HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

April 19, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Romaine lettuce caused an ongoing e-coli outbreak, CDC says (Time Magazine)
• UC San Diego Bio-Engineers Develop Wearable Device To Monitor Stomach Activity (KPBS)
• Medicare Advisers Recommend Payment Cuts To Many Free-Standing ERs (NPR)

 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Officials warn Russian hackers targeting U.S. routers (CBS)
• Pentagon announces 2000% increase in Russian trolls since Friday (Axios)
• Those stickers warning that repairs will void your warranty are nonsense, FTC says (Washington Post)
• The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news. (Washington Post)
• Thousands of apps in Google Play Store may be illegally tracking children, study finds (Washington Post )
• More than 100 parts for NASA's Orion capsule to be 3D printed  (Reuters)

 For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Romaine lettuce caused an ongoing e-coli outbreak, CDC says (Time Magazine)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that a recent outbreak of E. coli in multiple states was linked to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona.

UC San Diego Bio-Engineers Develop Wearable Device To Monitor Stomach Activity (KPBS)

A pair of bioengineers at UC San Diego has come up with a wearable device that could provide some insight into digestive problems.

Medicare Advisers Recommend Payment Cuts To Many Free-Standing ERs (NPR)

An agency that advises Congress recommends a 30 percent reduction in some federal reimbursements to free-standing ERs that are within 6 miles of a hospital.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Officials warn Russian hackers targeting U.S. routers (CBS)

…Russian spies are reportedly trying to hack into routers. They’re the devices that allow communication between the internet and your computer and other connected devices.Access to a router can allow hackers to get personal information, financial data, and passwords from users, as well as infiltrate internet service providers.

Pentagon announces 2000% increase in Russian trolls since Friday (Axios)

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in Saturday's Pentagon briefing that there has been a "2,000% increase in Russian trolls in the last 24 hours," following the coordinated strike against Syria on Friday night. The bottom line: The problem of Russian actors generating division and conflict among Americans isn't going away.

Those stickers warning that repairs will void your warranty are nonsense, FTC says (Washington Post)

If worries about voiding your warranty have ever kept you from trying to repair your own electronics, or from visiting the cheap repair shop on the corner, the government has good news for you. The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that warning stickers that say people will void their warranties are not only meaningless but also illegal. 

The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news. (Washington Post)

The Atlantic Ocean circulation that carries warmth into the Northern Hemisphere’s high latitudes is slowing down because of climate change, a team of scientists asserted Wednesday, suggesting one of the most feared consequences is already coming to pass. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has declined in strength by 15 percent since the mid-20th century to a “new record low,” the scientists conclude in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature. That’s a decrease of 3 million cubic meters of water per second, the equivalent of nearly 15 Amazon rivers…There is great fear that there may be a “tipping point” where the circulation comes to an abrupt halt.

Thousands of apps in Google Play Store may be illegally tracking children, study finds (Washington Post )

Seven researchers analyzed nearly 6,000 apps for children and found that the majority of them may be in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).  Thousands of the tested apps collected the personal data of children younger than 13 without a parent's permission, the study found.

More than 100 parts for NASA's Orion capsule to be 3D printed  (Reuters)

 More than 100 parts for U.S. space agency NASA's deep-space capsule Orion will be made by 3D printers, using technology that experts say will eventually become key to efforts to send humans to Mars.