HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

November 10, 2015 (San Diego's East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• A hospital reduces repeat ER visits by providing social workers (NPR)

• San Diego State Searches For Breakthrough In Paralysis (KPBS_

• Heroin, Opioid Abuse Put Extra Strain On U.S. Foster Care System (NPR)

• With No U.S. Standards, Pot Pesticide Use Is Rising Public Health Threat (KPBS)

• TB 'joins HIV as most deadly infection' (BBC)

• If A New Cancer Drug Is Hailed As A Breakthrough, Odds Are It's Not (NPR)

SCIENCE/TECH

• ACLU urges digital privacy safeguards for students  (CS Monitor)

• Incredible cave lions found preserved in Siberian permafrost (ZME Science)

• Can orange peels fight mercury pollution in our oceans? (CS Monitor)

• Shadow-Censorship on Social Media Sparks New Concerns for Open-Internet Advocates (Reason)

• Soon It'll Be OK To Tinker With Your Car's Software After All (NPR)

• Why the FCC voted to cap 'predatory' prison phone rates (CS Monitor)

• NASA says Antarctica is actually gaining ice. Does this mean climate is fine? (CS Monitor)

• World's largest offshore wind farm to power nearly half a million homes(CS Monitor)

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

HEALTH

A hospital reduces repeat ER visits by providing social workers (NPR)

A Milwaukee hospital is trying a new approach to get newly insured residents to stop using emergency rooms as their main source of medical care and develop relationships with doctors instead. The pilot project at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, the only hospital left in a mostly poor, black area of downtown Milwaukee, is labor intensive. But it's showing promise in getting patients connected with primary care doctors and in cutting ER costs.

San Diego State Searches For Breakthrough In Paralysis (KPBS_

Researchers at San Diego State University have been awarded a multi-million dollar grant to find whether a computer chip can replace damaged nerves.

Heroin, Opioid Abuse Put Extra Strain On U.S. Foster Care System (NPR)

Roughly 265,000 U.S. kids entered foster care last year — the highest number since 2008. Officials say the abuse of heroin or prescription painkillers by more parents is one reason for the increase.

With No U.S. Standards, Pot Pesticide Use Is Rising Public Health Threat (KPBS)

Many growers in the legal-marijuana industry are still trying to determine which pesticides and fungicides are safe to use. The EPA, which controls pesticides on other crops, isn't yet participating in the process because marijuana is federally illegal.

TB 'joins HIV as most deadly infection' BBC

Tuberculosis now ranks alongside HIV as the world's biggest killing infectious disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

If A New Cancer Drug Is Hailed As A Breakthrough, Odds Are It's Not

Untested cancer drugs are often hyped by journalists, doctors and biotech firms, a survey finds. Dressing up unproved medications with shiny words can inspire false optimism among patients.

SCIENCE/TECH

ACLU urges digital privacy safeguards for students  (CS Monitor)

An American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts survey of the state's public schools found that few have policies dealing with students' expectations of digital privacy in the classroom.

Incredible cave lions found preserved in Siberian permafrost (ZME Science)

Paleontologists have unearthed two spectacular cave lion cubs, preserved by the permafrost in the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia.

Can orange peels fight mercury pollution in our oceans? (CS Monitor)

An Australian scientist used orange peels and other recycled waste to create an effective and cost-efficient solution that fights mercury pollution. 

Shadow-Censorship on Social Media Sparks New Concerns for Open-Internet Advocates (Reason)

The future of information suppression may be much harder to detect—and thus enormously more difficult to counteract. The digital censors of tomorrow will not require intimidation or force; instead, they can exploit the dark art of "shadow-censorship."

Soon It'll Be OK To Tinker With Your Car's Software After All (NPR)

Security researchers and owners will be able to dig into the software built into cars and farming equipment under new exemptions from the Librarian of Congress, who oversees a copyright law provision.

Why the FCC voted to cap 'predatory' prison phone rates (CS Monitor)

Federal regulators added a cap on the cost of prison phone calls, a move welcomed by longtime advocates who say the industry preys on inmates' families.

NASA says Antarctica is actually gaining ice. Does this mean climate is fine? (CS Monitor)

Not quite, scientists say. But new study results show the fallibility of current measuring tools and challenges current theories about the causes of sea level rise.

World's largest offshore wind farm to power nearly half a million homes(CS Monitor)

The project is expected to be complete in 2018 and will produce 660 megawatts of power using 87 different turbines. The company responsible will eventually provide electricity to 12.5 million Europeans.