As you may know, PlanetSave posts important health stories as well as the popular science, nature, and climate reports we’re usually known for. (In fact, we’re working toward 500 health posts over these few years!) Today we excerpt from Examiner.com some news that follows up our Ebola story and exclusive interview with public health expert Vince Silenzio
West Africa may even reach 1,000 deaths from Ebola this weekend. That’s just a guess, but not a bad guess, considering the Olympic record of this hemorrhagic virus. At the beginning of July nearly 500 people had died from the disease; two weeks later, the numbers had increased by 20%,; and the most recent confirmed figure,
On Tuesday, one big handy graphic appeared online detailing what every state governor really believes about climate change. The Center for American Progress released an interactive map of the 50 states. It details the sad fact that half of America’s 29 Republican governors agree with the anti-science caucus of Congress. Tiffany Germain And Ryan Koronowski, who wrote the
Saying “the jury is still out” on the ramifications of electronic cigarettes would be a massive understatement. E-cigarettes* are designed to mimic tobacco cigarettes in both look and feel. Most of them have three basic parts: a battery-operated heating element; a replaceable or refillable cartridge containing nicotine; and an atomizer that converts the cartridge contents
When the hydraulic fracturing measure passed the Los Angeles City Council today, several tweeters posted photos of this meeting (source of the above: Walker Foley on twitter). The City Council of Los Angeles, second-most populous metro in the United States, voted 10-0 today to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other “unconventional” deep-underground drilling methods to produce
Everyone’s thinking about the U.S. government shutdown. American media have chosen to dramatize a health official’s suggestion that children with cancer will not be able to receive advanced clinical treatments because funds are unavailable. But the kids with cancer are only a sideshow. The most frightening health effects concern the entire nation, and by extension,
We still don’t know how humans acquire Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS, formerly known as “n-coronavirus”). The mortality rate among people treated for MERS is 65%, making it one of the most lethal coronaviruses identified to date. However, scientists from the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, the Center for Infection and Immunity of Columbia
The Obama campaign recently hired Broderick Johnson, a former lobbyist for the Keystone XL pipeline, as a new senior advisor to the president’s 2012 re-election campaign. Records show that Broderick Johnson lobbied Congress on the Keystone XL pipeline while working for Bryan Cave LLP, a top lobby firm in Washington, DC. During the fourth quarter
On September 3rd, hundreds of people gathered in Lafayette Park for the final day of the rally against the Tar Sands at the end of the two week sit down protest at the White House. An estimated 1252 people were arrested during this two week continuous peaceful protest, making it the largest collective act of Civil Disobedience in the U.S. in decades.
” Climate change poses an immediate and grave threat, driving ill health and increasing the risk of conflict, such that each feeds on the other.” asserts a new report in the British Medical Journal by a group of UK defense, medical and public health officials.
On the heals of a momentous new study on the true cost of coal released by leading Harvard economist Dr. Paul Epstein, Greenpeace engaged in some trademark direct action in Bridgeport, Connecticut this morning. Greenpeace activists climbed an old coal power plant there and hung a banner (above) reading “Shut It Down: Quit Coal.” Six schools
Professors Christakis and Fowler explore the nature of Social Networks (SN) and reveal the rules that govern how these networks form. Knowing these rules allows us to predict, and possibly prevent, new disease epidemics.
