Pamela Ferdinand

Prenatal PFAS exposure may be linked to childhood obesity, study shows

Exposure in the womb to PFAS may be associated with a higher risk of obesity in 10-year-olds, especially females, a new study shows.

Are tobacco companies replacing Joe Camel with Q*bert? The marketing of 'vapentertainment'

E-cigarette manufacturers are selling vape devices featuring fully functional, Nintendo-like video games popular with adolescents.

Air pollution can have a lasting impact on white matter in young brains

Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and early childhood can lead to lasting changes in the brain's white matter, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

Louise Woodward

The English au pair accused of shaking a baby boy to death was found guilty of second-degree murder today by a Massachusetts jury, ending a three- week trial that transfixed observers on both sides of the Atlantic and evoked the fears of working parents everywhere.

Au Pair Gets Life Term

The English au pair convicted of murdering a nearly 9-month-old baby boy in her care was sentenced to life in prison today, as her lawyers fended off criticism that they had gambled with her fate by not accepting a plea agreement or letting the jury consider the less-severe charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Judge Frees Au Pair

A Massachusetts judge today freed a British au pair after reducing her second-degree murder conviction to involuntary manslaughter, saying the high-profile case that touched such a nerve here and abroad required a "compassionate conclusion."

Baby Theresa

Even when tiny Theresa was still in her womb, Laura Campo was concerned about other children who could benefit from the baby's organs, her sister said Thursday.

Shoe Bomber

Richard C. Reid, the British drifter and Muslim fundamentalist who attempted to detonate bombs in his shoes during a transatlantic flight, today was sent to prison for life as the first admitted member of al Qaeda sentenced in the United States since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

No Bail for Shoebomber Suspect

Richard C. Reid, the British drifter accused by federal authorities of trying to ignite a "homemade bomb" in his sneakers while on board a Paris-to- Miami flight, could have blown a hole in the plane's fuselage, an FBI agent testified in federal court Friday.

Border Security

Derby Line, like few other small towns across the nation, is literally spliced in two in places where Vermont collides with Quebec through the center of buildings and down the middle of streets. A painted black stripe runs through a historic library and opera house, demarcating national boundaries established more than a century ago, and homeowners in one nation must report to customs before visiting their neighbors in the other.

Women Farmers

It started with a lonely horse named Cookie. Valerie Davies, Cookie's owner, bought a goat to keep the mare company. Then another, then another. Nine years later, Davies is milking 40 goats, birthing dozens of kids, and producing delicately seasoned cheese for specialty shops and restaurants throughout New England.

New Hampshire Juvenile Justice

Faced with a slew of young offenders in legal limbo, Granite State legislators are moving toward reversing a 1996 law and raising to 18 the age under which teenagers who commit crimes are automatically prosecuted as adults.

Juvenile Boot Camps

Boot camps, a key component of President Clinton's and Gov. Chiles' anti- crime packages, are becoming the rehabilitation regimen of choice for young offenders. Earlier this year, the American Correctional Institute counted 19 juvenile military- style camps in 18 states.

The Friendly Takeover

Welcome to the "Friendly Takeover," a sporadic event engineered by local software developer Reggie Cummings to help promote and integrate a city with a tumultuous record on race relations. Via last-minute e-mails, Cummings invites a select group of black professionals essentially to crash Boston venues that need -- as he puts it -- "a little bit of color." They include places from the chic nightspot Vox Populi to the Frog Pond ice rink on Boston Common.

JFK Jr.

In an ancient naval ritual adapted to private grief, the Kennedys and Bessettes entombed three loved ones today in the plot of sea that swallowed their fallen aircraft six nights ago.

Michael Kennedy Funeral

Head bowed and adolescent shoulders braced, Michael Kennedy's son led a glistening mahogany casket out of a Cape Cod funeral Mass today, conjuring mournful images of every Kennedy son who has been left prematurely fatherless.

Nation Reacts to Clinton on Tape

With damp hair and heavy hearts, congregants prayed silently for President Clinton today at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End.

Clinton Impeachment

As he follows the impeachment proceedings on the radio each morning, Jim Edwards cannot help but visualize all those Washington politicians with their starched white shirts and shiny leather briefcases in a prime-time sitcom of their own making. It is riveting, entertaining, terrifying, sometimes hilarious and frustrating all at once, just like a good miniseries during sweeps. Only longer, with far too many characters, and too little suspense because, let's face it, everyone knows the ending.

GOP Faces Trials and Errors

Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci (R), an avid fan of Hollywood films, sometimes seems to be starring in a political satire complete with colorful characters and odd plot twists.

Florida Kidnapper

Once upon a time, Dr. William Martin lived with his charming wife and two daughters in an opulent seaside mansion. He contributed to charity, claimed to advise presidents, and collected expensive art, conjuring a life of luxury and a veneer of accomplishment.

Civil Unions Tough To Undo

Arthur Tremblay and his male lover took their civil union vows before a Vermont justice of the peace last year, but that same night Tremblay's partner headed out to a nightclub and did not come home till dawn. The relationship deteriorated, the couple soon separated and their legal partnership -- one of the first of its kind in the nation -- became the first to legally end.

Civil Unions

Under a quilt of stars, as friends and family blew bubbles and kisses into the warm night air, Kathleen Peterson and Carolyn Conrad exchanged vows of love and commitment this morning and became the first same-sex couple in the nation to be recognized as civil union partners under Vermont's far-reaching law, which took effect today.

Boy Scouts Ease Policy on Gays

Despite its national organization's ban on homosexuals in leadership positions, the largest Boy Scout council in Massachusetts has adopted a version of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay members.

Canada Charges Russians in Sinking of US Boat

Three Russian sailors were charged today with involuntary manslaughter in a Newfoundland court amid allegations that their tanker collided at sea with a U.S. fishing boat last week, killing three of the four New England men aboard.

Dartmouth Murder

With authorities tight-lipped and a killer on the loose, the mystery surrounding the deaths of two beloved Dartmouth College professors is holding this quiet, cloistered town in watchful suspense.

Dartmouth Murder Suspects

As authorities release evidence against two teenagers from this tiny dairy farming town who are accused of stabbing to death Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop, everyone is still waiting to hear answers to fundamental questions.

Adoption Center Investigation

Judith Muzzioli Bailey, the former executive director of a Cambridge nonprofit adoption agency now under investigation by state authorities, paid herself nearly six times the average salary for someone in her position, state public charity annual reports show.

Adoption Center Malfeasance

A former adoption agency director allegedly spent thousands of dollars in agency funds to pay for her own credit card bills, for taxis to chauffeur her children, for someone to help her complete a doctoral thesis, and even for purchase of Martha's Vineyard property, according to the agency's new administrators.

Adoption Center Tactics Questioned

The Adoption Center Inc., the nonprofit agency accused this week of mishandling adoptions and diverting funds, has aggressively marketed its services, playing matchmaker for prospective parents with birth mothers across the country, court records and interviews with adoption specialists revealed yesterday.

Agency Adoptions Curbed

A nonprofit adoption agency that has placed more than 500 children has been ordered to stop accepting new clients, amid allegations of overbilling, falsifying birth mothers' medical records and diverting funds for personal use, state officials said yesterday.

Adoption Agency Director Quits

The founder of a nonprofit adoption agency resigned as executive director this week amid allegations that she used charity funds for personal use and falsified medical information of mothers who put up their children for adoption.

Sports Rage

On a summer afternoon when they should have been celebrating goals scored, three young boys watched in horror as the father of a fellow hockey player allegedly beat their own dad into deadly unconsciousness.

No Place for Men

Putting her career on the line, a renowned feminist philosopher at Boston College is refusing to accept two male students for a course called "Introduction to Feminist Ethics."

Vermont Syrup-Makers

A year after the second-worst season on record, Vermont sugar-makers like the Luces appear to be headed for a rebound.

Rhode Island Fire Victims

The West Warwick nightclub fire scorched Frank Canillas' forehead and nose, and gave the 23-year-old nightmares and convulsions. In the first days after the blaze, his slowest movements, even sitting up, made him vomit. But his mother is just grateful he is alive.

Domestic Violence

In a courtroom painted a soothing pale blue, a 23-year-old mother of two asks the judge for a piece of paper to keep her ex-boyfriend from hitting her again. Three days earlier, Ingride Francoeur says, he had slammed her against a wall and smacked her across the chest. But there in the judge's chambers last week, separated from her first love only by a courtroom bailiff, she couldn't tell him to go away.

Batters Combat Abuse

With at least 22 Massachusetts women slain so far this year, allegedly by their partners or former partners - including the case of Laura J. Rosenthal of Framingham, whose husband is accused of mutilating her body - domestic violence never seemed far from the daily headlines.

Abortion Clinic Violence

Antiabortion activists offered prayers and solace for the victims of a murderous gunman who swept through two Brookline abortion clinics yesterday, though several voiced equal concern about the effects the killings would have on their cause.

Salvi Acted Alone

Despite his strident antiabortion rhetoric and participation in clinic protests, John C. Salvi 3d acted alone when he allegedly stormed into two Brookline abortion clinics in December and shot seven people, killing two, prosecutors said yesterday.

Grand Jury Indicts Salvi

After 12 days of testimony from 156 witnesses, a Norfolk County grand jury yesterday indicted John C. Salvi 3d on murder and armed assault charges in the Brookline abortion clinic shootings.

Joseph Ellis

His job was to tell it like it was. Yet for reasons perhaps unknown even to himself, Ellis could not resist telling his own life the way he wanted it to be.

Joseph Ellis Suspended

A Pulitzer Prize-winning history professor and author who fabricated his military experiences has been suspended for one year without pay, Mount Holyoke College administrators announced today.

Mike Barnicle Forced Out

Mike Barnicle, the Boston Globe columnist who was suspended early this month, then was asked to resign, then spared from being fired, was forced to quit today after his editors could not confirm the existence of two cancer-stricken boys he wrote about in a moving 1995 column.

Lynn Kidnapping Probe

Robert Levesque, a suspect in the abduction of 6-year-old Jesus De La Cruz, was frequently in the company of children - volunteering as one youth's mentor for six years and even letting young boys use his room when he was not home, a former neighbor and a former roommate said in interviews yesterday.

Lynn Mother Cries Foul

The mother of six-year-old Jesus De La Cruz, whose disappearance two weeks ago continues to baffle investigators, yesterday defended herself against charges she is a neglectful mother and questioned whether authorities are pursuing a possible drug link because she is Hispanic.

Youth Group Rejected Lynn Suspect

Robert Levesque, a suspect in the apparent abduction of 6-year-old Jesus De La Cruz, was rejected from at least two Big Brother associations because they were suspicious of his motives, organization officials said yesterday.

Lynn Kidnapping Suspect

Investigators in the disappearance of 6-year-old Jesus De La Cruz yesterday continued to focus on both Robert Levesque, a 26-year-old drifter with whom Jesus was reportedly seen on the night of Sept. 28, and associates of the missing boy's family.

Kidnapping Probe Continues

As 11 candles burned at a makeshift shrine in front of her apartment building, Magdalena Rodriguez prayed yesterday for the safe return of her missing 6-year-old son, Jesus De La Cruz, and racked her memory for anything that might provide a clue into his disappearance four days ago.

New Boston Ballpark

Amid a nationwide sports construction spree, the fight over America's oldest major league ballpark (after the demise of Tiger Stadium in Detroit) has stirred public resentment of closed-door political negotiations and divided the city into two major camps: Those who oppose spending taxpayer money to build or renovate a ballpark that belongs to a private venture, however beloved, and those who support funding for a new stadium to boost Sox competitiveness and spur economic development. The...

Big Dig Hopes

The nether world of driving here is the nexus of Storrow Drive and the rusting, green double-decker hulk of Interstate 93, where southbound drivers fume in bumper-to-bumper traffic and northbound commuters whisper Hail Marys as they make split-second decisions in fast-merging lanes.

First Night Fright

A Malden man faces arraignment today for allegedly ramming a car into a crowd of First Night revelers early yesterday, while his girlfriend who was in the car says they drove through the crowd out of fear for their safety.

Boston Wait Staff Lawsuit

Samantha Smith was thrilled to be among the first women to be hired at Locke-Ober, a legendary restaurant here, when it reopened under new management last fall. But the glow did not last.

SLAPP suits

When Mary Bankston, 43, argued against a developer's project at a commu- nity hearing in Plantation, she figured she had every right to express her opinion. She got sued.

Tenant-Run Housing Takes a Hit

Mildred Hailey's reputation as a champion of tenants' rights and Bromley- Heath's success as a model of resident-managed public housing seemed assured of a place in the history books. Until recently.

Memory Laid To Rest

Edwin Barker, 76, happily married for 44 years, had a vivid dream one night about an old flame. They were together again back in the 1940s, listening to Arthur Fiedler on the Esplanade in Boston, watching Jimmy Stewart films at the Brookline The- ater, walking arm-in-arm as couples do.

Hurricane Andrew

No one will ever know how much Hurricane Andrew scared Douglas Clark. Or if it frightened him at all. Around Clark now are green vinyl couches dimly lit by bare lantern bulbs. The air is sticky from the heat. The pool is empty. The workshop flooded.

Hurricane Andrew Victims

Two field hospitals sprang up overnight amid the devastation of South Dade, treating hundreds of hurricane victims and attracting medical assistance from across the country.

Hurricane Devastates West Perrine

Poor, but promising. Devastated, but determined. This is how the Rev. Walter Richardson describes his home: West Perrine. "Nobody plans to leave," he says, minutes before Sunday's service at the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church. "Where do you go? This is home when you've worked hard all your life."

Hurricane Andrew Faithful

On the seventh day, South Dade celebrated life. Parishioners sat on damp pews in churches without steeples or roofs. They looked up at open sky. They faced broken altars. One Mennonite congregation in Florida City held outdoor services on eight folding chairs in front of their flattened church.

Nantucket Hermit

For a decade, Thomas Johnson has lived underground in one of the most charming and desirable corners of New England, this island off the Cape Cod coast where inhabitants pay a premium for beachside mansions and gray-shingled cottages along cobblestone streets.

Teen Violence

A Saturday-night stabbing outside a Dairy Queen. A beating death at a par- ty. An assault charge against a 14-year-old with a gun. Cops and kids in a face-off, authority exerted and adolescence uncorked.

Gangs on the Move

The chaos of gang violence -- stabbings, beatings, shootings -- seems an anomaly in Broward County. Few people have taken youth gangs in the suburbs seriously. Until now.

Worcester's Pain

The Dec. 3 blaze represented the deadliest loss of American firefighters' lives since more than a dozen perished in a Colorado wildfire five years ago.

Massachusetts Firefighters Honored

Nearly a week after authorities said two homeless people accidentally toppled a candle in an empty warehouse here and sparked this city's deadliest blaze, about 30,000 mourners paid tribute to six firefighters embraced as old-fashioned heroes for running into a burning building to save someone's life and forfeiting their own.

Shipyard Crusade

Victor Bourre seems an unlikely revolutionary, with his cushy living room recliners and above-ground pool. Yet the retired shipyard worker has resurrected a tax rebellion worthy of his colonial ancestors and reignited an old feud between Maine and New Hampshire.

Car Artists

From a faucet car to a fruit mobile, from the ridiculous to the sublime, the whims of amateur car artists transform Toyota Corollas into rolling Renoirs. Unlike other drivers in America who treasure their cars' spotlessness, car artists delight in defacing their autos even if they cannot tell you exactly what led them to do it.

Danish Experiment on Cape Cod

In her office here at the Housing Assistance Corp., Livia Munck Davis pulls out a color photograph of her childhood home on a farm in central Denmark. She points out sprawling fields, a barn, the manor house and surrounding buildings where three generations of her family led one of that country's most daring and successful social experiments: a working farm also inhabited by--and almost entirely run by--homeless men.

Fatal Sinkings

Herman Melville never met Steven Reeves, a New Bedford clam fisherman. But he certainly knew men like him, men who craved the sea and whom the sea craved. Their portraits line the walls of the Seamen's Bethel, a 19th-century chapel here with a ship's prow pulpit and fishnet-draped balconies described by Melville in "Moby Dick."

Vermont Dialect

Sonny Davis is what folks heaah call a "woodchuck." Born and raised a quarteh of a mile from whar he lives now. His voice full of ays and ehs and clipped endin's when he turns on the accent. An attitude less than welcomin' to the "flatlanders" takin' over his state.

Massachusetts School

This is the nightmare: Five teenagers, guns smuggled in the folds of black trench coats, waiting for homeroom to let out. Waiting for teachers to dismiss 3,300 kids into the belly of a high school. Then detonating explosives and loading weapons, shooting as many people as bullets and agility permit, snapping photographs of the dead and grinning at the living. Damage inflicted, climbing to the roof and smoking marijuana, maybe dropping acid, before taking aim one last time. And firing at each...

Dog Poisonings

A serial killer is on the loose here, police say, and the target is man's best friend. Five dogs have died in a one-square-mile area in this suburb south of Boston after eating meat patties apparently laced with strychnine on the day after Christmas.

'The Tongue'

Who needs Matt Drudge? In an inexplicable move, a little-known Republican businessman challenging Senator Edward Kennedy dug up dirt on himself and released it in an 11-page dossier this week - on the same day that he formally launched his political campaign.

Jacqueline Bevins

Nine years ago, Jacqueline Bevins shot her husband 15 times as he stepped out of the bathtub, reloading her pistol twice. She was charged with murder, but her lawyer argued wife battering as a defence, and a jury acquitted her.

Suspect in Massachusetts Murders

The software engineer accused of gunning down seven co-workers the day after Christmas allegedly kept bombmaking ingredients at home and stashed an arsenal of assault weapons and ammunition in his workstation cubicle and locker, prosecutors said in court today.

Virgin Mary

They pray, and all eyes gaze upward, to the third story of a nondescript medical office building with a narrow lawn by the parking lot, and up to a rectangular window that looks as though it is sprayed with artificial Christmas snow. But to many, it definitively resembles an outline of the Virgin Mary holding her baby son.

Whitey Bulger

University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger, one of the state's most powerful and charismatic public figures, today refused to answer questions under oath from a congressional committee investigating ties between rogue FBI agents in New England and their mob informants dating back to the 1960s -- informants including his brother, the fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

Whitey Bulger Panel

A congressional committee charged with investigating ties between rogue FBI agents and mob informants voted today to grant immunity from prosecution to University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger in hopes that he will provide testimony about his fugitive mobster brother, James "Whitey" Bulger.

Trapp Family Discord

Sixty years after fleeing Nazi-occupied Austria, the legendary family choir whose courage, unity and song inspired "The Sound of Music" has fallen into embarrassingly public disharmony.

A Bridge to Latin Markets

Miami, benefiting from its position as the gateway to Latin America, is attracting an increasing number of Spanish-owned firms looking to position themselves

Irish Seisiuns

Pints of frothy Guinness stout begin to tremble on a wooden table at the Brendan Behan Pub in Jamaica Plain as a circle of musicians signal silently to each other, and break into a traditional Irish song.

New England Education Funding

As students settle into a new school year and politicians approach November elections, the debate over how to finance an equitable and adequate public education is raging across northern New England.

Ex-FBI Agent Indicted

Former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., who handled fugitive mob informer James "Whitey" Bulger, was arrested today after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of racketeering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Bulger and another reputed member of Boston's infamous Winter Hill Gang also were indicted, federal prosecutors said.

Millinocket's Demise

Stephen Shaw once was a lucky man. Back in the day, he could virtually roll out of bed and be at work at the paper mill next door. The plant was so busy it recruited folks right off the street, and Shaw and his wife, also a mill worker, raised three children on healthy wages. But those days are gone. And Shaw appears to be out of luck.

Logan Airport Reopened

Just before dawn today, Logan International Airport reopened with heavy reinforcements: bomb-sniffing dogs, random ID checks, and checkpoints teeming with police and federal agents. But the twin kamikaze missions launched from Logan on Tuesday had been preceded by years of reports about lax management and political shenanigans there -- and for all the new security, not everyone felt secure.

Travelers Adjust To New Air Rules

Everything about the flying experience has changed since the Sept. 11 hijackings, from the armed SWAT officers to the near empty overhead bins on some airplanes to the camaraderie among passengers and crew. At Dulles International Airport yesterday an elderly woman in a wheelchair was asked if she could get up and walk through the metal detector on her own, which she did.

Airport Security Revamp

In the months following Sept. 11, Logan International Airport here was widely assailed for its string of security lapses, for its inept management and, most important, for its status as the origin of the two hijacked jets that crashed into the World Trade Center.

United Airlines 175

Somewhere between Philadelphia and Newark -- less than 90 miles from Manhattan -- the aircraft made its final radar contact, according to a statement released by United Airlines. About the same time, American Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, setting off a massive explosion. Just 18 minutes later, witnesses looked up in amazement to watch what ap- peared to be a horrible rerun.

Logan Airport 9/11

About 8:45 a.m. the plane became the first of two aircraft to crash into the World Trade Center, smashing into the North Tower. At that moment Cathy Carron, 50, was two blocks away at the American Stock Exchange. She looked up and saw a huge, low-flying plane bank into the side of the World Trade Center.

Shanley Pleads Not Guilty

A retired Roman Catholic priest whose history of alleged sexual misconduct intensified the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese pleaded not guilty today to charges that he raped a young boy on an "almost weekly basis" for seven years.

Bishops Under Scrutiny

Within hours of Cardinal Bernard F. Law's resignation on Dec. 13, an alleged victim of a pedophile priest stepped to the podium at a news conference in Boston and announced a new target. "Bishop McCormack, we're coming after you," said Gary Bergeron, 40, referring to New Hampshire Bishop John B. McCormack, who was not present. "For every document I've seen with the name Bernard Law, I've seen 100 with the name Bishop McCormack."

Boston Catholics React

Here in the nation's Irish Catholic hub, where parishioners' foreheads bore ashes last week as the church began its season of reflection, a widening cler- ical sex abuse scandal has flung the institution into its worst crisis in years.

Boston Archdiocese

Priests and church workers in the Boston Archdiocese likely abused more than 1,000 people over the past six decades, Massachusetts Attorney Gen- eral Thomas F. Reilly said today in a report summarizing the findings of a grand jury investigation that did not result in any indictments of archdiocese leaders.

Cardinal Law Deposed

Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the nation's senior Roman Catholic prelate, said under oath today that he did not recall seeing letters warning him about a suspected pedophile priest and said he was sure he would have relied on the advice of doctors and subordinates in assigning him to a new parish.

Catholics Disillusioned

The Boston archdiocese, with 2 million Catholics, has been torn apart by the scandal. But the quarter of the Boston church that, like Connors, is of Irish descent has been especially affected. This is their crisis, for the most part, and not just because most of the accused priests possess Irish surnames.

Archdiocese Settles Sex Abuse Cases

The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to pay up to $ 30 million to 86 people who accused defrocked priest John J. Geoghan of child molestation, an attorney for the plaintiffs said today.

Cardinal Law Defends Settlement Retreat

In his first public court appearance since the clergy sexual abuse scandal surfaced in January, Cardinal Bernard F. Law testified today in defense of the Boston archdiocese's decision to back out of a multimillion-dollar settlement with 86 alleged victims of convicted pedophile and ex-priest John J. Geoghan.

Calls for Cardinal To Resign

Calls for the resignation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the senior prelate in the American Catholic Church and a close ally of Pope John Paul II, are becoming increasingly urgent amid mounting evidence that he knowingly protected suspected pedophile priests and repeatedly allowed them access to children.

Cardinal Resigns

Nearly a year after the scandal over clergy sexual abuse erupted in his archdiocese, Boston's Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned yesterday, apologizing for his mistakes and saying he hoped his departure would usher in a period of healing.

TWA Flight 800

Roland Penney pulled three bodies out of the water and into a borrowed motorboat the night TWA Flight 800 exploded over the sea. The next day, Ayne Privitera opened her seven-bedroom waterfront home to American Red Cross volunteers. And John Zlatniski donated more than two dozen loaves of homemade bread to the Coast Guard and threw in free coffee with breakfast.

Blast Traces Found

Microscopic traces of an explosive found on TWA Flight 800 were located on the floorboard in the passenger cabin, but still do not provide investigators with conclusive evidence that a bomb or a missile brought down the plane, a highly placed federal law enforcement source said yesterday.

Crash Search Widens

Investigators yesterday searched oil-slicked waters off Long Island for signs of a possible bomb or extraordinary malfunction that could have caused TWA Flight 800 to explode 21 minutes after takeoff Wednesday night, killing all 230 Paris-bound travelers.

Probe Focuses on Supplies

A small chip from a food service cart removed from the body of a TWA Flight 800 victim has led investigators to believe a blast occurred in or near the cart, and they are focusing on how food supplies were loaded onto the aircraft in New York, sources close to the investigation said yesterday.

Black Boxes Missing

As bad weather finally gave way yesterday on the shores of Long Island, investigators of last week's TWA explosion voiced frustration over their failure to recover the crucial flight data and voice boxes that may determine whether the plane was felled by an act of sabotage.

Pataki Outrages Victims' Families

Gov. George Pataki outraged family members of TWA Flight 800 last night by passing on unconfirmed reports that "dozens and dozens" of bodies had been sighted by divers who recovered three victims yesterday.

TWA Probe Shifting

More than three weeks after the crash of TWA Flight 800, investigators are widening their examination of the recovered debris in an attempt to find out why the jumbo jet suddenly exploded in midair en route from New York to Paris.

60-Foot Piece of Jet Found

Divers searching the ocean floor off Long Island yesterday said they had located the largest portion yet of the fuselage of the TWA 747, six more bodies and perhaps clues as to why the jet exploded last week.

TWA Inquiry Focus on Holds

As divers concentrated on finding pieces of the front cargo hold of TWA Flight 800 yesterday, investigators focused on who handled the cargo in New York before the plane departed, a federal law enforcement source said yesterday.

Officials Give Conflicting Reports

Divers yesterday found a huge chunk of the jumbo jet that exploded over the ocean off Long Island, and saw dozens and dozens of bodies inside, Gov. George Pataki told reporters last night.

Section of Cockpit Found

In a critical step toward finding out what downed TWA Flight 800 more than two weeks ago, federal investigators yesterday confirmed they have located part of the cockpit.

Fitful Headway in Probe

A small chip from a food service cart removed from the body of a TWA Flight 800 victim has led investigators to believe a blast occurred in or near the cart, and they are focusing on how food supplies were loaded onto the aircraft in New York, sources close to the investigation said yesterday.

Flight Recorders Sought

Frustrated by gusting winds and 7-foot sea swells, investigators bobbing on boats off Long Island yesterday were hoping to hear the pinging sound emitted from one of the flight recorders on board the TWA 747 that exploded Wednesday night.

Tests Inconclusive

Despite the recovery of more wreckage that indicates TWA Flight 800 was sabotaged by an explosion that ripped through the front section of the plane, investigators said yesterday that they have yet to retrieve physical evidence that would confirm that the cause was a bomb.

Logan's Safety Chief Ousted

Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift (R) today ousted the director of public safety at Logan International Airport, following security lapses in the weeks after two airplanes that had left the airport were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center.

Search Turns Up Large Object

Sonar equipment detected a long trail of debris and a 15-foot high object on the ocean floor that may be the biggest single piece of the TWA 747 jet that exploded Wednesday night, but investigators were unable to determine what it was because a sonar buoy was damaged.

Victims Mourned Coast to Coast

In a day of mourning from Long Island to Los Angeles, families, friends and co-workers gathered yesterday to comfort one another and remember the 230 people who died last week when TWA Flight 800 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean.

State of the Coast: The Islands - The Trustees of Reservations

The Trustees 2nd Annual State of the Coast report highlights potential sea level rise and storm surge impacts on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Gosnold, spotlights current strategies, and proposes future adaptations. By 2050, more than 3,500 structures on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket may be impacted by storm flooding, and nearly 800 structures lost to erosion, according to The Trustees 2nd annual State of the Coast report.

State of the Coast - Trustees on the Coast

This ambitious goal, outlined in the Trustees strategic plan Momentum, includes plans to author a series of annual "State of the Coast" reports to celebrate and bring awareness to Massachusetts' remarkable coastal communities, pinpoint the common climate-based threats they face, and highlight current and potential actions and solutions.

U.S. Public Views on Climate and Energy

A majority of U.S. adults say they are taking at least some specific action in their daily lives to protect the environment, though Democrats and Republicans remain at ideological odds over the causes of climate change and the effects of policies to address it.

Army Worms

Like a scene out of a Hitchcock film, grassy lands in the Northeast, Midwest and beyond are being marauded by an insect that moves in battalions from one food supply to another -- the aptly named "true army worm." The creature is technically a caterpillar, and one historical account of an 18th-century army worm infestation described "Multitudes of a Kind of Brownish Streaked Worm, as have been very distructive to the Fruits of the Earth."

U.S. Abusing Endangered Species Act?

Columbian white-tailed deer in Oregon, grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park, and now gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are just three species protected by U.S. law for decades that have been delisted in recent years.

Pheasant Hunting Fight

Animal-protection groups have filed a lawsuit -- one of the first of its kind -- against the Interior Department to halt a nearly century-old tradition that involves trucking hundreds of pheasants onto the Cape Cod National Seashore. And while a federal judge recently declined to grant an injunction sought by the groups to block this year's hunting season, which opened Oct. 19, the National Park Service announced that it intends to phase out the program eventually.

Major Acid Rain Damage

Although some emissions that cause acid rain have been reduced, the Northeast is still suffering its harmful effects with far greater damage to the environment than previously thought, according to a major new study by the nation's leading acid rain researchers.

EPA Marine Biologist

For nearly two decades, Brayton Point Station, New England's largest fossil-fueled power plant, has been accused of killing the marine life of Mount Hope Bay in southern Massachusetts. Environmental Protection Agency scientists and others say fish populations have declined by more than 87 percent since 1984, when the plant began increasing the amount of water it withdrew from the bay, and many species have shown no sign of recovery.

Vanishing of Wild Atlantic Salmon

Time was when fly rods packed the wooden racks at Eddington Salmon Club, and dozens of fishermen waded into swirling Penobscot River pools. Anglers here still recall how sportsmen waited their turn along the shore, ribbing one another over coffee and trading tips on how to play the fish whose dexterity and strength made them feel as if they had succeeded in hooking a pickup truck.

Scientists Bid to Rescue Whale

One of only 300 known remaining North Atlantic right whales in the world, the whale affectionately known as Churchill has captured the public's imagination since he was spotted in early June and catapulted the Center for Coastal Studies, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, into the national spotlight. Hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from across the country are overwhelming staff at the Provincetown-based nonprofit organization.

Blackstone River Cleanup

Folks here at the birthplace of America's industrial revolution used to call the Blackstone River by nasty names: the Black Hole of the Northeast. A toilet bowl. Better yet, a sewer with history. Children knew not to play by the edge of the river, which was a polluted quagmire of discarded tires and foaming detergents. Residents could guess the latest fashionable fabric shade by the red, green or blue dyes

A Sea Change

As competing interests increasingly bump against each other in coastal and ocean waters here and elsewhere, conservationists are calling for a system that would restrict offshore activities to specific sites. The concept of mediating conflicting uses -- industrial, commercial, recreation and conservation -- has a familiar ring because it would apply to open waters what cities and towns have long used to regulate activities on land: zoning.

Historic Conservation Land Deal

New York, Vermont and New Hampshire joined forces with environmentalists and private investors today to place 300,000 acres of the Northern Forest into a $ 76.2 million public-private conservation project hailed as the largest in U.S. history.

Restoring an Urban Necklace

Like a dusty family heirloom, Boston's renowned Emerald Necklace, the oldest public park system in the country, has lost its manicured luster to decades of benign neglect and overuse. Its rambling meadows, stone bridges, quiet pathways and ponds still provide a restorative retreat in the midst of a bustling city.

Indian Mounds

Icicles encase tree branches like dough covering corn dogs, and the fierce glare of midday sunshine blinds windshields to the road. R.J.'s diner, selling deep-fried homemade catfish and collard greens from what looks like an airplane hangar, is about all the civilization to be had off Highway 165. Thus it is all the more remarkable when, seemingly out of nowhere, we see huge Indian mounds rising out of the earth in testament to a previous world.

Martha's Vineyard

With its horse-crossing signs and stone-walled rural landscapes, West Tisbury is a world apart from the populous "down-island" centers of Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown. No chintzy souvenir and charm bracelet shops here. No overflowing bars (it's a dry town) or crowded ferry docks. This is the pastoral "up-island" Vineyard, with its own distinct history and the breathing room and tranquillity afforded by acres of farmland, forest, water, sky, and sand.

Czechoslovakia's Tough Deals

If business opportunities in Eastern Europe seem to dazzle with promise, consider the experience of Miami executive Jack Birnholz in Czechoslovakia.

Hard times in Romania

Two years ago, the Transylvanian city of Brasov was rocked by massive food riots. Since then, a harsh crackdown has driven discontent underground in this mountainous region, where living standards are plummeting and a heritage is under assault.

Black Hebrews

Cocavatiyah is one of some 2,000 members of the Original Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem -- they're called Black Hebrews -- living in Israel. They say they are descended from one of the 12 lost tribes of Israel. They insist they have a right to live in the Jewish homeland under the law of return, which promises Israeli citizenship to any Jew who applies for it.

Home - MIT Spectrum

By Pamela Ferdinand Mahat vowed to seek the highest degree possible in what he considered the most prestigious discipline-science-to stay true to his father's dreams as well as his own. Today, Mahat is a new father and an accomplished cancer researcher who considers humanity and public service to be every bit as important as education and science.

The Spin Doctor: Danna Freedman Designs Novel Molecules for Possible Quantum Applications | MIT...

Danna Freedman was returning to her MIT office in early September 2022 with cookies for her students when she heard the news: she had been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, the no-strings $800,000 prize referred to as the "genius grant."

Infusing science into public policymaking

Tina Bahadori '84, SM '88, studied the chemistry of turbulent diffusion flames and wrote a thesis on Les Liaisons Dangereuses as a double major in chemical engineering and humanities. Then she earned MIT master's degrees in chemical engineering and technology and policy. So, it's no surprise that she now works at the complex intersection of...

He Beat Lymphoma at 31, While Pioneering Breakthroughs in Cancer Research

It looked like only good things were ahead of Taylor Schreiber in 2010. Schreiber had just finished his PhD in cancer biology and was preparing to return to medical school to complete his degree. He also had been married a year, and, like any young newlyweds up for adventure, he and his wife Nicki decided to go backpacking in the Costa Rican rainforest.

Chamomile Health Benefits & Uses

Chamomile has been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years to calm anxiety and settle stomachs and is often found a main ingredient in tea

The science and technology of sound sleep

Pandemic worries have kept many of us awake this year. But David Rapoport '70 has long known a thing or two about not getting a good night's sleep. Rapoport is a leading expert in sleep medicine and the physiology of sleep-disordered breathing (sleep apnea and snoring).

Experiencing Augmented Reality: Sound as the Next Frontier - Curmudgeon Group

Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are popping up everywhere as brands try to engage consumers with increasingly immersive and compelling experiences. From helping them preview products in real-world environments, embark on virtual tours or extend live experiences, it's the ultimate in 3-D marketing.

An Unflinching Look at America's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the early days of Covid-19, one of Nina Burleigh's first instincts was to hunt down her graduate-school copy of Daniel Defoe's book documenting the Great Plague of London. So much was familiar--the sense of unease, the closures, the rich fleeing cities, the conspiracy theories, and the bodies piling up.

A Wide Net to Trap Cancer | MIT Spectrum

A young lab at the forefront of immunotherapy discoveries is an exciting yet challenging place to be. MIT faculty member Stefani Spranger, an expert in cancer biology and immunology, understands that better than most people.

Drug Discovery Career Culminates in Quest for New TB Treatments

When a headhunter phoned Nader Fotouhi PhD '88 six years ago about an opportunity with a nonprofit tuberculosis drug developer called TB Alliance, he said he was the wrong person for the job. Fotouhi had recently retired from the multinational health care company Hoffman-La Roche after a long career in drug discovery and development, but he had never worked with anti-infectives.

Trust and Mistrust in Americans' Views of Scientific Experts

In an era when science and politics often appear to collide, public confidence in scientists is on the upswing, and six-in-ten Americans say scientists should play an active role in policy debates about scientific issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. The survey finds public confidence in scientists on par with confidence in the military.

Drilling molten rock to learn its secrets

Few places on Earth are as hot as the Krafla caldera in Iceland, an enormous volcanic crater where magma was discovered at surprisingly shallow depths. For John Eichelberger '70, SM '71, reaching that magma is the terrestrial equivalent of going to the moon. A professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), Eichelberger is...

Faster photosynthesis, higher crop yields

Despite the increasing abundance of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, most plants are surprisingly inefficient at converting it into sugar during photosynthesis. Algae, however, do this very efficiently, thanks to a protein structure called the pyrenoid-and Martin Jonikas '04 believes this understudied cellular workhorse could transform food production.

Which Meds are Safe When You're Pregnant? Science Wants to Find Out

Sarah Mancoll was 22 years old when she noticed a bald spot on the back of her head. A dermatologist confirmed that it was alopecia aerata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. Of 213 new drugs approved from 2003 to 2012, only five percent included any data from pregnant women.

Brain Power

Boston and Cambridge are leading the way in brain research, with an expanding constellation of neuroscience stars and new institutions, such as Harvard's Center for Brain Science and MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences Center, due to open early next year.

AIDS

The death certificate for a man in his late 30s puzzled Boston funeral director Kenneth F. Bennett when he saw it 13 years ago. It read, "acquired immune deficiency syndrome," and a mystified Bennett remembers calling a state health official to ask precisely what that meant. "He indicated that this was the beginning of a very serious epidemic," Bennett recalled. That case, in 1982, was one of the state's first reported AIDS-related deaths. Today, Bennett handles three such deaths a week at...

Science Art

In a world of sheep clones and fluorescent rabbits, art and science are commingling as never before. Where once artists used traditional media to critique the scientific world, they are now engaging science directly in their art, using the tools of genetic engineering and molecular biology to develop new forms of creative expression on extraordinary palates.

Medical Marijuana

Chris Woiderski, a Tampa psychology student paralyzed from the chest down, used to take 490 prescribed pills a month to stop his muscle spasms and kill pain. He says he lived in a pharmacological stupor. Irvin Rosenfeld, a Lauderhill stockbroker whose body is riddled with hundreds of bone tumors, underwent eight operations but could not prevent constant pulled muscles and hemorrhages. Heaven would be lying on a rack to stretch his tight muscles, he says. Bound by their pain, both men sought...

The Midwife Option

April 19, 1993, 10:10 a.m. Margaret Dynes, her cheeks flushed, strands of long blond hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, clutches floral bedsheets printed with yellow roses. She curls her back into a stack of pillows, parts her lips and closes her eyes as she heaves her hips and pelvis forward with the contractions. "Ooooohhh," she moans, grunting through clenched teeth.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute

The Harvard Stem Cell Institute was hatched three years ago as a scientific enterprise to help revolutionize medicine and cure disease. But institute leaders say it turns out another revolution is required for it to succeed - one that turns traditional Harvard culture on its head.

Dengue Fever

Little did we know that our romantic detour had led us straight into a major disease outbreak striking hundreds of Cook Islanders and thousands of other people around the world. And, despite extensive trip homework and previous travels, we knew even less about the disease: dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus also known as "break-bone fever."

Titanic of New England

Marine scientists announced today they had found the paddle steamship Portland, known as the "Titanic of New England," which sank in a wintry gale 104 years ago with more than 190 people on board.

White Hat Hackers

This is the L0pht, pronounced "loft," a techie operations center in a suburban warehouse several miles from city center that is inhabited by a group whose members have been called rock stars of the nation's computer-hacking elite.

Domestic War on Smallpox

More than a year in the making -- and 30 years after routine vaccination for the disease was halted -- the immunization of state epidemiologist Hadler and three other physicians marked a milestone in the nation's effort to protect against biological attack. Under the watch of federal health officials, security guards and a battalion of journalists, Connecticut became the first state to carry out President Bush's smallpox immunization campaign.

Island Health Insurance Plan

Despite an international reputation as a summer playground for the affluent and influential, Martha's Vineyard's year-round population is of far more modest means: store clerks, contractors and a growing number of immigrant service workers -- many without health insurance. In fact, about 20 percent of year-round residents lack insurance, which is more than double the 8 percent national average. Most island businesses have fewer than 10 employees and don't offer medical benefits.

Ancient Egypt

The Giza Archives Project, established by Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in January 2005, aims to become the world's central online repository for all archaeological activity at the necropolis, beginning with the major 20th- century excavations that were jointly funded by the museum and Harvard University. The free site is helping scholars decipher clues to Egyptian culture during the Pyramid Age, said project director Peter Der Manuelian. And it is becoming even more valuable as the monuments...

A New Trend in Family Planning

Young, low-income women in Florida -- most of them already mothers -- are more and more having their tubes tied. At age 22, Margaret Mack ended her child-bearing days. She lived with her three small children, mother, and unemployed brother in a cheap, two-bedroom apartment.

Surgery at Sea

The e-mail arrived from halfway around the world: A Russian sailor, alone aboard his competition yacht bobbing in the stormy South Atlantic, two scalpels and used gauze scattered about the cabin, wondered if he would die. "Have been sitting on the bloody cabin floor almost completely naked . . . watching as my life drop by drop leave me," Victor Yazykov typed on his keyboard last Thursday.

Super-Sensing Whale Tooth

For centuries observers have been fascinated and mystified by the majestic spiral tusk grown by the small Arctic whale known as the narwhal. The extraordinary tooth—extending up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) and textured like a seashell—long evoked the horn of the mythical unicorn and was once sought by royalty as a magical antidote to poison.

Double Duty Dads

Gregory Marks is the milkman. On weekday mornings, he brings a bottle of his wife's breast milk to their baby son, Sean. The four-pound infant, born six weeks early, sleeps in the warm, bluish glow of a hospital incubator. He has yet to see the light of day, but he already recognizes his father's touch.

Heroin in New England

All across northern New England, heroin is addicting younger users, increasing other crime, and killing addicts at an unprecedented pace, according to law enforcement and public health agencies.

MIT Super Soldier

Imagine a futuristic battleground where soldier uniforms as light as paper resist bullets, treat wounds, and detect chemical and biological poisons, where soft fabrics morph into splints, and battle suit sensors relay details about a soldier's location and physical condition to headquarters.

Weathering "The Worst" for Science

Bryan Yeaton, decked head to toe in windproof winter gear, braces himself on the Mount Washington Observatory roof as 70 mph gusts whip chunks of snow and ice past his head like so many arctic fastballs.

Taking the Lead

It’s time to tango and the competition is hot at the 2008 “Dancing With Chicago Celebrities”—an annual charity ball to benefit breast cancer research. As the beat begins, a professional dance instructor, his black shirt unbuttoned, emerges from the wings.

A Chocolate Lover's Dream

Remember Woody Allen's character in the 1973 film "Sleeper," who wakes up 200 years in the future to find that steak, cream pies, and hot fudge are considered healthy? Nutritionists are not quite there yet, but Dr. Norman Hollenberg is raising hopes that the secret elixir of life may have less to do with wheat germ and more with cocoa.

Touched by an Angel

He likes to keep things simple: He’s a vegan. He doesn’t drink alcohol. He shaves his head and has a wardrobe consisting primarily of 50 black Imerman Angels T-shirts.

Running of the Brides

Here come the brides, all 500 of them, dressed in bluejeans and sneakers. Pumped with adrenaline, they stand prepared to knock the glass doors of Filene's Basement off their hinges -- it's happened four or five times before -- to score The Perfect Dress in the biggest bridal sale scrum of the season.

First Comes Baby, Then Comes Marriage

A recently released Pew Research Center study shows that while fewer adults in the United States are getting married overall than in the past, the median age at first marriage has never been higher for brides and grooms. Simultaneously, there’s been a record increase in first-time mothers over 40.

Chastity Clubs Grow

There are too many virgins in America. Flooded with applications, the National Chastity Assn. has been forced to disband.

The Writer's Workspace: An Interview

My desk is a light birch veneer IKEA tabletop with brushed silver trestle legs. It’s about the farthest thing from my ideal, which would be an antique natural wood farm table with a wide top and lots of character. In fact, it’s pretty much anti-character.

What Hollywood Gets Wrong

When my co-authors and I wrote our memoir about the astonishing things that happened after we decided to become fortysomething single mothers with anonymous donor sperm, everyone told us we should call it "The Lucky Sperm." We didn’t. We figured, who wants to sit on the subway with the word sperm on their book cover?

Our Date with Donor 8282

I was 37 and wanted a baby. Clearly, things were not going to plan. My strategy for Getting a Life had morphed into Racing the Biological Clock. But I didn’t have to look far to see what was still possible.

Faux Out-of-Home Advertising: The Appeal of Astonishment

brands and viral content creators are taking the oldest form of mass marketing to the next level. Brands and viral content creators are combining computer-generated imagery (CGI) with organic social media posts to create faux out-of-home advertising or FOOH—hyper-realistic outdoor activations that don’t really exist. In other words, what you see, you can’t believe.

5x5

Emotional Branding and The Power of Feelings - Curmudgeon Group

Like a romantic suitor who gives you butterflies, emotional branding is all about stirring feelings that create positive mental representations, visceral connections, and consistent loyalty to a brand over time. The best emotional branding strategy works from the perspective of the consumer, who wants to be known, inspired, awakened, and helped.

Back-To-School: Pivoting During the Pandemic - Curmudgeon Group

With U.S. students heading back to their studies (one way or another) during the COVID-19 pandemic, brands have pivoted their marketing to adapt. Top performers will act in real time, be flexible, focus on e-commerce, provide contactless opportunities, and consider thoughtful marketing. As a Macy's spot said: "No matter how we school, let's be ready."

The Rent Is Too High-So Help Is on the Way in Many Cities, States

When Stasha Powell moved into her one-bedroom apartment in Redwood City, CA, about 26 miles south of San Francisco, the rent was $625 per month. That was 17 years ago. Today, Powell, 44, faces a rent set to increase within months to $2,600-more than double her current rate of $1,040.

Content Delivery in 2020 Politics: Live, Live, Live! - Curmudgeon Group

Make no mistake: The 2020 presidential campaign, already kicking into gear, will take place in an unprecedented media and engagement marketing environment of in-your-face, unfiltered (and often cringe-worthy) immediacy.

Co-Buying: How Cash-Strapped Millennials Are Becoming Homeowners Without Family Help

As a single mother of two, Kelsey Perkins was able to buy a five-bedroom house last year in a suburb of Denver, CO-one of the priciest housing markets in the country. She didn't have a high-paying corporate job, a lot of savings or even assistance from her parents to put toward the $470,000 home.

Likability & Leadership: The Female Double-Bind - Curmudgeon Group

Most women know that unlike their male counterparts, success in the workplace takes more than competency and ambition alone. Female leaders are expected not only to lead, but are often tasked with additional emotional labor. They need to be both direct and authoritative while being collaborative and likable.