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Rocky Mountain forest fires are breaking 2000 year records

Satellite photo of forest fire
Colorado’s East Troublesome Fire jumped the Continental Divide on Oct. 22, 2020, and eventually became Colorado’s second-largest fire on record. Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory

Rocky Mountain forests burning more now than any time in the past 2,000 years

Philip Higuera, The University of Montana; Bryan Shuman, University of Wyoming, and Kyra Wolf, The University of Montana

The exceptional drought in the U.S. West has people across the region on edge after the record-setting fires of 2020. Last year, Colorado alone saw its three largest fires in recorded state history, one burning late in October and crossing the barren Continental Divide well above the tree line.

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Exercise is free medicine for your brain

Photo of man in gym
The author, Arash Javanbakht, at his gym. Javanbakht did not like to exercise until he found an activity he enjoyed. Arash Javanbakht, CC BY-SA

The exercise pill: How exercise keeps your brain healthy and protects it against depression and anxiety

Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University

As with many other physicians, recommending physical activity to patients was just a doctor chore for me – until a few years ago. That was because I myself was not very active. Over the years, as I picked up boxing and became more active, I got firsthand experience of positive impacts on my mind. I also started researching the effects of dance and movement therapies on trauma and anxiety in refugee children, and I learned a lot more about the neurobiology of exercise.

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The many problems that come with palm oil

Photo of palm fruit
ACEH, INDONESIA - OCTOBER 26: Worker's drops the palm fruit from their pandanus before being taken to an oil palm factory in Sido Mulyo village, North Aceh, on 27 October 2017 in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
Oil palm fruit in North Aceh, Indonesia. Fachrul Reza / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
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How palm oil became the world’s most hated, most used fat source

Jonathan E. Robins, Michigan Technological University

Palm oil is everywhere today: in food, soap, lipstick, even newspaper ink. It’s been called the world’s most hated crop because of its association with deforestation in Southeast Asia. But despite boycott campaigns, the world uses more palm oil than any other vegetable oil – over 73 million tons in 2020.

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World Sickle Cell Day – June 19th

Photo of a doctor and patients
Photo credit CDC.gov

World Sickle Cell Day

This World Sickle Cell Day (observed every year on June 19), find new stories and resources about sickle cell disease!

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder that causes “sickle” shaped red blood cells that can stick together, blocking blood flow and oxygen from reaching all parts of the body. People with SCD can experience pain, anemia, infection, and other serious health problems (also known as complications) that may require care by a healthcare provider. When health problems, such as serious pain (also known as pain crises), cannot be managed at home or a visit to a healthcare provider is not possible, children and adults with SCD often require care in hospital emergency departments (ED) or clinics for treatment. In fact, the Sickle Cell Data Collection (SCDC) program (CDC’s current SCD monitoring project) found that, in California, people with SCD seek care in the ED an average of three times a year from their late teens to their late 50s.

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Could a Nasal Spray of Designer Antibodies Help to Beat COVID-19?

Graphic depicting nasal spray fighting virus

Dr Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health

There are now several monoclonal antibodies, identical copies of a therapeutic antibody produced in large numbers, that are authorized for the treatment of COVID-19. But in the ongoing effort to beat this terrible pandemic, there’s plenty of room for continued improvements in treating infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

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New ways to tackle the ecological damage caused by shipping

Photo of container ship being moved by tugboats
Shipping is responsible for a large portion of global emissions. William William/Unsplash, CC BY

Shipping is tough on the climate and hard to clean up – these innovations can help cut emissions

Jing Sun, University of Michigan

Ships carry more than 80% of world trade, and they rely heavily on some of the least environmentally friendly transportation fuels available.

There are no cheap, widely available solutions that can lower the shipping industry’s planet-warming carbon emissions – in fact, shipping is considered one of the hardest industries on the planet to decarbonize – but some exciting innovations are being tested right now.

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Fish seen as key to fighting world hunger

Photo of small fish
Nutrient-rich small fish harvested from a rice field in Bangladesh. Ben Belton, CC BY-ND

The 2021 World Food Prize recognizes that fish are key for reducing hunger and malnutrition

Ben Belton, Michigan State University

Fish and other aquatic foods are integral to diets for more than 1 billion people worldwide. Most of these people live in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, close to rivers, lakes or the sea.

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Climate tipping point now a matter of decades away

Photo of arctic mountain near meltwater.
The big wildcard for sea level rise is Antarctica. James Eades/Unsplash

Antarctica is headed for a climate tipping point by 2060, with catastrophic melting if carbon emissions aren’t cut quickly

Julie Brigham-Grette, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Andrea Dutton, University of Wisconsin-Madison

While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken draws attention to climate change in the Arctic at meetings with other national officials this week in Iceland, an even greater threat looms on the other side of the planet.

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The winds of change coming to US shores

Pohto of wind turbines on water
Building a U.S. offshore wind industry will require more than just fast-tracking permits. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

US approves its first big offshore wind farm, near Martha’s Vineyard – it’s a breakthrough for the industry

Erin Baker, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Matthew Lackner, University of Massachusetts Amherst

The United States’ offshore wind industry is tiny, with just seven wind turbines operating off Rhode Island and Virginia. The few attempts to build large-scale wind farms like Europe’s have run into long delays, but that may be about to change.

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Supplement improves glucose metabolism in women’s muscle

Photo of women Exercising
A supplement improved insulin sensitivity in muscle and is now being tested in a larger trial. PeopleImages / E+ via Getty Images

Sharon Reynolds
National Institutes of Health

At a Glance

  • In a small trial, the muscles of women who took a supplement called nicotinamide mononucleotide for 10 weeks had improvements in their ability to process sugar.
  • More research is needed to see if the supplement can help prevent or manage diabetes in people.
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