Tabitha M. Powledge

Science & Medical Writer & Editor

Articles

The Riddle of the Ancient Mariners
From California Wild, Summer 1999



Viral cause for prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer may be caused by a virus. Is it also an STD?



Addiction on the Brain
What will we learn about addiction in 2007? What about genes and the brain, new treatments, an anti-addiction vaccine? From the Popular Science predictions issue in January 2007.

How to Improve Your Brain
There's no evidence that puzzles, brain-teasers, music, or most of the other nostrums hyped today will increase your overall brain fitness. And there's a reason for that.

Hot Flashes? Don’t Suffer
Taking hormones was once routine for Women of a Certain Age. Estrogen therapy makes hot flashes go away, and doctors thought it staved off heart disease and other ills too. Recent studies question those benefits, throwing millions of menopausal women into confusion. Can you safely take hormones today? Are there alternatives?

Is your cellphone killing you?
It's the largest human experiment the world has ever seen. Billions of people are subjected to radiation that's close-up and personal, some of them for many hours every day. Do cell phones cause brain tumors and other nasty health problems? Some studies suggest there may be problems, others say no. But the plain fact is that we just don't know.

Book of Life?
Hosanna! The first draft of the Human Genome Project has been completed. A revisionist account.

Selected Articles

Magazine Article
The Riddle of the Ancient Mariners
How did the first Americans walk from the Bering Strait to Southern Chile? They didn't.

News feature
Viral cause for prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is increasingly looking like an infectious disease--and may be sexually transmitted
Articles
Addiction on the Brain
Addiction predictions, 2007. From the January 2007 issue of Popular Science
How to Improve Your Brain
Crossword puzzles and brain-teasers? Forget about it.
Hot Flashes? Don’t Suffer
What should you do about menopause symptoms?
Is your cellphone killing you?
Nobody knows. From Salon.com