u.s.

The Quality of Abortion Care Depends on Where a Woman Lives, Says One of Most Comprehensive Reviews of Research on Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the U.S.

While legal abortions in the U.S. are safe, the likelihood that women will receive the type of abortion services that best meet their needs varies considerably depending on where they live, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

Reforms Needed to Strengthen U.S. Biomedical Research System for Next Generation of Scientists

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a series of substantial reforms to strengthen the U.S. biomedical research system for the next generation of scientists.




u.s.

Statement on Harmful Consequences of Separating Families at the U.S. Border

We urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to immediately stop separating migrant children from their families, based on the body of scientific evidence that underscores the potential for lifelong, harmful consequences for these children and based on human rights considerations.




u.s.

A Domestic Electron Ion Collider Would Unlock Scientific Mysteries of Atomic Nuclei, Maintain U.S. Leadership in Accelerator Science, New Report Says

The science questions that could be answered by an electron ion collider (EIC) – a very large-scale particle accelerator – are significant to advancing our understanding of the atomic nuclei that make up all visible matter in the universe, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

U.S. Department of Transportation Should Revisit Federal Safety Regulations for Liquid Petroleum Gas Distribution Systems, Says New Report

Current federal safety regulations for small distribution systems used for propane and other liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) should be improved for clarity, efficiency, enforceability, and applicability to risk, says a new reportfrom the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

New Report Details Priority Research Projects for U.S. Department of Transportation Regarding Truck Size and Weight Regulations

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine presents a research roadmap to address gaps and uncertainties in estimating the impacts of proposed changes in truck size and weight limits -- the regulations that set the maximum weights, lengths, and numbers of trailers allowed for trucks on U.S. highways.




u.s.

U.S. NAS and NAM Presidents Issue Statement on the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing

We thank the organizing committee of the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held this week in Hong Kong, for planning an important and timely conference on a rapidly advancing area of science and medicine.




u.s.

U.S. Interstate Highways Need Overhaul

The future of the U.S. Interstate Highway System is threatened by a persistent and growing backlog of structural and operational deficiencies and by various looming challenges, such as the progress of automated vehicles, developments in electric vehicles, and vulnerabilities due to climate change.




u.s.

Minority-Serving Colleges and Universities Are Positioned to Serve as a Greater Resource for Meeting U.S. STEM Workforce Needs, But Increased Attention and Investments Are Needed

Higher education leaders, policymakers, and the private sector should take a range of actions to strengthen STEM programs and degree attainment in the nation’s Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

To Benefit From its Investments in Fusion Energy, U.S. Should Remain in ITER and Initiate a National Program of Burning Plasma Research and Technology

Along with participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project – a large, international burning plasma experiment – the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should start a national program of accompanying research and technology to build a compact pilot plant that produces electricity from fusion at the lowest possible capital cost, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

Breakthrough Solutions and Technologies Needed to Speed Cleanup of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Sites

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends changes in the way that the U.S. Department of Energy manages science and technology (S&T) development in order to accelerate the cleanup of radioactive waste and contaminated soil, groundwater, and facilities at U.S. nuclear weapons sites.




u.s.

Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Science and Technology

Chairwoman Johnson, Ranking Member Lucas and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences.




u.s.

Russian and U.S. Academies Sign Agreement to Continue Cooperation

The president of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the presidents of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM) have signed a five-year agreement to continue their cooperation on studies, workshops, and other activities in areas of mutual interest.




u.s.

$5 Million in Grants Available to Advance Understanding of U.S. Gulf Coastal Ecosystems and Their Interactions with Natural Processes and Human Activities

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new funding opportunity under its Healthy Ecosystems Initiative.




u.s.

NAS Honors 10 U.S. Nobel and Kavli Prize Laureates

From revolutionizing cancer care to modeling the economic impact of climate change, recent winners of Nobel and Kavli Prizes have explored virtually every angle of science.




u.s.

U.S. Should Create National Agenda to Improve Child and Youth Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health, Says Report

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for a comprehensive national agenda to improve mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health in children and youth. Despite advances in research, rates of depression, suicide and self-harm among young people have been increasing.




u.s.

International Collaboration, Cross-Disciplinary Workforce Development and Education Needed for U.S. to Maintain Leadership in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Science

The federal government should foster collaboration and decrease obstacles that can keep foreign atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physicists from working in the United States, if the nation is to maintain its position as leader in these fields, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

U.S. Bioeconomy Is Strong, But Faces Challenges - Expanded Efforts in Coordination, Talent, Security, and Fundamental Research Are Needed

The U.S. is a clear leader in the global bioeconomy landscape, but faces challenges from decentralized leadership, inadequate talent development, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, stagnant investment in fundamental research, and international competition, according to Safeguarding the Bioeconomy, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.




u.s.

Leading Voices Discuss the Future of U.S. Science Policy at Feb. 26 Symposium - Event Marks 75th Anniversary of Vannevar Bushs 1945 Report Science - The Endless Frontier

The National Academy of Sciences, in partnership with The Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will host a symposium to consider the future of science in the U.S. and how it can best serve society in the 21st century.




u.s.

K-12 Teachers of Engineering in U.S. Lack Needed Preparation and Support from Education System

Engineering is emerging as an important topic in K-12 education in the U.S., and is being incorporated into education standards, instructional materials, and assessments.




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U.S. Funding for World Health Organization Should Not Be Interrupted During COVID-19 Pandemic, Say Presidents of the NAS, NAE, and NAM

It is critical for the U.S. to continue its funding for the World Health Organization in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic given the WHO’s lead role in coordinating an international response, especially in developing countries.




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COVID-19: The Latest With Physician, Models Predict Significant Increase In U.S. Cases

A cleaning crew disinfects a New York City subway train on May 4, 2020 in New York City. ; Credit: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

AirTalk®

As of Monday afternoon, L.A. County has at least 1,260 deaths and 26,238 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The United States has more than a million cases of the virus with more than 67,000 deaths. Meanwhile, new models put together by FEMA project that we could see up to 200,000 new cases a day by the end of the month, according to the New York Times

The L.A. Times reports that scientists have discovered a new strain of the deadly coronavirus that is even more contagious. The study finds that the new strain first appeared in February in Europe and has been the dominant strain across the world since mid-March. Plus, some COVID-19 patients are experiencing issues with blood clotting even after respiratory issues have died down. Today on AirTalk, we get the latest with an infectious disease specialist who will take your questions. Call 866-893-5722 to join the conversation. 

With files from LAist. Read the full story here.

Guest:

Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




u.s.

U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing?

; Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

Rob Stein, Carmel Wroth, and Alyson Hurt | NPR

To safely phase out social distancing measures, the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, experts say. But how much more?

The Trump administration said on April 27 the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections. The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the last seven days, according to the nonprofit Covid Tracking Project. Doubling that would mean doing around 496,000 a day.

Will that be enough? What benchmark should states try to hit?

One prominent research group, Harvard's Global Health Institute, proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. This projection, released Thursday, is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need, which was between 500,000 and 600,000 daily.

Harvard's testing estimate increased, says Ashish Jha, director of the Global Health Institute, because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the U.S. is worse than projected earlier.

"Just in the last few weeks, all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [dying]," he says.

But each state's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak, explains Jha. The bigger the outbreak, the more testing is needed.

Thursday Jha's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15. In the graphic below, we compare these estimates with the average numbers of daily tests states are currently doing. (Jump to graphic)

Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate

To make their state-by-state estimates, the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts. They calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed the virus. (The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average.)

"Testing is outbreak control 101, because what testing lets you do is figure out who's infected and who's not," Jha says. "And that lets you separate out the infected people from the non infected people and bring the disease under control."

This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up. First, test all symptomatic people, then reach out to their close contacts and test them, and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves.

Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state: the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive. Communities that see around 10% or fewer positives among their test results are probably testing enough, the World Health Organization advises. If the rate is higher, they're likely missing a lot of active infections.

What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10% positive benchmark.

Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard; they are mostly larger, less populous states: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Several states with large outbreaks — New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut among others — are very far from the minimum testing target. Some states that are already relaxing their social-distancing restrictions, such as Georgia, Texas and Colorado, are far from the target too.

Jha offers several caveats about his group's estimates.

Estimates are directional not literal

Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates. They found that while there was significant variation in the projections of outbreak sizes, all the models tend to point in the same direction, i.e. if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing, the others generally did too.

The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts, which they say has tracked closely with what's actually happened on the ground. Still the researchers caution, these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide.

If social distancing is relaxed, testing needs may grow

The Harvard testing estimates are built on a model that assumes that states continue social distancing through May 15. And about half of states have already started lifting some of those.

Jha says, that without the right measures in place to contain spread, easing up could quickly lead to new cases.

"The moment you relax, the number of cases will start climbing. And therefore, the number of tests you need to keep your society, your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing," warns Jha.

Testing alone is not enough

A community can't base the decision that it's safe to open up on testing data alone. States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases, of two weeks at least, according to White House guidance. If their cases are instead increasing, they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too.

And Jha warns, testing is step one, but it won't contain an outbreak by itself. It needs to be part of "a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need to have in place" when they begin to reopen.

In fact, his group's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people.

"I don't want anybody to just look at the number and say, we meet it and we're good to go," he says. "What this really is, is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers."

The targets are floors not goals

States that have reached the estimated target should think of that as a starting point.

"We've always built these as the floor, the bare minimum," Jha says. More testing would be even better, allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges.

In fact, other experts have proposed the U.S. do even more testing. Paul Romer, a professor of economics at New York University proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident, every two weeks, isolating those who test positive, it could stop the pandemic in its tracks.

Jha warns that without sufficient testing, and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts, there's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks. "I think what people have to remember is that the virus isn't gone. The disease isn't gone. And it's going to be with us for a while," he says.

Daniel Wood contributed to this report.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.




u.s.

Nashville’s Million-Dollar Homes Are Shrinking Fastest in U.S.

Bloomberg




u.s.

Despite Looming Interest Rate Hike by U.S. Federal Reserve, Majority of Current Home Shoppers Still Plan to Purchase

70 percent of Americans surveyed by Zillow Mortgages said they would not abandon their home buying plans should interest rates rise to 4.5%




u.s.

Tweets reveal the happiest U.S. cities

California wine country may be the happiest place in the United States, at least if its Twitter feed is any indication.



  • Arts & Culture

u.s.

Twitter maps reveals which U.S. states prefer Bud Light and which prefer Merlot

California and the Northeast love wine, Colorado and the Midwest quaff beer.




u.s.

Same-sex marriage: 6 landmark cases that changed U.S. families

The same-sex marriage rulings by the Supreme Court are but the most recent in a long history of cases that reshaped the family structure.




u.s.

Syphilis cases on the rise in U.S. men

Although syphilis was nearly eliminated from the U.S. about a decade ago, the sexually transmitted disease has resurged in recent years.



  • Fitness & Well-Being

u.s.

U.S. to become the world's biggest oil producer, but hold the applause

By 2030, America could surpass Saudi Arabia in terms of crude output. That's great for energy independence, but it's not all good news.




u.s.

More than 200 tornadoes have ravaged the U.S. in the last 12 days

From Texas and Colorado through the Midwest, South and East Coast, tornadoes are tearing through the U.S.



  • Climate & Weather

u.s.

U.S. to delay 'Christmas tree tax'

Amid an uproar from some conservatives, the Obama administration will delay an industry-funded effort to promote real Christmas trees over plastic replicas.




u.s.

These U.S. communities are most vulnerable to sea level rise

A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows how many coastal cities are vulnerable to chronic flooding — and how many will be underwater.



  • Climate & Weather

u.s.

CDC report: More moms in U.S. are breastfeeding

According to state-by-state data, nearly 50 percent of moms in Oregon still breastfeed their babies at 12 months.



  • Babies & Pregnancy

u.s.

Could a nuclear meltdown happen in U.S.?

There are 104 nuclear power plants in the continental United States, two of which operate in quake-prone areas and others that are in need of major upgrades.



  • Wilderness & Resources

u.s.

Design of new U.S. reactors puts priority on cooling

The United States has approved construction of new nuclear reactors for the first time in three decades. The two new reactors approved on Feb. 9 for Georgia wou




u.s.

Fukushima chilled U.S. opinions on nuclear power

The nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant after the Japanese tsunami a year ago has made Americans more leery of nuclear power, according to a Yale Uni




u.s.

Highest concentrations of Fukushima radiation in U.S. waters detected near San Francisco

Even years after the onset of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, radiation is still making its way across the Pacific.



  • Wilderness & Resources

u.s.

The puppies of Chernobyl are looking for homes in the U.S.

A dozen homeless dogs will be the first Chernobyl puppies to seek American homes.




u.s.

More U.S. cities push to decriminalize magic mushrooms

Denver and Oakland vote to decriminalize magic mushrooms, showing support for psychedelic drug psilocybin. Other cities have similar laws on tap.



  • Fitness & Well-Being

u.s.

Storm of protests unleashed around the U.S.

Activists line up for different causes along different U.S. coasts to make sure that politicians know how they feel about methly iodide and a proposed pipeline



  • Protection & Safety

u.s.

Giant squid caught on camera in U.S. waters

Researchers funded by NOAA record footage of a giant squid in U.S. waters, and the discovery is magnificent.




u.s.

U.S. wind industry drifts South

The American Wind Energy Association's Peter Kelley tells MNN how a Southern breeze could lift the region and the industry.




u.s.

Warren Buffett could soon own the largest energy holding company in the U.S.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to acquire NV Energy, and Sen. Harry Reid wants to help.




u.s.

Old, leaky gas lines lurk below U.S. cities

Researchers have found 10,000 natural gas leaks under just two U.S. cities, hinting at a broader problem.



  • Protection & Safety

u.s.

Nuclear power and earthquake zones overlap in the U.S.

Earthquake in Japan raises concerns about what could happen in the U.S.




u.s.

U.S. nuclear chief wants faster reforms

One year after Japan's Fukushima crisis began, the U.S. nuclear chief says American reactors should adopt safety reforms more quickly.




u.s.

Japan tsunami debris looms off U.S. coasts

Items washed away by the 2011 tsunami are already arriving in North America, raising fears of an environmental crisis from Alaska to California.



  • Wilderness & Resources

u.s.

Earthquakes off Alaska pose U.S. tsunami risk

The risk of a deadly tsunami ravaging the United States is now leading scientists to investigate hazards posed by giant earthquakes off the Alaskan coast.



  • Wilderness & Resources

u.s.

Tsunami debris 'island' isn't Texas-sized, but it is headed toward the U.S.

Debris from the deadly tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 is drifting across the Pacific Ocean toward North America.



  • Wilderness & Resources