Johannah Cornblatt

Ancient Egyptians relied on a pregnancy test that was roughly 70 percent accurate: if a woman urinated on grain seeds and they grew—thanks to high levels of estrogen and progesterone in her urine—she was probably pregnant. Today, people still place a high premium on diagnosing themselves from the comfort of their own bathrooms.

The recent freeze on home foreclosures brought cheers from some quarters—especially owners of the more than 1 million homes nationally due to be repossessed.

Moving in together before marriage used to be associated with a higher risk for divorce. But now, as more unmarried couples than ever before decide to live under the same roof, do they face the same fate? Sociologists think the calculus may have changed. Part of the difference stems from just who's deciding to shack up.

A new study claims men focus on women's bodies when they're seeking a quick hookup, but look above the neckline for a long-term mate. It may ring true, but is it Stone Age psychology at work?

It is not a truth universally acknowledged, but a single man in possession of no fortune may still be in want of a wife. At least that was the case for Gary Kremen, the founder of the online dating service Match.com.

Corsets, cage crinoline petticoats, and foot binding have gone out of vogue, but some of the latest fashion trends are just as bad—if not worse—for your health. Here's what you should know about the risks associated with everything from skinny jeans to the Brazilian wax.

In all the uproar over the Sunderland family's alleged reality-TV contract, it sometimes sounded like, in search of a quick buck, teenage sailor Abby Sunderland's parents snatched her from in front of the Xbox, threw her on a sailboat, and forced her to sail around the world.

Americans are spending more and more dollars each year on probiotic supplements, or so-called "friendly" bacteria. Studies have shown that probiotics—which you might purchase in the form of yogurt, capsules, miso, beverages, or powders—can treat a host of conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea caused by viral infection or antibiotics, vaginal yeast infections, hypertension, the common cold, and even acne.

by Johannah Cornblatt The photo showed a man in a T shirt and baseball cap standing on top of a mountain. Tien-Yi Lee, a Web-site designer who had joined Nerve.com's online dating service, says she felt an instant connection. "I saw his picture, and he had a very kind of friendly, sparkly vibe," she says. "He had a great smile." A few days later, Lee met the man at a bar in Cambridge, Mass.

By Johannah Cornblatt Baseball fans have been enjoying a great World Series marked by exceptional pitching and some notably iffy offense. Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira, who led the American League this year in home runs and RBI, was hitting a meager .105 through the first five games.

by Johannah Cornblatt Last Saturday night, according to police in Richmond, Calif., as many as two dozen teenagers watched the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside her school homecoming dance in Richmond, Calif., but no one did anything.

A brief history of sex ed in America.

A group of Harvard scientists and students were poisoned in August after drinking from coffee contaminated with a chemical preservative known as sodium azide, according to an internal memorandum leaked to the Boston Herald yesterday.

by Johannah Cornblatt The day after Beethoven died, Ferdinand Hiller, a 15-year-old German music student, clipped a large lock of the composer's wild hair to keep as a memento.

Today, we ran an article about an increase in eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS) among college students. But what does EDNOS really mean? The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) defines eating disorders not otherwise specified as "disorders of eating that do not meet the criteria for any specific eating disorder." The EDNOS classification encompasses a wide range of patients: Individuals who are at 87 percent of their ideal body...

In an effort to fight obesity, colleges may also trigger disordered eating.

First came the news that the average computer keyboard was five times as filthy as a toilet seat. Then came the reports that flip-flops played host to more than 18,000 bacteria.

Despite our inter-connectedness, we're now more alone than ever.

by Johannah Cornblatt This February, a 26-year-old Californian woman and her mother boarded a Continental flight for Costa Rica. When they arrived at the Sán Jose International Airport, a driver in a white van picked them up and took them to the five-star Intercontinental hotel.

Colleges are bracing for the spread of swine flu this fall. How they plan to cope.

When Dr. James Turner gave his freshman-orientation health talk at the University of Virginia, he spotlighted one thing: a new vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV), the fastest-spreading sexually transmitted disease and the main cause of cervical cancer and genital warts.

The NFL has effectively banned stadiums from playing Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" after the Brit rocker was convicted of molesting underage girls in Vietnam, prompting a search for a substitute celebratory anthem.