All Stories by Ben Harder
- Ecosystems
Light All Night
New digital images demonstrate that artificial light from urban areas penetrates deep into some of America's most remote wild places, where it may disrupt ecosystems that have evolved with a nightly quota of darkness.
- Health & Medicine
Got Data? Consuming calcium, dairy doesn’t keep off weight
Dairy products and other calcium-containing foods don't prevent weight gain, according to a 12-year study of middle-aged men.
- Earth
Smoldered-Earth Policy: Created by ancient Amazonian natives, fertile, dark soils retain abundant carbon
Amazonian dark earth, or terra preta in Portuguese, is attracting scientific attention for its high productivity, mysterious past, and ability to store carbon.
- Ecosystems
Corals don’t spread far from their birthplaces
Creating a marine protected area might offer only limited benefits to vulnerable corals, because viable coral larvae don't appear to spread far from their points of origin.
- Earth
China’s deserts expand with population growth
Carried forward by winds and sandstorms, the dunes of northern China are expanding at an unprecedented rate, primarily because of human activities that have contributed to erosion.
- Health & Medicine
Not So Sweet: Cancers in rats that consumed aspartame
A large, new study in rats suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be a carcinogen, but critics question the finding's validity.
- Health & Medicine
Flora Horror
A diarrhea-causing bacterium has developed new resistance to a widely used class of antibiotics and has recently become more transmissible and more deadly.
- Health & Medicine
Low-Fat Diet Falls Short: It’s not enough to stop cancers, heart disease
Reducing fat consumption after menopause offers women little if any protection against breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or heart disease, according to reports from a massive, 8-year trial.
- Health & Medicine
Protecting People from a Terrifying Toxin: Vaccine stimulates immune response against ricin
In its first test in people, a vaccine against the toxin ricin appears safe and generates antibodies that are expected to be protective against the potential bioterrorism agent.
- Health & Medicine
Rotavirus vaccines pass big safety tests
The largest industry-funded medical trials in history have found that two new vaccines are both safe and effective against life-threatening childhood diarrhea caused by rotavirus.
- Health & Medicine
Diabetes most often begins in March
A person's likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes varies seasonally and is about 50 percent higher in March than in August.
- Humans
Young Scientists Get Results: Science, math, and engineering competition selects 40 talented finalists
Forty high school students have each earned a spot as a finalist in the 65th annual Intel Science Talent Search.
