Category Archives: News
NPR News Now reports on tracking hospital data on Covid-19, continuing protests in Portland, and other top news stories.
Food Trends: American “Fresh Seaweed” Products Are Expanding (Podcast)
Atlantic Sea Farms is the largest commercial seaweed farm in the U.S. They line-grow their seaweed in clear, icy cold Maine waters. The seaweed — which is sold frozen in pureed cubes and in ready to eat cut strands and fermented products — is never dyed or dehydrated.
Beyond sushi restaurants and roasted snacks, seaweed is increasingly accepted, appreciated, even adored, in American kitchens — and for good reason.
Seaweed is really good for you. It’s loaded with potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B12, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and tons of calcium. And then there’s the umami bomb of taste: briny, sweet, meaty, and vegetal are just some of the ways cooks describe the flavor of various seaweeds.
TOP JOURNALS: RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM SCIENCE MAGAZINE (JULY 31, 2020)
Top New Science Podcasts: Covid-19 Vaccine Fears And Origin Controversies
Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss his editorial on preventing vaccine hesitancy during the coronavirus pandemic. Even before the current crisis, fear of vaccines had become a global problem, with the World Health Organization naming it as one of the top 10 worldwide health threats in 2019. Now, it seems increasingly possible that many people will refuse to get vaccinated. What can public health officials and researchers do to get ahead of this issue?
Also this week, Sarah talks with Science Senior Correspondent Jon Cohen about his story on Chinese scientist Shi Zhengli, the bat researcher at the center of the COVID-19 origins controversy—and why she thinks President Donald Trump owes her an apology.
Finally, Geert Van der Snickt, a professor in the conservation-restoration department at the University of Antwerp, talks with Sarah about his Science Advances paper on a new process for peering into the past of paintings. His team used a combination of techniques to look beneath an overpainting on the Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck—a pivotal piece that showed the potential of oil paints and even included an early example of painting from an aerial view.
Morning News Podcast: Big Tech CEO’s Testify, Trusted Companies & Working From Home
The CEOs of four of the most powerful companies in the world testified before Congress yesterday. While the hearing was supposed to be about anti-trust laws, it quickly devolved into a scattered display of partisanship.
- Plus, our exclusive Axios Harris Poll on the top 100 companies Americans trust most.
- And, work from home really means work from anywhere – so how about Barbados?
Guests: Axios’ Ina Fried, Mike Allen, Sara Fischer, and Erica Pandey
Top New Science Podcasts: How The Skin Stretches, Covid-19 Conferences And Pain Resistance Traits
This week’s Nature podcast looks at how skin’s unusual response to stretching is finally explained, a coronavirus update and the latest in a huge effort to map DNA.
In this episode:
01:06 Stretching skin
For decades it’s been known that stretching skin causes more skin to grow, but the reasons why have been a mystery. Now, researchers have uncovered a mechanism to explain the phenomenon. Research Article: Aragona et al.; News and Views: Stretch exercises for stem cells expand the skin
07:49 Coronapod
We discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has affected scientific meetings and how the learned societies that organise them are adapting. How scientific conferences will survive the coronavirus shock; How scientific societies are weathering the pandemic’s financial storm;
A year without conferences? How the coronavirus pandemic could change research
18:18 Research Highlights
A genetic trait for pain-resistance, and the accessibility-aware ancient Greeks. Research Highlight: A gene helps women in labour to skip the painkillers; Research Highlight: This temple was equipped with accessibility ramps more than 2,000 years ago
20:42 ENCODE updates
The ENCODE project aims to identify all the regions in the human genome involved in gene regulation. This week, data from its third iteration has been published and we examine the highlights. Research Article: Snyder; News and Views: Expanded ENCODE delivers invaluable genomic encyclopaedia
28:50 Briefing Chat
We take a look at some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time we look at how smallpox may be much older than previously thought, and how the Earth’s atmosphere rings like a bell. Nature News: Smallpox and other viruses plagued humans much earlier than suspected; Physics World:
World News Podcasts: Covid-19 Cases Spike, McDonald’s Profits Fall
The Economist updates Covid-19 rates spiking around the world, McDonald’s fast food profits plunge and other top international business and economic news.
Healthcare Rankings: “America’s Top Hospitals 2020-2021” (U.S. News)
The Best Hospitals Honor Roll highlights 20 hospitals that excel across most or all types of care evaluated by U.S. News. Hospitals received points if they were nationally ranked in the 16 specialties – the more specialties and the higher their rank, the more points they got – and if they were rated high performing in any of the 10 procedures and conditions. The top point-scorers made the Honor Roll.
- 1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
- 2. Cleveland Clinic
- 3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
- 4 (tie). New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York
- 4 (tie). UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
- 6. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
- 7. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- 8. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
- 9. NYU Langone Hospitals, New York
- 10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
- 11. University of Michigan Hospitals-Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor
- 12. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
- 13. Stanford Health Care-Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California
- 14. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
- 15. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
- 16. Mayo Clinic-Phoenix
- 17. Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
- 18 (tie). Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis
- 18 (tie). Keck Hospital of USC, Los Angeles
- 20. Houston Methodist Hospital
Morning News Podcast: Stimulus Bill Advances, Covid-19 Issues In Baseball
The Republicans have reached a deal on coronavirus relief, but it could mean much less unemployment money for Americans. Can they convince Democrats? Major League Baseball is already postponing games due to COVID-19 infections. And do we need another lockdown to beat COVID-19?
Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On Latest In Washington (PBS)
NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join John Yang to discuss the latest political news, including what to make of poll numbers showing former Vice President Joe Biden with a substantial lead over President Trump, the political fallout of Trump’s responses to the pandemic and protests over racism and what the upcoming conventions say about the two parties.
Boomers Daily 