Science

Feds Urge Early Flu Shots As Australia Sees Outbreak

Axios reports: Public health officials on Thursday urged Americans to get their seasonal flu vaccine early this year, in case the U.S. follows Australia’s season in which the virus hit many people early. While public health officials admit the vaccine is not 100% effective, there’s growing research showing that the vaccine reduces the severe and sometimes deadly complications from the …

Read More »

UN Climate Report Paints Bleak Picture On Oceans

USA Today reports: The world’s oceans and mountains are in peril, and so are we, according to a major new report from United Nations climate scientists released early Wednesday. The “Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere” offers a bleak picture. It warns that the world’s oceans have reached or are nearing critical tipping points: Oceans have gotten warmer, more …

Read More »

Deep Dive: How Anti-Vax Movement Took Hold In US

Fascinating deep dive from the New York Times: Though the situation may seem improbable to some, anti-vaccine sentiment has been building for decades, a byproduct of an internet humming with rumor and misinformation; the backlash against Big Pharma; an infatuation with celebrities that gives special credence to the anti-immunization statements from actors like Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey and Alicia Silverstone, …

Read More »

MAINE: Anti-Vax Nutbags Qualify For Ballot Measure

The Bangor Daily News reports: Members of Mainers for Health and Parental Rights, the group opposing the vaccine law passed this year by the Democratic-led Legislature, were in Augusta on Wednesday to turn in 78,000 valid signatures — more than the 63,000 signatures required to suspend the law and put the people’s veto challenge on the ballot — to Secretary …

Read More »

Walmart To Drop E-Cigs As Concern Over Vaping Rises

The New York Times reports: Walmart said on Friday that it would end sales of e-cigarettes at its United States locations. The decision comes amid growing medical concerns about the effects of vaping. In recent months, mysterious vaping-related illnesses have been on the rise. Medical authorities said on Thursday that the number of vaping-related lung illnesses had risen to 530 …

Read More »

PENNSYLVANIA: Three Mile Island Closes Today

Axios reports: Climate activists are rallying in the streets here and around the world today calling for urgent action curbing carbon emissions, while a controversial but carbon-free nuclear power plant 180 miles away quietly goes offline. The big picture: It’s an ironic moment in history. Nuclear power provides America — and the world — with one of the largest sources …

Read More »

Emails Show NASA’s Surprise At Near-Miss Asteroid

Buzzfeed News reports: In late July, a record-setting asteroid hurtled just 40,400 miles over Earth, the largest space rock to come so close in a century. But perhaps more alarming than the flyby itself is how much it caught NASA by surprise, according to internal agency documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. Spotted just 24 hours before a relatively narrow miss …

Read More »

Pentagon Admits 2017 UFO Videos Are Authentic

NBC News reports: Three videos posted online that have been described as being related to UFO sightings do indeed include footage of “unidentified aerial phenomena,” a U.S. Navy spokesman confirmed. But as for specifics, spokesman Joseph Gradisher said the Navy doesn’t know exactly what the objects are. “The three videos (one from 2004 and two from 2015) show incursions into …

Read More »

Anti-Vax Nutbags: We’re The New Civil Rights Activists

Politico reports: A chorus of mostly white women sang the gospel song “We Shall Overcome” in the California State Capitol, an anthem of the civil rights movement. Mothers rallied outside the governor’s office and marched through Capitol corridors chanting “No segregation, no discrimination, yes on education for all!” Some wore T-shirts that read “Freedom Keepers.” But this wasn’t about racial …

Read More »

NEW YORK: Governor To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes

The New York Times reports: Amid a surge of vaping-related illnesses and deaths, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced on Sunday that he would pursue emergency regulations this week to quickly ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The governor’s action comes days after President Trump announced an effort to ban similar vaping products on a federal level. If …

Read More »

Trump Admin Readies Ban On Flavored E-Cigarettes

CNBC reports: The Trump administration is preparing to ban flavored e-cigarettes as federal health officials call for restrictions to combat an outbreak of a mysterious lung disease that has sickened hundreds and killed at least six people, U.S. health secretary Alex Azar told reporters Wednesday. President Donald Trump held a policy meeting on the issue at the White House on …

Read More »

Severe Lung Illnesses Double, CDC Urges: Stop Vaping

The New York Times reports: Medical experts and federal health officials on Friday warned the public about the dangers of vaping and discouraged using the devices as the number of people with a severe lung illness linked to vaping has more than doubled to 450 possible cases in 33 states. State officials reported two deaths, bringing the number of confirmed …

Read More »

FDA Identifies Contaminant Linked To Vaping Illnesses

The Washington Post reports: State and federal health officials investigating mysterious lung illnesses linked to vaping have found the same chemical in samples of marijuana products used by people sickened in different parts of the country and who used different brands of products in recent weeks. The chemical is an oil derived from vitamin E. Investigators at the U.S. Food …

Read More »

New York City Declares End To Measles Outbreak

Gothamist reports: New York City’s biggest measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, which predominantly sickened ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park, has ended. According to Health Department officials, 42 days, or two consecutive incubation periods for the highly contagious virus have passed, allowing the city to declare itself measles-free. The last recorded infection was in mid-July. An emergency …

Read More »

Michigan First State To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes

The Washington Post reports: Michigan on Wednesday will become the first state in the nation to ban flavored e-cigarettes, a step the governor said was needed to protect young people from the potentially harmful effects of vaping. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), in an interview, said the state health department found youth vaping constituted a public health emergency, prompting her to …

Read More »

STUDY: Many Genes Influence Same-Sex Attractions

The New York Times reports: How do genes influence our sexuality? The question has long been fraught with controversy. An ambitious new study — the largest ever to analyze the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior — found that genetics does play a role, responsible for perhaps a third of the influence on whether someone has same-sex sex. The influence comes …

Read More »

HHS Warns Against Marijuana Use By Young People

Politico reports: The surgeon general Thursday issued an advisory cautioning young people and pregnant people against using marijuana, warning it poses risks to developing brains. HHS officials said the best science available suggests no amount of marijuana use during pregnancy or for youth is known to be safe. Surgeon General Jerome Adams’ advisory was the first his office issued on …

Read More »

Astronaut Accused Of Accessing Estranged Wife’s Bank Account From Space Station, Possible First Space Crime

The New York Times reports: Summer Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer living in Kansas, has been in the midst of a bitter separation and parenting dispute for much of the past year. So she was surprised when she noticed that her estranged spouse still seemed to know things about her spending. Had she bought a car? How could …

Read More »

CDC Links Vaping To 153 Cases Of “Severe Lung Illness”

USA Today reports: Like to vape? Dabble in dabbing? Be careful: The number of vaping-related illnesses among teens and young adults is on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that 153 possible cases of severe lung illness linked to vaping were reported across 16 states in just the past two months. Many cases involved …

Read More »

Groups Sue EPA Over Approval Of Bee-Killing Pesticide

Bloomberg Environment reports: A pair of environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to approve use of a bee-killing pesticide on more than 190 million acres of crops. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Aug. 20, over the Environmental Protection Agency’s …

Read More »