HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

April 21, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting-edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Report Shows Spike in San Diego County Babies Born with Drugs in Their Systems (KPBS)
• Lead Impacted Hundreds of San Diego Kids Even Before the Latest Scare (Voice of San Diego)
• About half of physicians support single-payer healthcare system, LinkedIn survey says (Healthcare Finance)
• What Doesn't Kill You Can Maim: Unexpected Injuries from Opioids (NPR)
• What Happens to a Congressman's Health Insurance if Obamacare Goes Down? (NPR)

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• How a melting Arctic changes everything (Bloomberg)
• The fingerprint sensor on your smartphone might not be foolproof (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• ‘Star Wars’-style desert moisture farming: New tech brings it a step closer (CS Monitor)
• Electric Concrete at Airports Could Save Us All from Winter Flight Delays (Travel and Leisure)

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

HEALTH

Report Shows Spike in San Diego County Babies Born With Drugs in Their Systems (KPBS)

Ever so quietly, a California health agency recently uploaded an alarming chart on its website.

Lead Impacted Hundreds of San Diego Kids Even Before the Latest Scare (Voice of San Diego)

Last year, public health officials found hundreds of children in San Diego County with elevated levels of lead in their blood. / The children are at risk for a host of health problems, including behavioral disorders. / Of those, 91 had what the county considers especially dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Another 680 had elevated levels that could still be high enough to cause intellectual impairments.

About half of physicians support single-payer healthcare system, LinkedIn survey says (Healthcare Finance)

Nearly half of physicians polled in a new LinkedIn survey said they would support a single-payer healthcare system, which would essentially establish Medicare-like coverage for all age groups rather than relying on the current model of insurance coverage. …Many cited efficiency as one of the main reasons for their stance, saying it's often a hassle to work with a number of different insurance companies, each with its own billing practices.

What Doesn't Kill You Can Maim: Unexpected Injuries from Opioids (NPR)

Emergency room doctors are just beginning to study a new kind of casualty in the opioid epidemic — patients who survive an overdose, but walk away with brain damage, kidney failure or dead muscle.

What Happens To A Congressman's Health Insurance if Obamacare Goes Down? (NPR)

Under the Affordable Care Act, most members of Congress and staff who want to buy health insurance must buy it on the exchange. That requirement is not affected by bills aimed at replacing the ACA.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

How a melting Arctic changes everything (Bloomberg)

Eight countries control land in the Arctic Circle. Five have coastlines to defend. The temperature is rising. The ice is melting. The race for newly accessible resources is beginning. And Russia is gaining ground.

The fingerprint sensor on your smartphone might not be foolproof (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Researchers at New York University and Michigan State University developed artificial “master” fingerprints that appear capable of hacking smartphones. The break-ins were carried out during computer simulations and worked about 65-percent of the time.

‘Star Wars’-style desert moisture farming: New tech brings it a step closer (CS Monitor)

Researchers are working to take the process from science fiction to reality. A new study is demonstrating how one device could work even in dry desert conditions using only the power of the sun.

Electric Concrete at Airports Could Save Us All from Winter Flight Delays (Travel and Leisure)

… A team at the university, led by Professor Halil Ceylan, developed an electrically conductive concrete that melts snow and ice on contact. The system was installed as a test at Des Moines International Airport in March.