"Lead radiation shields forced on workers at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to cover their dosimeters masked radiation readings by about 30 percent."

"In the Soviet playbook for all-out war with the United States, the wasting of U.S. cities by nuclear bombs was to be followed by something equally horrifying: waves of plagues to kill any survivors. Soviet scientists spent decades preparing for the second attack, concocting new kinds of biological weapons more lethal than any ever invented."

"A Luzerne County physician claims in a federal lawsuit that Pennsylvania's new oil and natural gas drilling law will force him to violate ethical rules in treating his patients."

As ethnobotanists meet in New York City, they offer reminders that obscure and endangered species should be preserved because they sometimes form the basis of miracle drugs.

"KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda's Ministry of Health is advising residents to avoid eating dead animals especially monkeys, after declaring an outbreak of the highly infectious Ebola virus that has killed 14 people."

"Four times in the past century, a new strain of flu has emerged that can spread quickly in humans. One of those strains, which emerged in 1918, killed an estimated 50 million people."

"Little progress has been made in combating many types of food-borne illnesses in recent years, according to new federal data, an outcome that food safety advocates say underscores the need to put into place the landmark food-safety bill signed by President Obama more than a year ago."

"Secret files reveal the German maker of thalidomide ignored and covered up repeated warnings that its drug could damage unborn babies."

"For the first time, more than 8,000 temporary wilderness firefighters -- the men and women who battle some of the nation's most devastating fires -- will be eligible to receive federal health insurance, the White House said Tuesday."