HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

October 31, 2018 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Malaria: Sniffer dogs to help in effort to eradicate the disease (BBC)
• Air pollution may lead to dementia in older women (USC)
• When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• ‘Right-to-repair’ advocates claim major victory in new smartphone copyright exemption (Washington Post)
• More than a dozen cities are challenging the FCC over how to deploy 5G cell sites
• Trump is rolling back two Obama-era memos on wireless technology and replacing them with his own ‘national spectrum strategy’
• Amazon met with ICE officials over facial-recognition system that could identify immigrants
• Ready to Get Off Facebook? Reason Reviews 5 Alternative Social Networks (Reason)
• 60% of world's wildlife has been wiped out since 1970 (CBC)
• Coastal Pacific Oxygen Levels Now Plummet Once A Year (NPR)

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

HEALTH

Malaria: Sniffer dogs to help in effort to eradicate the disease (BBC)

Scientists in the UK and The Gambia say they have the first evidence that dogs can sniff out malaria. They have trained dogs to recognise tell-tale aromas using clothes from people infected with the disease. It is hoped the animals can be used to stop malaria spreading and eventually help with eradication.

Air pollution may lead to dementia in older women (USC)

USC-led study suggests that tiny, dirty airborne particles known as PM2.5 invade the brain

When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves (NPR)

A study published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry finds that when adolescents stop using marijuana – even for just one week – their verbal learning and memory improves. The study contributes to growing evidence that marijuana use in adolescents is associated with reduced neurocognitive functioning. / More than 14 percent of middle and high school students reported using marijuana within the last month, finds a National Institutes of Health survey conducted in 2017.

SCIENCE AND TECH

‘Right-to-repair’ advocates claim major victory in new smartphone copyright exemption (Washington Post)

It's legal now to fix your smartphone on your own or jailbreak voice assistants.

More than a dozen cities are challenging the FCC over how to deploy 5G cell sites

Millions of dollars in local fees are at stake over efforts to accelerate the spread of 5G wireless technology.

Trump is rolling back two Obama-era memos on wireless technology and replacing them with his own ‘national spectrum strategy’

With one eye on China, Trump wants more wireless airwaves made available to U.S. businesses.

Amazon met with ICE officials over facial-recognition system that could identify immigrants

The move could shove the tech giant further into a growing debate over the industry’s work with the government.

Ready to Get Off Facebook? Reason Reviews 5 Alternative Social Networks (Reason)

Facebook, Twitter, and other mainstream social networks have their issues. Are these 5 platforms viable alternatives?

Eighteen US volcanoes considered 'very high threat', government says (The guardian)

 US Geological Service included volcanos from Hawaii to California on danger list, its first updated threat assessments since 2005 Scientists have classified 18 US volcanoes as “very high threat” because of their activity and proximity to people. The US Geological Survey has updated its volcano threat assessments for the first time since 2005.

60% of world's wildlife has been wiped out since 1970 (CBC)

CBC News - Well over half the world’s population of vertebrates, from fish to birds to mammals, have been wiped out in the past four decades, says a new report from the World Wildlife Fund

Coastal Pacific Oxygen Levels Now Plummet Once A Year (NPR)

NPR - Scientists say West Coast waters now have a hypoxia season, or dead-zone season, just like the wildfire season.