Monday, December 23

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The urge to punish is not only about revenge – unfairness can unleash it, too
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SELF

The urge to punish is not only about revenge – unfairness can unleash it, too

Imagine you and your friend are at a party and someone orders pizza. You’re starving. You put a couple of slices on your plate and sit down at the table. Before you start eating, you excuse yourself to wash your hands. On your way back from the bathroom, you look across the room just in time to see your friend grab one of the slices off your plate and start to eat it. This would probably make you mad, right? You might even feel an urge to get back at them somehow. Now imagine a slightly different scenario. You and your friend are at the same party but before you have the chance to get pizza, you excuse yourself to wash your hands. While you’re gone, the pizza is served and your friend grabs a couple slices for themself but only one for you. This would also probably make you kind of mad,...
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What’s in your medicine may surprise you – a call for greater transparency about inactive ingredients
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

What’s in your medicine may surprise you – a call for greater transparency about inactive ingredients

There are many more ingredients in every pill you take than what is listed on the bottle label. These other ingredients, which are combined with the therapeutic one, are often sourced from around the world before landing in your medicine cabinet and are not always benign. Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which requires manufacturers to report real or potential drug shortages to the FDA. Manufacturers are now required to report disruptions in the manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient – the part of the medicine that produces the intended therapeutic benefit. But the CARES Act doesn’t include excipients - the “inactive” ingredients that make up the bulk of a final medicine. It also doesn’t include the materials...
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What we know about MIS-C, a rare but dangerous illness striking children weeks after they get COVID-19
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

What we know about MIS-C, a rare but dangerous illness striking children weeks after they get COVID-19

While most children who get COVID-19 develop little more than a mild illness, several hundred have ended up in hospital intensive care units with alarming symptoms that begin appearing weeks after the initial infection. The view through an electron microscope shows the spikes that create the ‘corona’ effect on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, CC BY-ND This new condition progresses rapidly and can strike multiple organs and systems, including the heart, lungs, eyes, skin and gastrointestinal system. It’s known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. More than 790 U.S. cases had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Sept. 3, and 16 of those children have died. I have been consulting on M...
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Plants might be able to tell us about the location of dead bodies, helping families find missing people
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ENVIRONMENT

Plants might be able to tell us about the location of dead bodies, helping families find missing people

The notion of plants talking to us about dead people sounds like a bad horror movie. But that’s the theme of a recent scientific paper I co-authored. Each day, over 160,000 people die in the world. Most people die with family members present or nearby; their family and friends mourn their loss, which includes having the loved-one’s body present. Sometimes people die in the wilderness, in war and under questionable circumstances. In so many of these cases the body is never recovered and loved ones don’t get closure. In cases of murder or genocide, perpetrators go unpunished without a recovered body. I didn’t usually think about this topic, until recently. I am a plant biologist who uses biotechnology and synthetic biology approaches in research. Nearly 20 years ago, I coined the word “phy...
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What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19
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EDUCATION, IN OTHER NEWS

What college students need to know about liability waivers for COVID-19

As college and university campuses across the United States reopen, administrators are faced with the task of protecting students while also protecting the interests of the institutions they lead. This includes reducing the risk of lawsuits. Some institutions have resorted to forcing students to sign liability waivers. What purpose do these serve and is this the best course of action? As a professor who researches higher education law, here are my answers to four questions related to these waivers. 1. Do liability waivers protect universities from lawsuits? Generally, no. A liability waiver is generally viewed in court as an assumption of risk on the part of the person who signs it. So in this case it would be the student. This means that the person acknowledges there are some naturally oc...
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What to know about controversial app TikTok
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SOCIAL MEDIA

What to know about controversial app TikTok

Social media is often referred to as both a blessing and a curse. And, when new apps emerge and gain popularity, especially among children, teens and young people, they are scrutinized widely for content and effect. TikTok is a current target. Parents magazine in February expressed: “Gen Z can’t get enough of TikTok. But if you’re worried about what exactly your kids are getting, you’re not alone.” At its core, TikTok may seem harmless enough. Androidcentral.com last August defined the app as one that offers users the ability to create short videos, ranging from 15 to 60 seconds, with access to unique filters, stickers and other video editing software options. TikTok’s safety concerns, addressed by Parents, include: 1. Predators can access the app — and often do — to provide flattery a...
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Yes, kids can get COVID-19 – 3 pediatricians explain what’s known about coronavirus and children
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COVID-19

Yes, kids can get COVID-19 – 3 pediatricians explain what’s known about coronavirus and children

We are three pediatric infectious disease specialists who live and work in West Virginia. The West Virginia University health system serves 400,000 children and according to our internal data, to date, 2,520 children up to 17 years of age have been tested for the coronavirus. Sixty-seven of them tested positive and one became sick enough to be admitted to the hospital. We are asked almost daily about children and COVID-19: Do they get COVID-19? Should they attend day care or school, play sports, see friends and attend summer camps? What are the risks to themselves and to others? Based on current research and our own experiences, it would seem that kids 17 years old and younger face little risk from the coronavirus. Nearly all children have asymptomatic, very mild or mild disease, but a s...
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4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall
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COVID-19, Journalism

4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall

As colleges and universities decide whether or not to reopen their campuses this fall, much of the discussion has focused on the ethics behind the decision and the associated health risks of in-person instruction. As a researcher who studies health insurance policy, I see two important gaps in this discussion: 1) Who should pay the cost of treating the inevitable COVID-19 cases that will occur; and 2) What do college students need to know about their coverage? Here are four things I think every college student – and those who care about them – should know about health insurance coverage when it comes to COVID-19. 1. Weigh coverage options If you’re covered under a student health insurance plan through your school, it may be worth considering whether that is still your best option. The Af...
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Airlines got travelers comfortable about flying again once before – but 9/11 and a virus are a lot different
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IN OTHER NEWS

Airlines got travelers comfortable about flying again once before – but 9/11 and a virus are a lot different

The U.S. airline industry has generally faced two obstacles in enticing more people to fly: fear and fares. Before the novel coronavirus, few feared flying thanks to the extreme rarity of airline crashes in the U.S., and domestic inflation-adjusted fares that were about the lowest ever. As a result, a record 811 million people flew within the U.S. in 2019. Today, fares are at rock bottom, but Americans’ fear of flying may be the highest it’s ever been, as the risk of sitting in an enclosed space with several hundred strangers – seemingly the perfect conditions for an infectious disease – is making most people avoid the skies. Passenger traffic plummeted 95% in April from a year earlier and remains significantly lower than normal. As an aviation historian, I feel a bit of deja vu. Almost...
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How fake accounts constantly manipulate what you see on social media – and what you can do about it
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SOCIAL MEDIA

How fake accounts constantly manipulate what you see on social media – and what you can do about it

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram started out as a way to connect with friends, family and people of interest. But anyone on social media these days knows it’s increasingly a divisive landscape. Undoubtedly you’ve heard reports that hackers and even foreign governments are using social media to manipulate and attack you. You may wonder how that is possible. As a professor of computer science who researches social media and security, I can explain – and offer some ideas for what you can do about it. Bots and sock puppets Social media platforms don’t simply feed you the posts from the accounts you follow. They use algorithms to curate what you see based in part on “likes” or “votes.” A post is shown to some users, and the more those people react – positively or neg...
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