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Vitamin C and muscle mass

Photo of older couple exercising
Muscle mass is important for maintaining health and being active during older age. Liderina/ Shutterstock

Vitamin C could help older adults retain muscle mass – new research

Ailsa Welch, University of East Anglia and Richard Hayhoe, University of East Anglia

As we get older, our skeletal muscle mass, strength and power to move gradually decline, which may lead to a condition called sarcopenia. Sarcopenia affects more than 50 million people over the age of 50 years worldwide, and contributes to type 2 diabetes, frailty, physical disability, loss of independence and poor quality of life. So it’s an important condition to prevent during ageing to minimise both personal and societal costs.

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What is Novichok? A neurotoxicologist explains

Photo of Russian Soldier explaining chemical weapons
FILE - In this file photo taken on on Oct. 4, 1987, a Soviet army officer presents ammunition rigged with chemical agents during a visit by Western diplomats and journalists to a chemical weapons research facility in Shikhany, Saratov region, Russia. The facility in Shikhany led the efforts to develop Soviet chemical weapons, including Novichok-class nerve agents. (AP Photo/John Thor Dahlburg, File)

William Atchison, Michigan State University

The German government has announced that toxicology tests proved that the Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, the same nerve agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter two years ago. Novichok, or “newcomer” in Russian, refers not to a single chemical but rather a group of related molecules designed for only one purpose: to kill.

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NASA-led Study Reveals the Causes of Sea Level Rise Since 1900

Photo of melting ice
This aerial photograph shows fast-moving meltwater rivers flowing across the Greenland Ice Sheet, a region that, combined with Antarctic meltwater and thermal expansion, accounts for two-thirds of observed global mean sea level rise.

Scientists have gained new insights into the processes that have driven ocean level variations for over a century, helping us prepare for the rising seas of the future.

JPL.NASA.GOV

To make better predictions about the future impacts of sea level rise, new techniques are being developed to fill gaps in the historic record of sea level measurements. We know the factors that play a role in sea level rise: Melting glaciers and ice sheets add water to the seas, and warmer temperatures cause water to expand. Other factors are known to slow the rise, such as dams impounding water on the land, slowing its flow into the sea.

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Coronavirus may remain on surfaces for days

Photo of hand washing
Image by Renate Köppel from Pixabay
National Institutes of Health (NIH):

At a Glance

  • Scientists found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days.
  • The findings emphasize the importance of hand washing and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces to protect against infection.
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Microplastics a growing threat to sea turtles

Photo of deceased turtle.
Deceased post-hatchling loggerhead sea turtle next to plastic pieces found in its stomach and intestines. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, CC BY-ND

Newly hatched Florida sea turtles are consuming dangerous quantities of floating plastic

David Duffy, University of Florida and Catherine Eastman, University of Florida

Plastic pollution has been found in practically every environment on the planet, with especially severe effects on ocean life. Plastic waste harms marine life in many ways – most notably, when animals become entangled in it or consume it.

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A Machine-Learning Assist to Predicting Hurricane Intensity

Image of hurricane approaching Gulf Coast
Shortly before coming ashore in Louisiana, Hurricane Laura - pictured making landfall on Aug. 27 - underwent a process called rapid intensification, with winds that jumped 35 mph (56 kph) or more within 24 hours. Image Credit: NOAA

NASA research could help to improve forecasts of whether a hurricane will suddenly intensify, which could give people in its path more time to prepare.

In October 2015, Hurricane Patricia in the Northeast Pacific Ocean blew up from a Category 1 storm into a Category 5 monster within 24 hours, its winds leaping from 86 mph (138 kph) to 207 mph (333 kph). Patricia wasn’t the first or the last hurricane to suddenly strengthen in such a short time – but it was a spectacular demonstration of a phenomenon that has plagued meteorological forecasts for decades.

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PFAS can increase your risk of severe COVID-19

Photo of woman with mask
The same chronic illnesses associated with exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds also increase risk of developing severe COVID-19. Engin Akyurt and Kai Dahms/Unsplash

How endocrine-disrupting chemicals like PFAS can increase your risk of severe COVID-19

Kathryn Crawford, Middlebury

Nearly a year before the novel coronavirus emerged, Dr. Leonardo Trasande published “Sicker, Fatter, Poorer,” a book about connections between environmental pollutants and many of the most common chronic illnesses. The book describes decades of scientific research showing how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, present in our daily lives and now found in nearly all people, interfere with natural hormones in our bodies. The title sums up the consequences: Chemicals in the environment are making people sicker, fatter and poorer.

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How dangerous heat waves can kill

Photo of man enduring high temperatures
A man uses a wet towel to cool off, Tuesday, July 28, 2020 in New York. The city has opened more than 300 fire hydrants with sprinkler caps to help residents cool off during a heat wave. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

How dangerous heat waves can kill

William H. Calvin, University of Washington

Heat waves are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, not the more photogenic windstorms and floods. Hotter summers from climate change are causing concerns over new dangers to people.

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Producing a NASA-Designed COVID-19 Ventilator

Photo of ventilator prototype
This image shows the ventilator prototype for coronavirus patients designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) is designed to be faster to build and easier to maintain than traditional ventilators, with a fraction of the parts. Photo Credit: NASA.gov

Brazilian Partnership to Begin Producing NASA-Designed COVID-19 Ventilator

The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency has approved the commercial manufacture of VITAL, a breathing device designed specifically to address the needs of coronavirus patients.

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Studying immune system differences between the sexes

Photo of mail Covid patient in hospital bed
CREMONA, ITALY - MARCH 29: Mattia Guarneri lies on a bed in coma, connected to a ventilator, in Cremona Hospital on March 29, 2020 in Cremona, Italy. The young man have been discharged from Cremona Hospital on April 16, 2020. Mattia, aged 18, is the youngest person in Italy that's being discharged after being in a coma and attached to a ventilator. There have been over 150,000 reported COVID-19 cases in Italy and more than 20,000 related deaths, but the officials are confident the peak of new cases has passed. (Photo by Marco Mantovani/Getty Images)

COVID-19’s deadliness for men is revealing why researchers should have been studying immune system sex differences years ago

Adam Moeser, Michigan State University

When it comes to surviving critical cases of COVID-19, it appears that men draw the short straw.

Initial reports from China revealed the early evidence of increased male mortality associated with COVID. According to the Global Health 50/50 research initiative, nearly every country is now reporting significantly higher COVID-19-related mortality rates in males than in females as of June 4. Yet, current data suggest similar infection rates for men and women. In other words, while men and women are being infected with COVID-19 at similar rates, a significantly higher proportion of men succumb to the disease than women, across groups of similar age. Why is it then that more men are dying from COVID-19? Or rather, should we be asking why are more women surviving?

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