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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

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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

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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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FDA warns consumers about dangerous hand sanitizers

photo of hand sanitizer dispenser
Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Reiterates Warning About Dangerous Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers Containing Methanol, Takes Additional Action to Address Concerning Products

Agency Urges Consumers, Health Care Professionals Not to Use Certain Products, Citing Serious Adverse Events and Death

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to warn consumers and health care professionals not to use certain alcohol-based hand sanitizers due to the dangerous presence of methanol, or wood alcohol – a substance often used to create fuel and antifreeze that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin as well as life-threatening when ingested. The agency has also taken additional action to help prevent certain hand sanitizers from entering the United States by placing them on an import alert. The FDA is proactively working with manufacturers to recall products and is encouraging retailers to remove products from store shelves and online marketplaces. As part of these actions, a warning letter has been issued to Eskbiochem S.A. de C.V. regarding the distribution of products labeled as manufactured at its facilities with undeclared methanol, misleading claims –including incorrectly stating that FDA approved these products—and improper manufacturing practices.

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A rush is on to mine the deep seabed

Photo of mineral deposits on the ocean floor
Manganese nodules on the Atlantic Ocean floor off the southeastern United States, discovered in 2019 during the Deep Sea Ventures pilot test. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration

A rush is on to mine the deep seabed, with effects on ocean life that aren’t well understood

Elizabeth M. De Santo, Franklin & Marshall College; Elizabeth Mendenhall, University of Rhode Island, and Elizabeth Nyman, Texas A&M University

Mining the ocean floor for submerged minerals is a little-known, experimental industry. But soon it will take place on the deep seabed, which belongs to everyone, according to international law.

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Turning bricks into batteries

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Bricks could do double duty as building materials and supercapacitors. Big_Ryan/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Clever chemistry turns ordinary bricks into electricity storage devices

Julio M. D’Arcy, Washington University in St Louis

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

In my synthetic chemistry lab, we have worked out how to convert the red pigment in common bricks into a plastic that conducts electricity, and this process enabled us to turn bricks into electricity storage devices. These brick supercapacitors could be connected to solar panels to store rechargeable energy. Supercapacitors store electric charge, in contrast to batteries, which store chemical energy.

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Being a COVID-19 long-hauler

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Margot Gage Witvliet was hospitalized with COVID-19 in March. More than four months later, she has yet to recover. Courtesy of Margot Gage Witvliet, Author provided

I’m a COVID-19 long-hauler and an epidemiologist – here’s how it feels when symptoms last for months

Margot Gage Witvliet, Lamar University

Imagine being young and healthy, a nonsmoker with no preexisting health conditions, and then waking up one morning feeling like you were being suffocated by an unseen force. Back in March, this was my reality.

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A violent derecho sweeps through the Midwest

Photo of a massive storm cloud
A deadly derecho strikes central Kansas. (Photo by Jim Reed/Corbis via Getty Images)

What is a derecho? An atmospheric scientist explains these rare but dangerous storm systems

Russ Schumacher, Colorado State University

Thunderstorms are common across North America, especially in warm weather months. About 10% of them become severe, meaning they produce hail 1 inch or greater in diameter, winds gusting in excess of 50 knots (57.5 miles per hour), or a tornado.

The U.S. recently has experienced three rarer events: organized lines of thunderstorms with widespread damaging winds, known as derechos.

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