All Stories by Ben Harder
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Out of China: SARS virus’ genome hints at independent evolution
The newly identified SARS virus is the product of a long and private evolutionary history, clues from its genome suggest.
- Earth
Traces of lead cause outsize harm
Minute amounts of lead in blood are worse for children than had been realized.
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Radiation Marks Chromosomes: Plutonium leaves genetic fingerprint
By examining specific types of long-lasting genetic rearrangements in blood cells, researchers have found a way to measure a person's past exposures to plutonium radiation.
- Health & Medicine
Body wraps caused rash of rashes
A CDC investigator has linked an outbreak of skin infections to unsanitary practices at a body wrap salon.
- Health & Medicine
Transfusions and transplants spread West Nile virus
Donated blood and organs should be screened to prevent transmission of West Nile virus, federal officials say.
- Health & Medicine
Africa faces new meningitis threat
A vaccine-resistant and previously rare strain of deadly bacteria caused an epidemic of meningitis last year in western Africa and seems to have disseminated around the world.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine didn’t cause heart deaths
Fatal heart attacks that recently struck two people after they were vaccinated against smallpox were probably unfortunate coincidences, not adverse consequences of vaccination.
- Health & Medicine
The Vaccinia Dilemma
To inform the current debate on who should be vaccinated for smallpox given the possibility of—or in the event of—a bioterrorism attack, researchers are using mathematical models and data from vaccination campaigns and past smallpox outbreaks.
- Health & Medicine
Morbid Mystery Tour: Epidemic from China is encircling globe
An outbreak of deadly pneumonia that apparently began in southern China spread in March to at least two other continents, including North America.
- Earth
Dioxin Dumps: Burning exposed trash pollutes soil
The practice of burning refuse in the open in many underdeveloped countries creates prodigious quantities of harmful polychlorinated compounds.
- Earth
Composted sewage captures dirt’s lead
Lead-contaminated soil in urban parks, gardens, and schoolyards could be made safer by adding composted organic waste.
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Original Kin: Six-legged bugs may have evolved twice
Insects may have evolved independently from other six-legged land bugs and may be more closely related to crustaceans than to their fellow so-called hexapods.
