Author Archives: Support Tips

Breaking Down New Rules About ‘Forever Chemicals’

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. Cookware. Dental floss. Shampoo. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, can be found in those items and hundreds of other household products. Nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not fully degrade, PFAS are resistant […]

W.H.O. Broadens Definition of Airborne Diseases

In the early days of the Covid pandemic, a team of scientists called on the World Health Organization to acknowledge that the disease could spread through the air. Initially, the agency rebuffed them, despite growing evidence that coronavirus-laden droplets stuck around in the air, making indoor spaces hotbeds of infection. The researchers responded with a […]

Abortion Data Wars: States and Cities Debate How Much Information to Collect

In the fierce debate over abortion in the United States, the subject of data collection might seem wonky and tangential. But the information that state and city governments collect about abortion patients is becoming another flashpoint in the country’s bitter divide over the issue. Some states with Republican-controlled legislatures have moved to require more information […]

Lori and George Schappell, Long-Surviving Conjoined Twins, Die at 62

Lori and George Schappell, conjoined twins whose skulls were partly fused but who managed to lead independent lives, died on April 7 in Philadelphia. They were 62. Their death, at a hospital, was announced by a funeral home, which did not cite a cause. Dr. Christopher Moir, a professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic, […]

Scotland Pauses Gender Medications for Minors

Scotland’s National Health Service has stopped all new prescriptions of puberty-blocking drugs and other hormone treatments for minors, citing a sweeping review of youth gender services released in England last week. It is the sixth country in Europe to limit such treatments, and its changes are among the most restrictive. The review, commissioned by N.H.S. […]

Bird Flu Is Infecting More Mammals. What Does That Mean for Us?

In her three decades of working with elephant seals, Dr. Marcela Uhart had never seen anything like the scene on the beaches of Argentina’s Valdés Peninsula last October. It was peak breeding season; the beach should have been teeming with harems of fertile females and enormous males battling one another for dominance. Instead, it was […]

Sophie Kinsella, ‘Shopaholic’ Author,’ Says She Has Brain Cancer

Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling English author of the “Shopaholic” book series, revealed on social media on Wednesday that she had been undergoing treatment for an aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer. Kinsella said that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022, but waited to make the diagnosis public so her children could […]

Scientists Fault Federal Response to Bird Flu Outbreaks on Dairy Farms

In the month since federal authorities announced an outbreak of bird flu on dairy farms, they have repeatedly reassured the public that the spate of infections does not impact the nation’s food or milk supply, and poses little risk to the public. Yet the outbreak among cows may be more serious than originally believed. In […]