New York Times columnist Mark Bittman (famous for his writing on food) reported on Tuesday that he was joining more than 4,000 others who’ve been fasting to call attention to House legislation’s proposed cuts to programs for the poor and hungry. He explains: [The poor] are — once again — under attack, this time in […]
A few of the recent pieces I’ve liked: T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Daniel Zwerdling of NPR: Aftershock: The Blast That Shook Psycho Platoon Susan Milius in Science News: Backup Bees Deborah Blum at Speakeasy Science: The Radium Girls (Part II, Part III) Frank N. Von Hippel on the New York Times Opinion Page: […]
Mitsuru Obe reports in today’s Wall Street Journal that three workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been exposed to moderately high levels of radiation, due to contact with radiactive water on the ground. Their reported exposures of 170 to 180 millisieverts are less than the new emergency limit of 250 millisieverts, but […]
Exactly one year ago, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – the most sweeping change to US healthcare since the legislation that created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The law’s most important achievement is its creation of a system that will slash our nation’s shameful uninsurance rate by an […]
Every March 22nd is designated as World Water Day, with the goal of “focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.” This year’s theme is “Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge,” in recognition of the fact that half the world’s population now lives in an […]
I was delighted to be a guest on the Skeptically Speaking radio show/ podcast recently – I spoke with host Desiree Schell about why toilets (and other related forms of sanitation) are so great. In fact, the whole episode is dedicated to the topic of “Sewer Science,” and also features University of York’s Alistair Boxall […]
In the early hours of March 11th, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan, and a massive tsunami followed. More than 5,000 people are dead and almost 10,000 are missing. Hundreds of thousands are homeless, and those living near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been told to evacuate – while a small crew of […]
Earlier this week, the Geiger Gibson/ RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative released a policy research brief that estimates the impact of the House of Representatives’ proposed reduction in funding to community health centers. (Full disclosure: the Geiger Gibson program is part of the George Washington University’s School of Public Health & Health Services, where […]
The workers remaining at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are braving extremely risky conditions as they try to avert a nuclear catastrophe. They are working to keep fuel rods – both those inside reactors and in the spent rods stored in ponds – cool enough to avert a Chernobyl-type meltdown, which would spew radioactive […]
With nearly one-third of US healthcare spending going to hospital care, it’s natural that people would be looking for ways to trim spending on hospital services. A new study just published in the journal Health Affairs reports that seriously ill hospital patients receiving consultations from palliative care teams can incur lower costs. For this study’s […]