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Chikungunya, A Mosquito-Borne Virus, Might Be Scarier Than We Thought

Mon, 2015-12-21 21:29 — Maeryn Obley

Don't bite me: The female of a mosquito called Aedes aegypti can transmit yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya. David Scharf/Science Source

Image: Don't bite me: The female of a mosquito called Aedes aegypti can transmit yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya. David Scharf/Science Source

npr.org - 1 December 2015 - Rae Ellen Bichell

A mosquito-borne virus that has made its way to the U.S. may be causing more serious symptoms than first thought.

Chikungunya starts with fevers and aches, like malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases. What distinguishes the virus is that it also brings debilitating joint pain. The pain usually dwindles over the course of a few weeks, though it can leave some people with chronic arthritis.

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How hot could the Earth get?

Mon, 2015-12-21 21:25 — Maeryn Obley

bbc.com - 30 November 2015 - Vivien Cumming

It has been getting a little warm lately. In November 2015, Brits experienced the hottest November days ever recorded in the UK. That was shortly followed by news from the World Meteorological Organization that 2015 is likely to be the hottest year since records began.

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CLICK HERE - STUDY - Post-Ebola Signs and Symptoms in U.S. Survivors

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US Ebola Survivors Can Experience Hair Loss, Joint Pain, And Other Health Problems Without Proper Monitoring

Mon, 2015-12-21 18:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Volunteer Andrew Matzen receives a trial Ebola vaccine at the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine in Oxford, southern England January 16, 2015. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

submitted by George Hurlburt

medicaldaily.com - by Jaleesa Baulkman - December 20, 2015

The road to recovery is long and bumpy for many survivors of the Ebola virus in the United States, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Solar or Coal? The Energy India Picks May Decide Earth’s Fate

Sun, 2015-12-20 22:06 — Maeryn Obley

Flames rise from the ground in Jharia coalfield, where the land around the areas has burned for a century as a result of mining and venting gases.

Image: Flames rise from the ground in Jharia coalfield, where the land around the areas has burned for a century as a result of mining and venting gases.

wired.com - December 2015 - Charles C. Mann

A few minutes after I meet E. V. R. Raju, a vision pops into my head. I can see him on one of those lists of the World’s Most Important People released by the likes of CNN, Forbes, and Time. Besides the obvious entrants like the president and the pope, the lists always also include a few buzzy, click-generating names: Emma Watson, perhaps, or Bono.

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The ‘Gene Drive’ That Builds a Malaria-Proof Mosquito

Sun, 2015-12-20 22:02 — Maeryn Obley

Anopheles stephensi Mosquito (female). David Scharf/Corbis

Image: Anopheles stephensi Mosquito (female). David Scharf/Corbis

wired.com - November 24th, 2015 - Sarah Zhang

On Monday, scientists announced they could cheat the laws of evolution: They had devised a way to force a gene that kills malaria parasites to spread through a whole population of mosquitoes that normally carry the parasite—at least in a lab. No malaria in mosquitoes means, hypothetically, no malaria in people, either. All this is possible thanks to a controversial new technology known as a gene drive.

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Climate Scientists Used to Just Get Angry. Now They’re Taking Action

Sun, 2015-12-20 21:57 — Maeryn Obley

Climate talks in Paris 2015. Christophe Morin/Bloomberg /Getty Images

Image: Climate talks in Paris 2015. Christophe Morin/Bloomberg /Getty Images

wired.com - December 4th, 2015 - Lizzie Wade

Ken Caldeira liked plenty of things about working in finance in the early 1980s. He had studied applied science as an undergrad, and developing software on Wall Street kept his problem-solving skills sharp. But however interesting he found the day-to-day work, Caldeira couldn’t escape the thought that in the grand scheme of things, all he was really doing was “helping rich people get a little richer.”

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Measuring Resilience: Lessons Learned from Measuring Resilience in Oxfam’s Large-N Effectiveness Reviews

Sat, 2015-12-19 08:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Joyce Fedeczko

policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk - December 14, 2015

Resilience has rapidly become one of the most prominent objectives for the development sector, so ascertaining how best to measure it is an essential task for practioners working in monitoring and evaluation. In this discussion paper, the main insights emerging from the series of large-N Effectiveness Reviews, a set of quantitative studies that aim to evaluate impact and generate learning from a random sample of Oxfam’s projects are outlined. It is also considered how this measurement approach may adapt as ideas about resilience change both within Oxfam and in the development sector at large.

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WHO Publishes List of Top Emerging Diseases Likely to Cause Major Epidemics

Mon, 2015-12-14 09:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

WHO Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) Room - WHO /Christopher Black

who.int

A panel of scientists and public health experts convened by WHO met in Geneva this week to prioritise the top five to ten emerging pathogens likely to cause severe outbreaks in the near future, and for which few or no medical countermeasures exist. These diseases will provide the basis for work on the WHO Blueprint for R&D preparedness to help control potential future outbreaks.

The initial list of disease priorities needing urgent R&D attention comprises: Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and Marburg, Lassa fever, MERS and SARS coronavirus diseases, Nipah and Rift Valley fever. The list will be reviewed annually or when new diseases emerge.

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CLICK HERE - Adoption of the Paris Agreement

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Final Draft of Climate Deal Formally Accepted in Paris

Sat, 2015-12-12 19:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

French foreign minister and president of the talks Laurent Fabius brings down the gavel to mark the adoption of the agreement. Photograph: Francois Mori/AP

CLICK HERE - Information - United Nations Conference on Climate Change - COP21

cnn.com - by John D. Sutter and Joshua Berlinger - December 12, 2015

After years of buildup and weeks of negotiations, world leaders accepted the final draft of an ambitious, global climate change agreement Saturday in Paris.

Though hailed as a milestone in the battle to keep Earth hospitable to human life, the plan is short on specifics. It doesn't say how much each country must reduce greenhouse gas emissions or how nations will be punished if they violate the agreement.

The accord sets a goal of limiting average warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures -- and of striving for a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) if possible.

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