HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

July 1, 2016 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• 9 plants that bug bugs—including mosquitoes (USA Today)
• List of possible Zika birth defects grows longer  (Scientific American)
• Bright, Bluish-White LED Streetlamps Disrupt Sleep Cycles, AMA Says (NPR)
• Groundbreaking Skin Cancer Treatment Given Approval In Record Time [in the UK) (iflScience)
• Bad News For Kids Who Don't Like Flu Shots (NPR)
• Abortion demand 'soars' amid Zika fear (BBC)
• For Centuries, A Small Town Has Embraced Strangers With Mental Illness (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• BMW's recycled electric car batteries to power homes (CS Monitor)
• Battle erupts over security of chip-enabled credit card readers (CS Monitor)
• Fake fingerprints: The latest tactic for protecting privacy (CS Monitor)
• India launches 20 satellites at one go; most to serve U.S. customers (Reuters)
• Did our planet once have more than two magnetic poles?  (CS Monitor)
• Facebook's political influence under a microscope (Reuters)
• ACLU files lawsuit over U.S. anti-hacking law (Reuters)

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

HEALTH

9 plants that bug bugs—including mosquitoes (USA Today)

Summer is almost here, and you'll want to spend more time in your backyards and gardens. Unfortunately, so will the bugs.  And because of viruses such as Zika and West Nile, mosquitoes are a big concern. You can plant herbs and flowers that repel those bugs, including mosquitoes, and add a touch of beauty to your backyard.

List of possible Zika birth defects grows longer  (Scientific American)

Research to be presented next week …suggests that serious joint problems, seizures, vision impairment, trouble feeding and persistent crying can be added to the list of risks from Zika exposure in the womb… even when Zika-exposed babies are born without microcephaly and appear largely normal at birth they can go on to have health issues including seizures and developmental delays that only become apparent in the weeks and months after birth. The new work also reinforces recent findings that suggest the type of outcomes the babies experience also varies by what trimester their mothers were in when they were exposed to Zika—with few cases of microcephaly when mothers were exposed during the third trimester.

Bright, Bluish-White LED Streetlamps Disrupt Sleep Cycles, AMA Says (NPR)

The American Medical Association says some energy-efficient streetlamps interfere with circadian rhythms and also cause glare. It recommends that towns choose less intense, warmer-colored lights.

Groundbreaking Skin Cancer Treatment Given Approval In Record Time [in the UK) (iflScience)

During the testing phase, these two immunotherapy drugs – known as ipilimumab and nivolumab – allowed 69 percent of patients with melanoma, the most severe form of skin cancer, to survive two years after their diagnosis. More than half of patients saw their tumors shrinking, and a fifth of them had no signs of melanoma at all.

Bad News For Kids Who Don't Like Flu Shots (NPR)

A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended against using a needle-free flu vaccine that's popular with pediatricians, parents and children.

Abortion demand 'soars' amid Zika fear (BBC)

Fears over the Zika virus have contributed to a "huge" increase in number of abortions in Latin America, researchers suggest.

For Centuries, a Small Town Has Embraced Strangers With Mental Illness (NPR)

Families struggle to find a safe, therapeutic place for loved ones with serious mental disorders. In Geel, Belgium, residents have brought mentally ill strangers into their homes for centuries.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

BMW's recycled electric car batteries to power homes (CS Monitor)

The German automaker says it will soon recycle the battery cells of its i3 electric vehicle by installing them in homes, providing a family with enough electricity for up to two days. The company says it will offer a standalone energy storage system in the near future

Battle erupts over security of chip-enabled credit card readers (CS Monitor)

The Home Depot and Wal-Mart are suing MasterCard and Visa in separate lawsuits over what the retailers claim is lax security on chip-enabled card readers that puts consumers at risk of fraud.

Fake fingerprints: The latest tactic for protecting privacy (CS Monitor)

The Identity pad – a project to create artificial and reusable fingerprints – addresses the security and privacy risks associated with the growing use of biometric technology.

India launches 20 satellites at one go; most to serve U.S. customers (Reuters)

India successfully launched 20 satellites in a single mission on Wednesday, with most of them set to serve international customers as the South Asian country pursues a bigger share of the $300 billion global space industry.

Did our planet once have more than two magnetic poles?  (CS Monitor)

A new study suggests our planet's magnetic field may not have always been oriented along one axis with two poles. 

Facebook's political influence under a microscope (Reuters)

 As the U.S. presidential campaign heats up, Facebook Inc is going out of its way to show its neutrality - an increasingly urgent matter for the social network as evidence of its power continues to emerge.

ACLU files lawsuit over U.S. anti-hacking law (Reuters)

The American Civil Liberties Union said it filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court on Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of an anti-hacking law, arguing it prevents academics and others from collecting data to investigate whether online algorithms may be discriminatory.