SCIENCE AND HEALTH HIGHLIGHTS

December 29, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)-- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

E-readers 'damage sleep and health' (BBC)

FDA Allows Gay Men To Donate Blood (NPR)

Study Shows Mice Passing Down Drug Benefits To Offspring

Military Policy Impedes Research On Traumatic Brain Injuries (NPR)

Whooping cough virus 'evolving fast' (BBC)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Wind trees use micro-turbine leaves to generate electricity (Reuters)

Carbon dioxide satellite returns with first global maps (BBC)

Back to the future: Scientists want ‘rewilded’ crops to boost agriculture (Reuters)

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

HEALTH

E-readers 'damage sleep and health' (BBC)

If you curl up under the duvet with an ebook for a bedtime read then you are damaging your sleep and maybe your health, US doctors have warned.

FDA Allows Gay Men To Donate Blood (NPR)

The Food and Drug Administration announced plans to change a decades-old policy banning men who have ever had sex with another man — even once — from giving blood for life.

Study Shows Mice Passing Down Drug Benefits To Offspring

(KPBS) — Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla were able to improve symptoms of [Huntington’s] disease in mice, even in those not directly given any drugs.

Military Policy Impedes Research On Traumatic Brain Injuries (NPR)

The U.S. military set up a bank to collect brain tissue samples to better understand battlefield brain injury. But a law that prevents tissue donations from U.S. troops has severely hampered efforts.

Whooping cough virus 'evolving fast' (BBC)

Whooping cough may be evolving to outsmart the currently used vaccine, say researchers.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Wind trees use micro-turbine leaves to generate electricity (Reuters)

A French start-up says its Wind Tree is ideal for urban environments, harnessing the most gentle of winds to produce power through its micro-turbine leaves.

Carbon dioxide satellite returns with first global maps (BBC)

Nasa's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) has returned its first global maps of the greenhouse gas CO2. The satellite was sent up in July to help pinpoint the key locations on the Earth's surface where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed.This should help scientists better understand how human activities are influencing the climate.

Back to the future: Scientists want ‘rewilded’ crops to boost agriculture (Reuters)

Scientists should "re-wild" food crops by inserting lost genetic properties of ancient, edible plants in order to boost agricultural output for a growing population, a new study said.