Mind & Body

Shoe-fitting fluoroscope, National Museum of American History.

Here's Looking at You, Kids

For three decades, the fluoroscope was a shoe salesman's best friend

"I had a bunch of birds that had died of encephalitis at the same time people had encephalitis," says Tracey McNamara (in her Bronx apartment), a veterinary pathologist formerly at the Bronx Zoo. She helped link the virus to the 1999 epidemic.

On the Trail of the West Nile Virus

Some scientists race to develop vaccines against the scourge while others probe the possible lingering effects of the mosquito-borne infection

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The Stuff of Genes

Fifty years after the discovery of DNA's structure, the payoff hasn't matched the hype. But really, we've only just begun

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Mission Impossible?

An international campaign to rid the world of polio has made dazzling progress. But some experts question whether the scourge can ever be eradicated

Grace Levy, 95, of Lunenburg, quit school at 13 to clean houses: "My Dad said you've gotta work."

Puzzle of the Century

Is it the fresh air, the seafood, or genes? Why do so many hardy 100-year-olds live in yes, Nova Scotia?

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Stimulants

Both ginseng and dolphins evoke passionate emotions

Birdbrain Breakthrough

Startling evidence that the human brain can grow new nerves began with unlikely studies of birdsong

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Hero for Our Time

Challenged to prove his germ theory of disease, Louis Pasteur shaped the terrain on which the battle against anthrax is being fought

Endothelial cells under the microscope

Brave New World

Everything you wanted to know about stem cells, cloning and genetic engineering but were afraid to ask

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Review of GERMS: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

Review of GERMS: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

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The Way of Confucius

In a remote corner of eastern China, travelers tread the path of the ancient sage

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Harmonious Cord

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Take Two and Call Me in the Morning

Once we didn't know how aspirin works; now we know that it does a lot more than ease pain and inflammation

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Seeing Fingers Decipher Bones

Give Marsha Ogilvie some bones, and she'll tell you the who, what and how . . . and she does it all with her hands

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Noise Busters

To dissect the din that daily assaults our ears, researchers from the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse are taking to the streets

For Some, Pain Is Orange

Persons with synesthesia experience "extra" sensations. The Letter T may be navy blue; a sound can taste like pickles

Gene therapy

Betting on Designer Genes

Scientists dream of giving people new genes that will stop a disease or fix a problem. It is harder than anyone thought

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Accents Are Forever

By their first birthday, babies are getting locked into the sounds of the language they hear spoken

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The Return of the Phage

As deadly bacteria increasingly resist antibiotics, researchers try to improve a World War I era weapon

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Malaria Kills One Child Every 30 Seconds

A new pandemic imperils half the world. Scientists think they know what has to be done, but the disease continues to outsmart them

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