Search results for

The horrific effects of chemical weapons used during World War I led to a treaty banning their use.

In this first full week of 2014, tech headlines came fast and furiously out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and beyond.

Four years ago, an earthquake heavily damaged Port-au-Prince and killed more than 200,000 people. Many areas of the Haitian capital now look much like they did before the 7.0-magnitude quake. But nearly 150,000 are still living in temporary structures.

"People know about the global trade in shark fins, but few know that some of the most valuable fins ... used in shark fin soup come from the sharklike rays — species like sawfishes and wedgefishes and guitarfishes," says Sonja Fordham, who contributed to a new analysis of the fisheries.

Officials are slowly lifting the bans on water use in areas that have been affected by last week's chemical spill.

Insurance enrollment will be a key yardstick for assessing whether the Affordable Care Act is working. Almost as important as the total number of people who get coverage is whether a significant percentage of them are healthy.

Health care costs grew at 3.7 percent in 2012, the fourth year of a trend of smaller annual increases. The Obama administration says that the Affordable Care Act is a factor. But the actuaries who wrote the report beg to differ, saying the recession is a more likely cause.

Scientists aren't entirely sure if moderate alcohol consumption is good for your heart. But they're very clear on the risks of drinking. And it turns out that moderate alcohol use is a lot stingier than most of us think, public health officials say.

Search for "Champagne, bubbles and drunk," and you'll get headlines like "Why Bubbles Make You More Giggly." But when we took a close look at the science supporting the urban legend, we weren't impressed. The effect doesn't happen to everyone, and when it does, it's just temporary.

Decades ago, amid fears of rapid population growth, a biologist and an economist made a bet about how many people the planet could sustain. Global population is now estimated to top 7.1 billion. So who won the famous bet?