March 31, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• San Diego County has seen 20 cases of fungal threat that CDC calls a growing concern  (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Federal judge says insurers no longer have to provide some preventive care services, including cancer and heart screenings, at no cost (CNN)
• WHO: New Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.16 Is ‘One to Watch’ (US News)
• Why drugs like Adderall, antibiotics and flu medications are in short supply   (NPR)
• Oklahoma court OK's abortion to preserve mother's life (AP)

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 

• Elon Musk and other tech leaders call for pause in ‘out of control’ AI race (CNN)
• It takes a few dollars and 8 minutes to create a deepfake. And that's only the start (NPR)
• NATO bans Tik-Tok on devices (CNN)
• Utah social media law means kids need approval from parents  (AP)

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March 9, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attacks and stroke, study finds (CNN)
• Scam alert: Fake Medicare calls targeting recipients (10 News)
• FDA authorizes the first at-home test for COVID and the flu  (NPR)
• How Cancer Immunotherapy Extended Jimmy Carter's Life and the Hope It Brings to Others (Healthline)
• U.S. analysis keeps covid ‘lab leak’ theory in play (Washington Post)
• George W. Bush's anti-HIV program PEPFAR is hailed as 'amazing' — and still crucial at 20  (NPR)
• No one really knows how much Covid is silently spreading… Again  (Atlantic)
• Here’s an Alternative to Statins for Lowering Cholesterol  (Time)
• A promising RSV drug could soon be available for babies  (NPRR)

SCIENCE AND TECH 

• ‘Take it down’: a tool for teens to remove explicit images (10 News)
• No ideological splits, only worried justices as High Court hears Google case  (NPR)
• 6 scholars explain what a real climate solution is  (KPBS)

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February 8, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Being overweight can cause similar changes in the brain as having Alzheimer's, new study suggests  (NBC)
• House votes to end COVID vaccine requirement for foreign air travelers (New York Post)   
• Sewage from planes is a key Covid tracking tool, reports say, as CDC talks to airlines about wastewater testing  (NBC)
• Can humans and pets catch bird flu? What to know about the outbreak. (Washington Post)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It’s Been Rough Going. (New York Times)
• We need native seeds in order to respond to climate change, but there aren't enough  (NPR)
• ‘We hacked the hackers’: Law enforcement disrupts Hive gang (Washington Post)
• The hidden environmental costs of transitioning to electric vehicles  (NPR)
• The world is creating more single use plastic waste than ever, report finds (CNN)

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January 1, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• A common DNA test can find cancer in bodies of seemingly healthy pregnant people : Shots - Health News  (NPR)
• XBB variant sparks new Covid concerns (NBC)
• Regular exercise can significantly reduce death, hospitalization from COVID-19  (NPR)
• Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S. (Washington Post)
• WHO “very concerned“ about reports of severe Covid in China (AP)
• The F.D.A. Now Says It Plainly: Morning-After Pills Are Not Abortion Pills (New York Times)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Car Makes Record-Breaking 621-Mile Trip on Single Charge Powered by the Sun (Good News Network)
• The cargo hauling aircraft with no pilots aboard (BBC)
• Farm-bred octopus: A benefit for the species or an act of cruelty? (Los Angeles Times)

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December 4, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Marine veterans sue over alleged toxic water exposure at Camp Lejeune: "Poisoned as a result of their service" (CBS)
• RSV straining children’s hospitals across California (Los Angeles Times)
• Almost Twice as Many Republicans Died From COVID Before the Midterms Than Democrats (Vice)
• Covid Killed Half as Many San Diegans During Year Two of the Pandemic, But More Young People (Voice of San Diego)
• States differ on how best to spend $26B from settlement in opioid cases (NPR)
• The pandemic isn't over yet, but thousands of public health workers lost their jobs  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Lava, vog and "Pele's hair": The hazards posed by Hawaii's volcano eruption  (CBS)
• Notpla: UK plastic-alternative developer among £1m Earthshot Prize winners (BBC)
• Teenagers led a group of hackers who breached some of the world's biggest tech companies. The government wants to know how they did it. (CBS)
• Elon Musk suspends Kanye West from Twitter, unveils plan to incentivize advertisers to return (CBS)

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November 12, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Fighting food poisoning: Sweeping poultry changes proposed (AP)
• There's a spike in respiratory illness among children — and it's not just COVID (NPR)
• Filthy floodwaters from Hurricane Ian drove wave of flesh-eating infections (Ars Technica)
• Iraqi minister admits gas flaring cancer link  (BBC)
• NEJM colonoscopy study's findings questioned by U.S. physicians (NPR)
• The World Health Organization releases list of deadly fungi  (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• FTX investigating a possible $473 million hack (CNN)
• FTX crypto exchange, billions of dollars low and under DOJ scrutiny, seeks bankruptcy (NPR)
• Meta confirms 11,000 layoffs, amounting to 13% of its workforce (Tech Crunch)
• Elon Musk named sole director of Twitter, dissolves board (The Hill)
• Mars Rover tech helps unravel an art mystery (NPR)
• Musk’s Twitter Roils With Hate Speech as Trolls Test New Limits (Bloomberg News)
• Pro-Russian hackers take credit for cyberattacks on U.S. airport websites  (NPR)
• Climate change: Can an enormous seaweed farm help curb it?  (BBC)
• They made a material that doesn't exist on Earth. That's only the start of the story.  (NPR)

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September 2, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Why has polio been found in New York, London and Jerusalem? (CBS News)
• Firefighters told to wear protective gear less to limit exposure to 'forever chemicals' linked to cancer (NBC)
• EPA to Designate Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' as Hazardous Substances (Newsmax)
• Young adults are using marijuana and hallucinogens at the highest rates on record (NPR)
• Q&A: The new COVID vaccine booster is coming. Should you get it?  (San Jose Mercury News)
• Hearing loss is a direct link to dementia. Easier access to hearing aids could help( NPR)
• Dogs getting sick with parvo-like illness in northern Michigan, dying within 3 days(MSN)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Soon electric vehicles could charge faster than your iPhone (Washington Post)
• Elon Musk's SpaceX and T-Mobile to link satellites to mobile phones, 'eliminating dead zones worldwide' (Business Insider)
• Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Confirmed: California Team Achieved Ignition (Newsweek)
• The world's first hydrogen-powered passenger trains are here(CNN)

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Update: The site came back up by early evening; the CDC has not announced what caused the outage.

July 28, 2022 (Washington D.C.) - The website for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (https://www.cdc.gov) has been down for at least half an hour, as of 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

ECM's editor found the site down while attempting to research travel vaccine requirements. She notified the CDC's media relations office, which was unaware of the outage.

March 2, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• New CDC Covid-19 metrics drop strong mask recommendations for most of the country (CNN)
• More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries (NPR)
• 73% of the U.S. immune to omicron variant, experts estimate (10 News)
• In-Depth: Exercise may boost antibody levels after vaccination (10 News)
• Five months post-covid, Nicole Murphy’s heart rate is still doing strange things (Washington Post)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• As the Tanks Rolled into Ukraine, So Did Malware. Then Microsoft Entered the War. (Yahoo News)
• Anonymous: the hacker collective that has declared cyberwar on Russia (Guardian)
• Apple pauses sales in Russia and stops all exports (NPR)
• AirTags are being used to track people and cars. Here's what is being done about it (NPR)
• Help Ukraine crypto scams emerge as Ukraine raises over $37 million (Bleeping Computer)
• EXCLUSIVE Ukraine to seek action against Russia from about 50 gaming, cloud and other tech firms (Reuters)

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February 3, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• COVID brain fog linked to changes in spinal fluid (10 News)
• The coronavirus vaccines are safer than aspirin or Tylenol (The Week)
• When can babies and kids under age 5 get their shots? Here's the timeline (NPR)
• U.S. Army begins to discharge soldiers who refuse COVID-19 vaccination (NPR)
• How blood from Wally the llama could treat omicron and future variants (10 News)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• IRS plan to scan your face prompts anger in Congress, confusion among taxpayers (Washington Post)
• Facebook loses users for the first time in its history (Washington Post)

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January 9, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• EU bans tattoo ink chemicals that may cause cancer  (The Journal – Ireland)
• Omicron and children: Pediatric hospitals in parts of U.S. filling fast (Washington Post)
• Anti-Vaxx QAnon Influencer Dies After Contracting COVID-19 (Business Insider)
• CDC warns against cruise ship travel regardless of vaccination status (NPR) 
• Virus leaves antibodies that may attack healthy tissues; B cell antibodies weakened, not defeated by Omicron (Reuters)
• Studies Suggest Why Omicron Is Less Severe: It Spares the Lungs (New York Times)
• Quarantine! Isolation! What's the difference when it comes to COVID?: (NPR)
• The goal: at least 40% vaxxed in all nations by year-end. This map shows how we stand (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Airlines have a recipe to reach zero emissions by 2050. The key ingredient: cooking oil  (Los Angeles Times)
• As omicron washes over America, much of the country still isn’t using exposure notification apps   (Washington Post)

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December 6, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• As Omicron Creeps Into More States, Delta Cases Are Also Rising (Kaiser Health News)
• COVID and pandemic stress is causing widespread hair loss (NPR)
• Young people recover quickly from rare heart side effect of COVID-19 vaccines (Web MD)
• New coronavirus, likely from dogs, infects people in Malaysia and Haiti (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works. (Quanta)
• Soon when you walk down the street, 3-D creatures could try to sell you something  (Washington Post)
• Ask Help Desk: Stop your Facebook account from getting hacked   (Washington Post)

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November 11, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Pfizer says its COVID-19 pill cuts disease's worst risks by 89% (NPR)
• The C.D.C. adds mental health conditions to its high-risk Covid list. (New York Times)
• This New Test Can Detect 50 Types of Cancer from a Single Blood Draw (Healthline)
• Surgical masks reduce COVID-19 spread, large-scale study shows (Stanford Medicine)
• Cannabis vaping among teens has grown sharply in recent years  (NPR)
• Scientists used a tiny brain implant to help a blind teacher see letters again (NPR)
• How SARS-CoV-2 in American deer could alter the course of the global pandemic (NPR)
• Lung Transplant Patient and Father of 18 Encourages First Responders to get COVID-19 Vaccine (NBC San Diego)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Facebook Renames Itself Meta (New York Times)
• European Parliament Calls for Bans on AI-based Biometric Recognition in Public Spaces, Predictive Policing, and Social Scoring (Privacy News Online)
• Facebook to delete users' facial-recognition data after privacy complaints (NPR)

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August 9, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• You asked, we’re answering. Your top questions on COVID-19 and vaccines (CNN)
• “Mask up to keep it up”: Preliminary evidence of the association between erectile dysfunction and COVID‐19 (National Institute of Health)
• Google And Facebook Mandate Vaccines For Employees At U.S. Offices (NPR)
• A CDC Document Gives New Details On Just How Dangerous The Delta Variant Really Is (NPR)
• COVID Symptoms May Linger In Some Vaccinated People Who Get Infected, Study Finds (NPR)
• Goldman Sachs is taking a hard line on employee vaccinations. Other big banks are following its lead (CNN)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• 'Code Red for Humanity': IPCC Report Warns Window for Climate Action Is Closing Fast (Common Dreams)
• The fungus and bacteria tackling plastic waste (BBC)

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June 28, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

Health

• Supreme Court dismisses challenge to Affordable Care Act, leaving it in place (CNN)
• L.A. County urges everyone to wear masks indoors as Delta variant spreads  (Los Angeles Times)
• He Inherited A Devastating Disease. A CRISPR Gene-Editing Breakthrough Stopped It(NPR)
• Federal Watchdog: Abuse Allegations Not Adequately Reported In California Nursing Homes  (KPBS)
• ‘Long COVID’ is a risk for the unvaccinated. What you need to know (Los Angeles Times)
• Third member of U.S. FDA advisory panel resigns over Alzheimer's drug approval (Reuters)
  
   

Science & Tech

• Court says FTC hasn’t provided evidence Facebook is a monopoly, dismisses lawsuit (Washington Post)
• Congress Weighs a Moratorium on Facial Recognition and Biometric Surveillance Technologies (Reason)
• Big Tech antitrust bills pass first major hurdle in House even as opposition grows (Washington Post)
• Ransomware claims are roiling an entire segment of the insurance industry (Washington Post)

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