Your favorite drink can cause breast cancer – but most women in the US aren’t aware of alcohol’s health risks

Drinking alcohol is normalized in American society. But the ubiquity of alcohol consumption hides its serious health risks, including cancer.

Ritu Aneja, Professor of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation in the School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham • conversation
June 5, 2024 • ~5 min

Millions of current smokers became addicted when they were teens – and nicotine marketing targets adolescents today just as it did decades ago

Online advertising featuring bright colors, cartoon figures and promotions by social media influencers entice adolescents to try tobacco.

Jon-Patrick Allem, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Rutgers University • conversation
May 31, 2024 • ~7 min

Florence Nightingale overcame the limits set on proper Victorian women – and brought modern science and statistics to nursing

Among her 5 decades of accomplishments, Nightingale founded the world’s first nursing school and advocated health care for all.

Melissa Pritchard, Professor Emeritus of English and Women’s Studies, Arizona State University • conversation
May 15, 2024 • ~11 min

Repurposed beer yeast may offer a cost-effective way to remove lead from water

A filter made from yeast encapsulated in hydrogels can quickly absorb lead as water flows through it.

Anne Trafton | MIT News • mit
May 15, 2024 • ~8 min

Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination

The chip-scale device could provide sensitive detection of lead levels in drinking water, whose toxicity affects 240 million people worldwide.

David L. Chandler | MIT News • mit
May 14, 2024 • ~7 min

Lung cancer is the deadliest of all cancers, and screening could save many lives − if more people could access it

Stigma, fear and cost prevent many patients from getting screened for lung cancer. This can prove deadly for the most vulnerable.

Nina Thomas, Assistant Professor of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus • conversation
May 7, 2024 • ~9 min

What are nanoplastics? An engineer explains concerns about particles too small to see

Nanoplastics are the smallest microplastics, far narrower than a human hair. Very little is known about their composition, structure or how they break down in the environment.

Mohan Qin, Assistant Professor oif Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison • conversation
May 6, 2024 • ~7 min

Large retailers don’t have smokestacks, but they generate a lot of pollution − and states are starting to regulate it

For decades, big-box retailers have evaded federal regulation of the pollution their operations generate. But a new air emission rule in Southern California could become a model for state controls.

Johnathan Williams, Assistant Professor of History, University of Northern Iowa • conversation
April 25, 2024 • ~11 min

Reclaim ‘wellness’ from the rich and famous, and restore its political radicalism, new book argues

A new cultural history of the 1970s wellness industry offers urgent lessons for today. It reveals that in the seventies, wellness was neither narcissistic nor

Cambridge University News • cambridge
March 28, 2024 • ~9 min

EPA’s new auto emissions standard will speed the transition to cleaner cars, while also addressing consumer and industry concerns

The new rule isn’t a mandate for electric vehicles, but it will sharply increase their market share over the coming decade.

Alan Jenn, Associate Professional Researcher in Transportation, University of California, Davis • conversation
March 22, 2024 • ~8 min

/

44