US long-term care costs are sky-high, but Washington state’s new way to help pay for them could be nixed

What happens in November 2024 could influence other states weighing their own options.

Marc Cohen, Clinical Professor of Gerontology and Co-Director LeadingAge LTSS Center; Recent Mel King Fellow at MIT Co-Lab, UMass Boston • conversation
April 30, 2024 ~8 min

How for-profit nursing home regulators can use the powers they already have to fix growing problems with poor-quality care

Governments can do more to protect patients at for-profit nursing homes. A behavioral scientist who studies nursing homes weighs in.

Charlene Harrington, Professor Emeritus of Social Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco • conversation
March 14, 2024 ~4 min


What Rochelle Walensky learned

Sees major progress in science since 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, but says complications of politics have plagued every epidemic since.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Dec. 21, 2023 ~7 min

How a thumb-sized climate migrant with a giant crab claw is disrupting the Northeast's Great Marsh ecosystem

South of Cape Cod, fiddler crabs and marsh grass have long had a mutually beneficial relationship. It’s a different story in the North, where the harms can ricochet through ecosystems.

David Samuel Johnson, Associate Professor of Marine Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science • conversation
Dec. 5, 2023 ~9 min

Headache or sore all over after bad night’s sleep?

Sleep loss heightens pain; pain can cause sleep loss. But why one begets the other has been largely clouded in uncertainty — until now.

Caitlin McDermott-Murphy • harvard
Nov. 28, 2023 ~7 min

‘There’s no treatment if you don’t know what you’re treating’

Experts at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School traced a baffling smooth-muscle disorder to a tiny regulatory RNA, solving a medical mystery that had plagued a teen since birth.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Nov. 14, 2023 ~17 min

The battle over right to repair is a fight over your car's data

Today’s cars include hundreds of computer chips, and carmakers say the data produced by those chips is proprietary – and a security risk. This means you don’t own the data your car generates.

Ofer Tur-Sinai, Professor of Law, Ono Academic College • conversation
Nov. 13, 2023 ~10 min

Cranberries can bounce, float and pollinate themselves: The saucy science of a Thanksgiving classic

Cranberries add color and acidity to Thanksgiving menus, but they also have many interesting botanical and genetic features.

Serina DeSalvio, Ph.D. Candidate in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University • conversation
Nov. 9, 2023 ~9 min


Dermatologist removes tattoos to give former gang members fresh start

Harvard Medical School-Mass General dermatologists use lasers to remove gang, trafficking tattoos, stigmatizing and often traumatic reminders of the past.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Oct. 23, 2023 ~10 min

Cost of treating liver disease tied to drinking projected to double over 20 years

Researchers say planners, policymakers need to be looking to ramp up intervention programs, improve treatment.

Liz Mineo • harvard
Sept. 22, 2023 ~6 min

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