinkers who smoke
People who have a particular variant of a single gene are at a disproportionate risk of oral cancer if they both smoke and drink.
