HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

East County News Service

December 27, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Mumps Cases Rise in San Diego and Across the Nation (KPBS)
• New Ebola vaccine gives 100% protection (New York Times)
• Wins and Losses in Global Health in 2016 (NPR)
• Despite Pledges to Cut Back, Farms Are Still Using Antibiotics (NPR)
• Multiple sclerosis drug 'a landmark' (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Security risk on in-flight entertainment systems, say researchers (BBC)
• Privacy Advocates Claim Interactive Doll Spies On Children (NPR)
• Evernote opens satellite office in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Facebook says government requests for account data rise 27 percent (Reuters)
• Pulse victims lawsuit: Did social media provide 'material support' for terrorism? (CS Monitor)
• No risk seen from Fukushima 'fingerprint' on US West Coast (CS Monitor)
• Cheetahs heading toward extinction as habitat crashes (BBC)
• Scientists amazed by iron 'jet stream' in Earth's molten core (CS Monitor)
• 'Klingon' newts and 'Ziggy Stardust' snakes among 150 new Mekong species (CS Monitor)
• Rumblings of Europe's supervolcano: Will the sleeping giant awaken? (CS Monitor)
• Long before Rudolph, these gigantic birds flew around the North Pole (CS Monitor)

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

HEALTH

Mumps Cases Rise in San Diego and Across the Nation (KPBS)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says mumps activity is at a 10-year high.

New Ebola vaccine gives 100% protection (New York Times)

After decades of trying, scientists have finally devised a powerful vaccine against a terrifying contagion.

Wins and Losses in Global Health in 2016 (NPR)

"This year there's been one big home run and a lot of scratch singles." That's how Red Sox fan and editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, sums up the year-that-was in public health. Zika was the home run of 2016.

Despite Pledges to Cut Back, Farms Are Still Using Antibiotics (NPR)

It's a continuing paradox of the meat industry. Every year, more restaurants and food companies announce that they will sell only meat produced with minimal or no use of antibiotics. And every year, despite those pledges, more antibiotics are administered to the nation's swine, cattle and poultry. According to the latest figures, released this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, antibiotic sales for use on farm animals increased by 1 percent in 2015, compared to the previous year. 

Multiple sclerosis drug 'a landmark' (BBC)

A drug that alters the immune system is described as a "landmark" in treating multiple sclerosis.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Security risk on in-flight entertainment systems, say researchers (BBC)

In-flight entertainment systems could be hacked because of security flaws, say researchers.

Privacy Advocates Claim Interactive Doll Spies On Children (NPR)

Could the toys under your Christmas tree be spying on you? Consumer groups point to an interactive doll they say encourages children to give up personal data, in violation of the law.

Evernote opens satellite office in San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Evernote, the Bay Area company that makes a digital note-taking service used by more than 200 million people, has chosen San Diego for its third U.S. office location, and is currently employing seven engineers in a temporary space in Sorrento Valley.

Facebook says government requests for account data rise 27 percent (Reuters)

 Facebook Inc said on Wednesday that government requests for user account data rose 27 percent in the first half of 2016 compared to the second half of last year, with U.S. law enforcement agencies topping the list.

Pulse victims lawsuit: Did social media provide 'material support' for terrorism? (CS Monitor)

Families of three victims killed last summer in a mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., accused Facebook, Twitter, and Google of violating US anti-terrorism law.

No risk seen from Fukushima 'fingerprint' on US West Coast (CS Monitor)

Radiation from the Japan Fukushima nuclear accident was detected on the US West Coast for the first time this year, although the levels are miniscule.

Cheetahs heading toward extinction as habitat crashes (BBC)

The report estimates that there are just 7,100 of the world's fastest mammals now left in the wild. Cheetahs are in trouble because they range far beyond protected areas and are coming increasingly into conflict with humans. The authors are calling for an urgent re-categorisation of the species from vulnerable to endangered.

Scientists amazed by iron 'jet stream' in Earth's molten core (CS Monitor)

Scientists from Denmark and Britain were astonished when Europe’s fleet of Swarm satellites detected signs of a swiftly moving river of molten metal within Earth’s core, similar to the atmosphere’s jet stream, but buried thousands of miles below our feet.  This westward-flowing jet is important to the global magnetic field, researchers say, and learning more about the river of metal could help explain why the Earth’s magnetic field has changed throughout Earth history.

'Klingon' newts and 'Ziggy Stardust' snakes among 150 new Mekong species (CS Monitor)

Dozens of new discoveries along the Mekong River in Southeast Asia offer a glimmer of hope to a region under pressure from development and poaching. // The discoveries included nine amphibians, 11 fish, 14 reptiles, three mammals, and more than 120 plant species. 

Rumblings of Europe's supervolcano: Will the sleeping giant awaken? (CS Monitor)

Campi Flegrei has not erupted since 1538. But now, there are signs it could awaken in the near future.

Long before Rudolph, these gigantic birds flew around the North Pole (CS Monitor)

New Cretaceous bird fossils, some of the oldest in the Arctic, suggest the polar climate 90 million years ago was as warm as Florida today.