SCIENCE AND HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS

October 28, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Man walks again after transplant (BBC)
• UN now training Ebola survivors to help with care (AP)
• Stem cells to treat blindness appear to be safe (AP)
• Live Airport Tweets: An NPR Producer's Irregular Ebola Screenings (NPR)
• Slippery When Coated: Helping Medical Devices Resist Blood Clots (NPR)
• Emotions Linger After Forgotten Events In Alzheimer's Patients (NPR)

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

• Could Earth's magnetic poles suddenly flip? (+video) (CS Monitor)
• Who's Catching Your Cellphone Conversations? (NPR) 
• Smart meters open to hack attack (BBC)
• Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project (Reuters)
•  Severe weather alert: U.S. study finds tornadoes coming in swarms (Reuters)
• How scientists overlooked a 2,500-square-mile cloud of methane over the Southwest (+video) (CS Monitor)
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For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Man walks again after transplant (BBC)

A paralysed man becomes the first in the world to walk again following a pioneering therapy which involved transplanting cells from his nose into his severed spinal cord.

UN now training Ebola survivors to help with care (AP)

 The United Nations has begun training Ebola survivors to help respond to the soaring number of cases in West Africa, because people who've lived through the experience are now immune to the disease, UNICEF's crisis communications chief told reporters Friday.

Stem cells to treat blindness appear to be safe (AP)

An experimental treatment for blindness that uses embryonic stem cells appears to be safe, and it improved vision in more than half of the patients who got it, two early studies show.... In the new research, scientists turned stem cells into retinal cells to treat people with macular degeneration or Stargardt's macular dystrophy, the leading causes of blindness in adults and children....

Live Airport Tweets: An NPR Producer's Irregular Ebola Screenings (NPR)

Airports around the world have begun screening passengers arriving from West Africa for signs of Ebola. But as producer Rebecca Hersher live-tweets, not all of the exams are as strict as promised.

Slippery When Coated: Helping Medical Devices Resist Blood Clots (NPR)

When blood flows over an artificial surface, whether it's an implanted pacemaker or tubing for a dialysis machine, there's an increased risk that a dangerous clot will form.

Emotions Linger After Forgotten Events In Alzheimer's Patients (NPR)

A new study suggests that people with Alzheimer's can hold on to happy or sad feelings, even if they forget what triggered them. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with the study's author, Edmarie Guzman-Velez.

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Could Earth's magnetic poles suddenly flip? (+video) (CS Monitor)

Scientists have found that the most recent reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles took only about 100 years. What's more, our planet's magnetic fields appear to be weakening, suggesting a flip is on its way.

Who's Catching Your Cellphone Conversations? (NPR) 

The police do it. The FBI does it. Could be, foreign governments do it. With the right equipment, people can hijack your cellphone calls and texts and listen in....

Smart meters open to hack attack (BBC)

Smart meters widely used in Spain can be hacked to cut power bills, two security researchers find....  The discovery comes as one security expert warns some terror groups may attack critical infrastructure.

Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project (Reuters)

Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade.

Severe weather alert: U.S. study finds tornadoes coming in swarms (Reuters)

Tornadoes in the United States are increasingly coming in swarms rather than as isolated twisters, according to a study by U.S. government meteorologists published on Thursday that illustrates another trend toward extreme weather emerging in recent years.

How scientists overlooked a 2,500-square-mile cloud of methane over the Southwest (+video) (CS Monitor)

Scientists first noticed the largest methane hotspot in the US years ago, but the readings were so extreme they thought it might be instrument error. Emissions are 80 percent higher than previous Environmental Protection Agency estimates.