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Journalism & Essays

as a freelancer & a AAAS Mass Media Fellow at KQED

STAT •

Breast cancer can behave differently in older women. This physician is making more tailored treatments a reality

Of all the factors that can increase a person’s risk of breast cancer, age is among the most significant. Almost half of people diagnosed with breast cancer are at least 65, and about 20% are 75 or older. Despite these rates, older women are frequently excluded from clinical trials; one study of breast cancer trials found that only 9% of participants were 65 or older, leaving physicians with a poorer understanding of how drugs behave in older adults and fewer guidelines with which to treat them....
Mongabay Environmental News •

Probiotics prevented coral bleaching during a Red Sea heat wave: Study

As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report.

Corals provide habitat for about one-third of marine species but are declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the latest report from the Global Coral Ree...
The New York Times •

Why Don’t I Recover From Workouts as Quickly as I Used To?

Q: It takes me much longer to regain my energy after exercising than it did when I was younger. Why is that, and how should I change my routine?A great workout can be a reminder of everything your body can do. But the next day can be a reminder of the effort it takes to get there. Though feelings like stiffness and soreness typically dissipate within 24 to 72 hours after exercise, they can become more noticeable as you get older.Dr. Asad Siddiqi, chief of rehabilitation medicine at NewYork-Presb...
The New York Times •

How Safe Are Tattoos?

Q: I want to get a tattoo, but is it really safe?Once a form of rebellion hidden under your sleeve, tattoos are now so commonplace that almost half of U.S. adults ages 30 to 49 have at least one. But despite their growing popularity, there’s a lot scientists don’t know about how tattoos interact with the body.When you get a tattoo, an artist uses needles to deposit ink 1 to 3 millimeters into your skin. This process — and the ink itself — can cause reactions that include immune responses and bac...
The New York Times •

Is Motion Sickness Preventable?

Q: I often feel carsick while traveling. What are the best ways to prevent or treat motion sickness?Historically associated with sailors reacting to the pitch, roll and yaw of ships, motion sickness now affects people in cars, trains, planes and even in space.The symptoms can start within minutes of feeling movement and last for hours after it stops. Classic motion sickness often begins with feeling warm, sweaty and dizzy. You might also develop a headache or feel fatigued. As the condition wors...
The New York Times •

How to Treat Knee Pain, According to Experts

After the back, the knees are the second-most common site of chronic pain in the body. Many people will experience knee pain at some point in their lives, whether from injuries to cartilage and soft tissue as active younger adults, or from wear and tear as they age.As your largest joint, your knees absorb force when you’re playing sports, taking the stairs and getting into bed. That stress can wear down your joints and, if you already have an injury, lead to pain that can range from uncomfortabl...
The New York Times •

Does Sweating More Make for a Better Workout?

Q: If I’m sweating a lot when I exercise during the summer, does that mean my workouts are more effective?As the weather heats up, you may find the same jog that was comfortable outdoors a few months ago now leaves you drenched in sweat.Sweating a lot can mean you’re working hard, but sweat alone isn’t necessarily a great indicator of workout intensity, said Mindy Millard-Stafford, an exercise physiologist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “You can’t really compare one person’s sweat rate...
The New York Times •

Here’s When to Replace Your Running Shoes

Q: I’ve heard a lot of different things about how long running shoes should last. How do I know when it’s time for a new pair?Once you find the right pair of running shoes, it can be hard to part with them. It’s a frequently cited rule of thumb that you should replace your running shoes after you’ve run about 300 to 500 miles in them. But buying a new pair that often can add up quickly for consistent runners. And researchers still don’t fully understand how running in worn-out shoes may contribu...
The New York Times •

Why Does Drinking Mess With My Emotions?

Q: I’ve noticed I feel emotional and anxious the morning after drinking. Why is that, and is there anything I can do to prevent it?In the moment, having a drink can seem like a good idea. Alcohol can make you feel relaxed, less inhibited and even euphoric. The next morning, though, you might find yourself regretting that extra glass of wine.Beyond the unpleasant physical signs of a hangover — headache, nausea, thirst and sensitivity to light and sound — alcohol can also cause lingering emotional...
The New York Times •

Can Walking Be My Whole Workout?

Q: I know walking is good for my body. But can it be my only form of exercise?Stepping outside for a brisk walk can bring significant health benefits. Walking has been linked to improved blood pressure, better mental health and lower risks of falls, cardiovascular disease and dementia. It’s also an accessible way to get moving that many people can fit in while taking out the dog or commuting to work.But while walking is almost universally considered good physical activity, it’s not necessarily g...
STAT •

This scientist is revealing the immune system in our nasal passages

Sydney Ramirez vividly remembers that Wednesday in March. Her future adviser, scientist Shane Crotty, was supposed to be in Italy for a conference. And Ramirez, a physician and immunologist, wasn’t supposed to join Crotty’s lab at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology as a postdoctoral fellow until July.


But it was 2020, and very little was going as planned.Instead, they were in Crotty’s office, and Covid-19 had just been declared a national emergency; in two days, the institute would shut do...
The New York Times •

How to Treat and Prevent Shin Splints

It’s fall marathon season, which for many runners means it’s also shin splints season. Whether you’re a beginner or have several races under your belt, the injury can be debilitating.Shin splints manifest as pain along the tibia or shin bone, and they are among the most common running injuries. Most people get them if they’re new to the sport or after ramping up their mileage. But you can also get shin splints if you incorporate hills or speed workouts without building up to them first, or by ru...
Science •

New books from outer space, future Earth, and close to home

Undergraduate research can be a slog of glassware washing, safety training, navigating academic hierarchies, and putting in long hours in the lab. On good days, however, it can also be a taste of what it is like to discover something new. Notes on Infinity, Austin Taylor’s debut novel, tells the fictional story of two Harvard undergraduates who forge an enduring partnership after meeting in an organic chemistry class.
STAT •

Being a patient can be a full-time job. This ICU nurse wants to make it easier

Michael Anne Kyle had just begun her Ph.D. in health policy and management at Harvard Business School when her friends started complaining about the health care system.


Many of them were having children for the first time, and they’d never been to the doctor so much in their lives. They’d text Kyle, who is also an ICU nurse, with gripes. “I missed a whole day of work for a ten-minute visit,” they’d say, or, “I spent all this time on hold. Is this normal?” Once she started asking, it seemed e...
STAT •

One doctor's quest to help people with hearing loss enjoy 'all the richness' of music

As a child in Jacksonville, Fla., Alex Chern built string instruments out of office supplies and tuned them, stretching rubber bands taut to change their pitch. Starting at age 7, he took violin lessons and continued playing all the way through college at Yale University. He loved playing Beethoven, expressive pieces written in F major like “Romance No. 2” or the “Spring Sonata,” and technically challenging pieces like Bach’s “Sonatas and Partitas,” where chords left a violinist no room for erro...
WBUR •

'How perfect this is / How lucky we are': Stories from 266 benches along the Esplanade

I’d always thought that moving to Boston would be like coming home. Chicago, where I’d spent the previous six years in grad school, had felt overlarge and wide, like a borrowed coat that had warmed to my shape but never really fit. I’d come to love my neighborhood, even the winters, but the city’s sprawling streets never really felt like mine. Boston, by contrast, was as dense as the New England I’d known as a child, the highway leading to it forest-lined and familiar. I’d looked forward to movi...
STAT •

Older adults are vulnerable in a warming climate. Better buildings could help protect them

In 2003, during Europe’s worst heat wave in centuries, almost 15,000 people died in France. About three-quarters of those deaths occurred indoors, and approximately 80% of the people who died were over 75, an age at which people tend to be less capable of perceiving heat and less well-equipped to adapt to it.

In the coming years of mounting climate change, people around the world — particularly older adults — are expected to be similarly vulnerable. But though scientists know a lot about heat,...
STAT •

Sporting night vision goggles, a scientist probes the internal clocks that help parasites infect people

In the 1700s, French astronomer Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan noticed that the leaves of the mimosa plant opened towards the sun and closed at dusk. His discovery was in keeping with thousands of years of observations. But de Mairan also found that the plant followed the same rhythm even in the constant darkness of a cupboard, suggesting that some innate metronome kept the plant in sync with the rotation of the earth. Centuries later, scientists now know this to be a circadian rhythm, a 24-hou...
Undark Magazine •

In Bolivia, a Model for Indigenous Groups Grappling With Covid-19

The Beni Department, one of nine political regions in Bolivia, lies in the northern part of the country, where the Andes meet tropical forest and Amazon tributaries weave across hot, humid lowlands. It is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Blue-throated macaws flit across the sky and dawn rises misty and pink above rivers teeming with fish.

For nearly two decades, Hillard Kaplan, a professor of health economics and anthropology at Chapman University in California, and Michael G...
KQED •

“Wakefulness” part of the brain attacked first in Alzheimer’s, study says

People who donate their bodies to science might never have dreamed what information lies deep within their brains.
Even when that information has to do with sleep.
Scientists used to believe that people who napped a lot were at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. But Lea Grinberg with the UCSF Memory and Aging Center started to wonder if “risk” was too light a term — what if, instead, napping indicated an early stage of Alzheimer’s?
About a decade ago, Grinberg — a neuropathologist and asso...
KQED •

Fear of human voices can shape an ecosystem

In the mountains near Santa Cruz, there’s an area where nature’s rules don’t seem to apply. Everything looks normal — there’s a stream, oak trees, redwoods, bobcats, skunks and the occasional opossum. Pacific tree frogs croak all day and into the night.
Only those who listen carefully would notice that something in this remote spot sounds unusual. Human voices have joined the mix — and they’re reading, sometimes a short story written by Paul Bowles, at other times, poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks.
Th...
KQED •

California defends wolves, argues against feds removing protections

California is pushing back on the federal government’s proposal to delist wolves from the Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states. This step would remove wolves’ federal protections, transferring decisions about wolf management to individual states and tribes.
The proposal, announced in March, frames the wolves’ current status as “one of the greatest comebacks in conservation history.” But environmentalists and now the California Fish and Game Commission have argued that, to make a full re...
KQED •

Jumbo squid are missing from Monterey Bay. Will they ever return?

Jumbo squid live up to their name. They can grow up to six feet long and can weigh 100 pounds. They’re deep red, muscular, and just plain mean. Mexican fisherman call them diablo rojo — red devil — because they eat each other and anything they can. When the squid invaded Monterey Bay in 2002, they devoured over 50 kinds of fish.
After eight years of feasting, the jumbo squid suddenly disappeared; they haven’t come back to Monterey. With the proper bait and skill, jumbo squid are usually so vorac...
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