Two of the nation’s essential commercial waterways face extraordinary risk from climate change and associated flooding, a new report from the nonprofit American Rivers says. In its updated list of “America’s Most Endangered Rivers,” the group says marked increases in precipitation across the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri rivers, combined with poor floodplain management, have placed millions […]
This dispatch is from the not so distant past. It is time to see a patient. We flock together as a team: attending physician, a handful of resident physicians, a cohort of medical students, the hospital floor’s charge nurse, the bedside nurse, a respiratory therapist, a pharmacist, a pharmacy student and maybe a few others. […]
For those with diabetes or prediabetes, managing blood sugar levels is a critically important part of preventing the progression of this disease and avoiding serious complications. But even for healthy people, keeping your blood sugar in a healthy range can help reduce the risk of obesity and the risk of developing diabetes. How do you […]
Consumer genetic tests can sometimes result in a terrible surprise appearing in the same report that divulges whether one has a cilantro aversion or wet or dry earwax. Test takers may receive the devastating news that they have a version of a gene—apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 (APOE e4)—that greatly increases their chances of getting Alzheimer’s […]
Scientific American April 2020 A scaly sea creature called a chiton sparks an idea for new protective gear Protective gear has come a long way since the days of medieval armor. But engineers still have trouble shielding joints like elbows and knees, which requires material tough enough to prevent injury but flexible enough to allow […]
Depression and other mood disorders often lack a discernible cause. Like many complex diseases, they emerge as genes and life circumstances interweave in mysterious ways. Less enigmatic, though, is the fact that these conditions affect women about twice as often as men. Understanding how and why requires a look at the underlying biology—the brain circuits and […]
Have you ever wondered what the subglacial lakes of Antarctica look like? I have. In this video, a team of American scientists led by Dr. John Priscu of Montana State University and including Dr. Trista Vick-Majors, lead author of a new study on Subglacial Lake Whillans, take a peek at subglacial Lake Mercer. A Glimpse of […]
Brown-headed cowbirds are obligate brood parasites. That means they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, leaving all the hard work of incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks to somebody else. Luckily, many of those other species have evolved some anti-parasitic defenses. Yellow warblers, for example, produce a certain type of call […]
My patients are children, and my patients often die. As a pediatric neuro-oncologist, my practice frequently brings me to the beds of dying children and the funerals and memorial services that follow. I have the privilege of supporting families from diagnoses to cure or demise. Early in my career, I was required to come to […]
Had everything gone to plan, NASA’s third mission to land astronauts on the moon would have deployed a pallet of science instruments and brought back samples from humanity’s first visit to the lunar uplands. Instead, 50 years ago this month, Apollo 13 “had a problem.” An oxygen tank that had been unknowingly damaged before it […]