All Stories by Ben Harder
- Ecosystems
A Chronicle of Coasts: Study charts historical changes in seas, estuaries
New research compares the long-term ecological impact of human activities in estuaries and coastal seas on three continents.
- Earth
Main source of airborne pollen varies by month
A 15-year study conducted in the New York City area charts how air concentrations of different types of allergy-causing pollen vary throughout an average year.
- Health & Medicine
Inactivity, not altitude, is probably behind blood clots
Low cabin pressure aboard aircraft is not to blame for the rare but dangerous blood clots that some passengers get during long flights.
- Earth
Lazarus, the amphibian
The painted frog, unseen for more than a decade and feared to be extinct, has resurfaced in a remote desert highland of Colombia.
- Health & Medicine
At iconic Asian temple, monkeys harbor viruses
Temple sites in South and Southeast Asia that offer refuge to monkeys also shelter monkey viruses.
- Health & Medicine
Blood, Iron, and Gray Hair
Recent findings show that anemia is exceedingly common in elderly people and link the condition to severe health problems, including accelerated physical and mental decline and a shorter life span.
- Health & Medicine
Open Water, Open Mouths: Scuba divers face infection risks
A new study takes a stab at quantifying the risks that waterborne bacteria and viruses pose to scuba divers.
- Health & Medicine
Hookworms hitched rides with nomads
Horseback-riding herders known as Scythians once traveled far and wide across Eurasia, and their remains contain the parasites to prove it.
- Health & Medicine
Bacteria Can Keep Their Kin in Check
Products containing beneficial bacteria might help people fight the ill effects of some gut microbes in diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome.
- Humans
Roads pose growing danger in poor countries
Although roads are getting safer in many developed countries, traffic accidents are a rising and underestimated killer worldwide.
- Health & Medicine
Nabbed: Culprit of grapefruit juice–drug interaction
Researchers have pinned down the class of natural compounds in grapefruit juice that's responsible for its unwanted chemical interaction with many drugs.
- Health & Medicine
Sleight of Herb: Black cohosh mislabeled in medicinal products
A sizable fraction of the herbal supplements marketed as preparations of black cohosh contains none of that North American plant.
