Hospital-acquired infections are rising – here’s how to protect yourself in health care settings
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Antibiotic-resistant infections on the rise
Heat dome, a term you will be hearing more often in the coming years
What is a heat dome? A meteorologist explains the weather phenomenon baking the northeast quarter of the US
William Gallus, Iowa State UniversityHeat domes, like the one sending temperatures soaring from the Midwest to New England in June 2024, occur when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area. A heat dome can linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven.
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What is meningococcal disease? What symptoms should I look out for? And how can I prevent it?
Professor Helen Marshall, University of Adelaide
Parents and doctors alike fear meningococcal infection, which has been in the news again. Doctors never want to miss a diagnosis, as early treatment with antibiotics may be life-saving. Parents fear the disease because up to 10% of children who become infected die from the disease and its complications.
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Humans are depleting groundwater worldwide, but there are ways to replenish it
Scott Jasechko, University of California, Santa Barbara; Debra Perrone, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Richard Taylor, UCL
If you stand at practically any point on Earth, there is water moving through the ground beneath your feet. Groundwater provides about half of the world’s population with drinking water and nearly half of all water used to irrigate crops. It sustains rivers, lakes and wetlands during droughts.
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Alcohol is harmful, even in small amounts
Alcohol use is widely accepted in the US, but even moderate consumption is associated with many harmful effects
Christina Mair, University of Pittsburgh
This month, millions of Americans are taking part in “Dry January” in an effort to forgo alcohol for a month and cleanse themselves of the excesses of the holiday season.
Alcohol is the most widely used drug in the world, including in the U.S.
In 2020, nearly 70% of people ages 18 and older in the U.S. said they had consumed an alcoholic drink in the previous year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Additionally, 24% of people reported binge drinking – defined for women as four or more drinks per occasion and five or more drinks per occasion for men – in the previous month.
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The Atlantic is at risk of circulation collapse – it would mean even greater climate chaos across Europe
Robert Marsh, University of Southampton
Amid news of lethal heatwaves across the Northern Hemisphere comes the daunting prospect of a climate disaster on an altogether grander scale. New findings published in Nature Communications suggest the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or Amoc, could collapse within the next few decades – maybe even within the next few years – driving European weather to even greater extremes.
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Glyphosate found in pregnant women living near farms
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, is showing up in pregnant women living near farm fields – that raises health concerns
Cynthia Curl, Boise State University and Carly Hyland, University of California, Berkeley
Living near farmland can significantly increase people’s exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used herbicide Roundup, new research shows. This chemical has been connected to health concerns, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma and a higher risk of preterm birth.
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Lizards, fish and other species are evolving with climate change, but not fast enough
Michael P. Moore, University of Colorado Denver and James Stroud, Georgia Institute of Technology
Climate change is threatening the survival of plants and animals around the globe as temperatures rise and habitats change.
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Alzheimer’s research benefits a wide range of genetic studies
Alzheimer’s disease is partly genetic − studying the genes that delay decline in some may lead to treatments for all
Steven DeKosky, University of Florida
Diseases that run in families usually have genetic causes. Some are genetic mutations that directly cause the disease if inherited. Others are risk genes that affect the body in a way that increases the chance someone will develop the disease. In Alzheimer’s disease, genetic mutations in any of three specific genes can cause the disease, and other risk genes either increase or decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
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Warming climate threatens river animals and plants
As climate change warms rivers, they are running out of breath – and so could the plants and animals they harbor
As climate change warms rivers, they are losing dissolved oxygen from their water. This process, which is called deoxygenation, was already known to be occurring in large bodies of water, like oceans and lakes. A study that colleagues and I just published in Nature Climate Change shows that it is happening in rivers as well.
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