Science

STAT News reports: President Trump’s absence in the national conversation about the measles outbreaks has prompted some debate in the public health community about whether he should be playing a more active role. For some observers, though, the question is not whether public officials should be supporting vaccinations, but rather whether a president who has previously spread false information linking …

The New York Times reports: In a study that raises profound questions about the line between life and death, researchers have restored some cellular activity to brains removed from slaughtered pigs. The brains did not regain anything resembling consciousness: There were no signs indicating coordinated electrical signaling, necessary for higher functions like awareness and intelligence. But in an experimental treatment, …

The New York Daily News reports: A group of anti-vaccination proponents claim city officials overstepped their bounds — and violated their religious beliefs — by imposing an emergency order last week making measles vaccinations mandatory, according to a lawsuit filed early Monday. The five parents, who filed anonymously in Brooklyn Supreme Court, brought the case against the Department of Health …

The BBC reports: The first privately funded mission to the Moon has crashed on the lunar surface after the apparent failure of its main engine. The Israeli spacecraft – called Beresheet – attempted a soft landing, but had several technical and communication problems. The aim of the mission was to take pictures and conduct experiments. Only government space agencies from …

The Wall Street Journal reports: In a handful of fossilized teeth and bones, scientists say they’ve found evidence of a previously unknown human species that lived in what is now the Philippines about 50,000 years ago. The discovery deepens the mystery of an era when the world was a melting pot of many different human kinds on the move. Small-jawed …

The Independent reports: An international scientific team on Wednesday announced a milestone in astrophysics – the first-ever photo of a black hole – using a global network of telescopes to gain insight into celestial objects with gravitational fields so strong no matter or light can escape. The research was conducted by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project, an international collaboration …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor de Blasio declared a public health emergency over the measles outbreak in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community, mandating vaccinations for people living in Williamsburg zip codes to stem the crisis. People found not to be vaccinated could result in fines up to $1000. “There’s no question that vaccines are safe, effective and life-saving,” said …

The Daily Beast reports: New York City health officials announced a new crackdown Monday on yeshivas in a Brooklyn neighborhood that are letting unvaccinated students attend school in the midst of a major measles crisis. The Health Department had already ordered Jewish academies in certain zip codes to send home children who are not fully immunized, but some of the …

The Hudson Journal-News reports: State legislators are pushing to end non-medical exemptions to vaccinations for school-aged children, as measles cases in Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland County have reached 425. State Sen. Brad Hoylman and state Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the main sponsors of the bills, were joined by medical professionals and State Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, Thursday afternoon on the …

NBC News reports: Japan’s space agency said an explosive dropped Friday from its Hayabusa 2 spacecraft successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system. Friday’s mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa 2 because …

NPR reports: LGBT people are typically depicted as city and coastal dwellers. And those who live in rural America are often characterized as people yearning to escape rural life for more acceptance in urban areas. But a new study from the Movement Advancement Project, a think tank that advocates for LGBT equality, shatters that stereotype. Between 2.9 million and 3.8 …

NBC News reports: Government scientists announced Tuesday that they’re pulling the plug on a research program that’s resulted in the deaths of thousands of cats. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Services lab had been infecting cats with toxoplasmosis and then euthanizing them since 1982 as part of its effort to combat the foodborne illness. The USDA’s announcement comes …

CBS News reports: Health officials in Rockland County, New York have declared a state of emergency amid an ongoing measles outbreak. The county is prohibiting unvaccinated children under the age of 18 from going out in public spaces for 30 days. There have been 153 confirmed cases of measles in Rockland County, which sits about 40 miles north of New …

The Daily Beast reports: Anti-vaxxers have long used GoFundMe to raise money to spread their dangerous message—but now the site is cutting them off, The Daily Beast has learned. “Campaigns raising money to promote misinformation about vaccines violate GoFundMe’s terms of service and will be removed from the platform,” spokesman Bobby Whithorne told The Daily Beast. Last week, the American …

NBC News Philadelphia reports: As a mumps outbreak continues to grow at Temple University, school health officials said Thursday they will offer free vaccinations to students and staff. At least 86 people are tied to the mumps outbreak at the North Philadelphia university which has some 40,000 students and 4,500 staff members. The Philadelphia health department said Thursday that 16 …

Time Magazine reports: An Italian politician who opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations has been hospitalized with chickenpox. Massimiliano Fedriga, who is part of the far-right League party, was under observation for four days earlier this month after getting chickenpox, according to local news reports. It’s an ironic twist in fate for Fedriga, who opposed the introduction of the so-called Lorenzin law …

The Guardian reports: Sharp and potentially devastating temperature rises of 3C to 5C in the Arctic are now inevitable even if the world succeeds in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris agreement, research has found. Winter temperatures at the north pole are likely to rise by at least 3C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, and there could …

The Dayton Daily News reports: As other states are facing outbreaks of childhood diseases such as measles and mumps, Ohio lawmakers are considering legislation that would require school districts to tell parents how easy it is to opt out of immunizations. When schools notify parents of immunization requirements, they would be required to spell out available exemptions, according to a …

USA Today reports: A federal judge today denied issuing a temporary injunction that would have allowed 44 unvaccinated children to go back to class at the Green Meadow Waldorf School, citing Rockland County’s “unprecedented measles outbreak.” “The plaintiffs have not demonstrated that public interest weighs in favor of granting an injunction,” U.S. District Court Judge Vincent Briccetti said in federal …

Time Magazine reports: President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget includes nearly $300 million meant to “defeat the HIV/AIDS epidemic” in the U.S. — even as it calls for a 12% reduction in total funding to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The proposed budget calls for $140 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to …