Stories by Lynne Peeples

What Researchers Know about Gun Policies’ Effectiveness

Studies are “decades behind,” owing to a lack of funding, but research is picking up

Rethinking Herd Immunity

The global rise of “vaccine hesitancy” is changing the landscape of disease transmission

What the Data Say about Police Shootings

How do racial biases play into deadly encounters with the police? Researchers wrestle with incomplete data to reach answers

How the Next Recession Could Save Lives

Death rates have dropped during past economic downturns, even as many health trends have worsened. Researchers are scrambling to decipher lessons before the next big recession

Rings and Worms Tell the Tale of a Shipwreck Found at Ground Zero [Slide Show]

Researchers were stunned to find an 18th-century ship that had been unearthed by construction workers at the World Trade Center where the Twin Towers once stood. With great care they followed clues in the well-preserved wood to trace the craft's history to the era of the American Revolution...

Staying Negative: How an Unexpected Antiretroviral Result Is Reshaping the Battle Against AIDS

Success of a vaginal microbicide gel reveals how HIV-prevention strategies can emerge from progress in treatment

11 Surprising Natural Lessons from Mount St. Helens

What have scientists learned from 30 years of research and rebirth in the blast zone?

Thin Wallets, Thick Waistlines: New USDA Effort Targets Link between Obesity and Food Stamps

Could added incentives and other changes to the federal food stamp program trim rampant obesity rates among low-income groups?

Making Scents of Sounds: Noises May Alter How We Perceive Odors

The neural basis for "smound" may have been uncovered

Are Coyotes or Humans the Perpetrators of Suburban Animal Attacks?

Research into both coyote and human behavior informs strategies to reduce urban-nature clashes and make peace with animal neighbors

The Bigger Kahuna: Are More Frequent and Higher Extreme Ocean Waves a By-Product of Global Warming?

Increasing maximum wave heights off the Pacific Northwest coast may pose a greater threat than rising sea levels

Baked Australia: Water Management Lessons for the World from Down Under

Australia is at the forefront of a global water crisis. Some of the management lessons learned there could help bail out California and other parched regions before they meet the same fate...

Greenhouse Rock: Stone-Cold Data from Ancient Glacial Deposits May Help Reveal Future Climate Change

Scientists are developing sophisticated tools to trace the paths of glaciers, unearthing previously unknown pieces of the climate record

iSniff: Pocket-Size Pollution Sensors Promise Big Improvement in Monitoring Personal Environment

Scientists are employing improved monitors in efforts to pinpoint air pollutants that cause childhood disease

Going the 'last mile' to deliver better health to villages in the developing world

Can fearful memories be erased?

In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , Joel and Clementine's relationship ends so sourly that the couple elects to have their mutual memories swept away via a non-surgical procedure called "targeted memory erasure." No such tool actually exists...

The Real Sea Monsters: On the Hunt for Rogue Waves

Scientists hope a better understanding of when, where and how mammoth oceanic waves form can someday help ships steer clear of danger

Music to Monkeys' Ears? Try Metallica, or the Metro

Music is known to induce terror and tears, as well as inspire dance. Even basic human speech itself is laced with emotional direction: a musical pattern of long drawn out sounds versus short brief ones can be the difference between calming and exciting a child...

Faster, harder, louder: Are primitive grunts and futuristic gear changing the game of tennis?

Despite the tradition-steeped pageantry this week when many of the world's tennis stars take the court in Queens, N.Y., the athletes' experiences may be quite distant from their predecessors' polite volleys in the championship first contested more than 125 years ago...

Did Lactose Tolerance First Evolve in Central, Rather Than Northern Europe?

Tolerance for cow's milk may have arisen in the Neolithic period among the Linearbandkeramik culture of central Europe, not with the Lutefisk-lovers of Scandinavia