Feb 25 Top 5 Global Health Headlines: Fungi to Battle Malaria, Lead Poisoning in China By Talea Miller Malaria patient in Cambodia. Photo by Talea Miller. Fungus Could Fight Malaria Researchers have genetically modified fungi capable of killing off malaria-causing parasites in mosquitoes, and preventing parasites from developing in the first place. Malaria is transmitted from person to… Continue reading
Feb 24 Mobile Banking Could Be Global Health Tool By Talea Miller Cell phone technology is flourishing in developing countries, and health experts are hoping to capitalize on a wave of mobile banking products. Continue reading
Feb 21 Faith in Science, Threatened Particle Colliders and PCB-Resistant Fish Packing Away the Poison An article in Science News says fish in New York's Hudson River have developed a resistance to toxic PCBs and other pollutants. The story focuses on the Atlantic tomcod, but also the fish that eat… Continue reading
Feb 18 Top 5 Global Health Headlines: Obama Budget Proposal, Mutation May Protect from Cancer By Talea Miller Obama Proposes Boost to Global Health Funding President Obama released his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal this week, advocating cuts in foreign aid to some countries, but an increased investment overall for the State Department and the administration's Global… Continue reading
Feb 16 Study: Dwarfism Gene May Offer Protection From Cancer, Diabetes By Lea Winerman Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre, with members of an Ecuadorian family with Laron syndrome (photo courtesy Dr. Jaime Guevara-Aguirre) An extended family in the remote Ecuadorian Andes has been blessed, and cursed, with a rare genetic tradeoff. Members of the family carry… Continue reading
Feb 16 Malnutrition Plagues Guatemala's Children By Talea Miller Guatemala has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition among children in Latin America, and the health consequences continue on through adulthood. Continue reading
Feb 15 Reporter's Notebook: The Family Planning Frontier in Guatemala By Ray Suarez A week of travel in Guatemala is a feast for the eyes: stunning volcanic peaks covered in a carpet of green -- cabbages, coffee, melons, bananas growing on impossibly steep hillsides -- and people working hard to wrestle a living… Continue reading
Feb 14 What We're Reading: Foot Bones, Color Decay and the Science of Obesity X-rays Show Why Van Gogh's Yellows Have Darkened A particle accelerator helps to explain why the bright yellows in Van Gogh paintings fade to brown over time. This piece uses an animated video to explain the chemical reaction… Continue reading
Feb 09 From the Field: Opening Horizons for Guatemala's Girls By Talea Miller ANTIGUA, Guatemala-- For girls growing up in rural Guatemala, it is not unusual to leave school by the age of 12, marry by 15, and give birth for the first time while still a teenager. About 60 percent of school-aged… Continue reading
Feb 07 Maptivism, Pond Fleas and One Polar Bear's Long Journey Maps, Activism and Technology: Check-Ins with a Purpose Introducing Sukey, the "maptivism" app. Detailed in this column is a sort of Four Square for nonviolent organizing: location-based mobile social networking that allows people to check in during demonstrations,… Continue reading