Turns Out Undersea Kelp Forests Are Crucial to Salmon
The beloved fish that feed orcas and humans depend on kelp forests’ unique habitat.
Stories by Starre Vartan
Starre Vartan is a science writer and investigative reporter at work on a book challenging cultural myths and health misinformation about women's bodies (Hachette, 2024). She began her career as an environmental geologist in New England, wrote screenplays on science subjects for HBO and CBS, ran a successful blog in the mid-aughts, and has been published in National Geographic, New Scientist, Undark, CNN and more. A graduate of Syracuse University and Columbia University, she is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia and splits her time between the Seattle and Sydney areas.
Just like People, Orangutans Get Smoker’s Voice
New research has discovered that wildfire smoke hurts these primates’ voice—and health.
Sexual Harassment Still Pervades Science
How academic institutions can prevent sexual harassment and protect scientists
Astronomy Tool Can Now Detect COVID in Breath
Laser-based optical frequency combs, originally developed to time atomic clocks, can also perform fast, noninvasive tests for COVID—and potentially other diseases as well
Assessing COVID Risk and More with Air Quality Monitors
The consumer devices track pollutants as well as CO2—a proxy for potentially virus-laden human breath
Racial Bias Found in a Major Health Care Risk Algorithm
Black patients lose out on critical care when systems equate health needs with costs
AI Can Predict Kidney Failure Days in Advance
A new program could save lives in hospitals, where kidney injury is one of the most common causes of death
Can 3-D Printing Produce Lung and Liver Tissue for Transplants?
New technique creates working models—with a little help from grocery-store food coloring
Technology Unlocks the Mysteries of Bird Flight
Bob Dylan asked: "Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?" Sure, this is a metaphor (in Dylan's case, for a lost love) but it works because the complexities of avian flight—from migration and navigation to group dynamics—have long been a mystery, one with a preponderance of ideas, but few firm answers.