scientificamerican--2020-12-19--Alien Hunters Discover Mysterious Signal from Proxima Centauri

It ’ s never aliens , until it is .
Today , news leaked in the British newspaper The Guardian of a mysterious signal coming from the closest star to our own , Proxima Centauri , a star too dim to see from Earth with the naked eye that is nevertheless a cosmic stone ’ s throw away at just 4.2 light-years .
Found this autumn in archival data gathered last year , the signal appears to emanate from the direction of our neighboring star and can not yet be dismissed as Earth-based interference , raising the very faint prospect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ form of advanced extraterrestrial intelligence ( ETI ) —a so-called “ technosignature.
” Now , speaking to Scientific American , the scientists behind the discovery caution there is still much work to be done , but admit the interest is justified .
“ It has some particular properties that caused it to pass many of our checks , and we can not yet explain it , ” says Andrew Siemion from the University of California , Berkeley .
Most curiously , it occupies a very narrow band of the radio spectrum : 982 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ region typically bereft of transmissions from human-made satellites and spacecraft .
“ We don ’ t know of any natural way to compress electromagnetic energy into a single bin in frequency ” such as this one , Siemion says .
Perhaps , he says , some as-yet-unknown exotic quirk of plasma physics could be a natural explanation for the tantalizingly concentrated radio waves .
But “ for the moment , the only source that we know of is technological.
” The detection was made by a $ 100 million project called Breakthrough Listen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tech billionaire Yuri Milner under the umbrella of Milner ’ s Breakthrough Initiatives .
The goal of this multiyear endeavor—which began in 2015 with a star-studded announcement attended by Stephen Hawking and other space-science luminaries—is to buy observing time on radio telescopes around the world to search the skies for evidence of technological civilizations .
That pursuit , of course , is more commonly known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( SETI ) .
To date , no such evidence has conclusively been found despite more than a half century of modest-but-steady @ @ @ @ @ @ @ almost always ruled out as originating from satellites orbiting Earth or other human-caused interference .
“ If you see such a signal and it ’ s not coming from the surface of Earth , you know you have detected extraterrestrial technology , ” says Jason Wright , a SETI-centric astronomer at Penn State University in Pennsylvania .
“ Unfortunately , humans have launched a lot of extraterrestrial technology.
” The story of this latest SETI spectacle really began on April 29 , 2019 , when scientists affiliated with Breakthrough Listen started collecting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signal .
A team had been using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to study Proxima Centauri for signs of flares coming from the red dwarf star , in part to understand how such flares might affect Proxima ’ s planets .
The system hosts at least two worlds .
The first , dubbed Proxima b upon its discovery in 2016 , is about 1.2 times the size of Earth and in an 11-day orbit .
Proxima b resides in the star ’ s “ habitable zone , ” a hazily defined sector @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a rocky planet ’ s surface—provided , that is , Proxima Centauri ’ s intense stellar flares have not sputtered away a world ’ s atmosphere .
Another planet , the roughly seven-Earth-mass Proxima c , was discovered in 2019 in a frigid 5.2-year orbit .
Using Parkes , the astronomers had observed the star for 26 hours as part of their stellar-flare study , but , as is routine within the Breakthrough Listen project , they also flagged the resulting data for a later look to seek out any candidate SETI signals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intern in Siemion ’ s SETI program at Berkeley , Shane Smith , who is also a teaching assistant at Hillsdale College in Michigan .
Smith began sifting through the data in June of this year , but it was not until late October that he stumbled upon the curious narrowband emission , needle-sharp at 982.002 megahertz , hidden in plain view in the Proxima Centauri observations .
From there , things happened fast—with good reason .
“ It ’ s the most exciting signal that we ’ ve found in the Breakthrough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t had a signal jump through this many of our filters before , ” says Sofia Sheikh from Penn State University , who helmed the subsequent analysis of the signal for Breakthrough Listen and is the lead author on an upcoming paper detailing that work , which will be published in early 2021 .
Soon , the team began calling the signal by a more formal name : BLC1 , for “ Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1.
” To pique any SETI researcher ’ s interest , a signal must first endure a barrage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious terrestrial interference .
Hundreds of candidates , however , routinely pass this phase and are singled out for further investigation .
From there , almost all will be dismissed as some mirage or error—perhaps an excess of static , for instance—that fooled the winnowing algorithm , eliminating them from consideration as any sort of transmission from talkative aliens .
“ Except this one , ” Sheikh says .
Revisiting the data from 2019 , Sheikh and her colleagues noted that the telescope had looked at Proxima multiple times in scans lasting 30 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Breakthrough Listen uses a technique called “ nodding , ” where the telescope will spend a period of time looking at a target and then an equivalent period looking elsewhere in the sky , to check that any potential signal is truly coming from the target and not , say , someone microwaving their lunch in an observatory ’ s cafeteria .
“ In five of the 30-minute observations over about three hours we see this thing come back , ” Sheikh says , a hint that the signal indeed originated from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that part of the sky—before making its way to Earth .
One might think , then , that the case would be closed .
But while a natural cosmic source may seem unlikely , it can not yet be ruled out—and , the thinking goes , as unlikely as a natural explanation might be , an “ unnatural ” explanation such as aliens is even less likely still .
Consequently , every member of the Breakthrough Listen team interviewed for this article steadfastly insists the chance of this being anything other than terrestrial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most likely thing is that it ’ s some human cause , ” says Pete Worden , executive director of the Breakthrough Initiatives .
“ And when I say most likely , it ’ s like 99.9 [ percent ] .
” That rational skepticism extends all the way to the top .
“ When we launched Breakthrough Listen with Stephen Hawking in 2015 , ” Milner says , “ it was understood that the most rigorous scientific approach will be used to analyze all candidate signals.
” Milner and seemingly all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BLC1 to wither away under the project ’ s now-intense scrutiny .
But , just maybe , it won ’ t .
For the time being , months of further analysis are in store to definitively rule out other potential sources .
And BLC1 itself , while seeming to come from Proxima Centauri , does not quite fit expectations for a technosignature from that system .
First , the signal bears no trace of modulation—tweaks to its properties that can be used to convey information .
“ BLC1 is , for all intents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just one note , ” Siemion says .
“ It has absolutely no additional features that we can discern at this point.
” And second , the signal “ drifts , ” meaning that it appears to be changing very slightly in frequency—an effect that could be due to the motion of our planet , or of a moving extraterrestrial source such as a transmitter on the surface of one of Proxima Centauri ’ s worlds .
But the drift is the reverse of what one would naively expect for a signal originating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s nearest neighboring star .
“ We would expect the signal to be going down in frequency like a trombone , ” Sheikh says .
“ What we see instead is like a slide whistle—the frequency goes up.
” So far , follow-up observations using Parkes have failed to turn up the signal again , with a repeat observation being a necessity to confirm that BLC1 is a genuine technosignature .
“ If it ’ s an ETI it must eventually be replicable , because it ’ s unlikely it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a radio astronomer from Cornell University in New York .
“ If an independent team at an independent observatory can recover the same signal , then hell yes .
I would bet money that they won ’ t , but I would love to be wrong.
” Nonetheless , it remains one of the most intriguing signals found by Breakthrough Listen—or indeed any SETI program—to date , one that Sheikh compares to the so-called “ Wow !
signal ” detected in 1977 , which some believed to be of extraterrestrial origin .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ par with the Wow !
signal , ” she says .
More likely than not , however , this is simply some previously unknown source of Earth-based interference .
In a few months we ’ ll likely know for certain one way or another .
But for the time being , it ’ s never aliens … right ?
“ I hate that phrase , because if you say that then why even look , ” Wright says .
“ What we mean by that is that it ’ s never been aliens @ @ @

It’s never aliens—until it is. On December 18th news leaked in the British newspaper the Guardian of a mysterious signal coming from the closest star to our own, Proxima Centauri, a star too dim to see from Earth with the naked eye that is nonetheless a cosmic stone’s throw away at just 4.2 light-years. Found this autumn in archival data gathered last year, the signal appears to emanate from the direction of our neighboring star and cannot yet be dismissed as Earth-based interference, raising the very faint prospect that it is a transmission from some form of advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI)—a so-called “technosignature.” Now, speaking to Scientific American, the scientists behind the discovery caution there is still much work to be done, but admit the interest is justified. “It has some particular properties that caused it to pass many of our checks, and we cannot yet explain it,” says Andrew Siemion from the University of California, Berkeley.
Most curiously, it occupies a very narrow band of the radio spectrum: 982 megahertz, specifically, which is a region typically bereft of transmissions from human-made satellites and spacecraft. “We don’t know of any natural way to compress electromagnetic energy into a single bin in frequency” such as this one, Siemion says. Perhaps, he says, some as-yet-unknown exotic quirk of plasma physics could be a natural explanation for the tantalizingly concentrated radio waves. But “for the moment, the only source that we know of is technological.”
The detection was made by a $100 million project called Breakthrough Listen, led by Siemion and funded by tech billionaire Yuri Milner under the umbrella of Milner’s Breakthrough Initiatives. The goal of this multiyear endeavor—which began in 2015 with a star-studded announcement attended by Stephen Hawking and other space-science luminaries—is to buy observing time on radio telescopes around the world to search the skies for evidence of technological civilizations. That pursuit, of course, is more commonly known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). To date, no such evidence has conclusively been found despite more than a half century of modest-but-steady SETI activity, with any potential signals almost always ruled out as originating from satellites orbiting Earth or other human-caused interference.
“If you see such a signal and it’s not coming from the surface of Earth, you know you have detected extraterrestrial technology,” says Jason Wright, a SETI-centric astronomer at Penn State University in Pennsylvania. “Unfortunately, humans have launched a lot of extraterrestrial technology.”
The story of this latest SETI spectacle really began on April 29, 2019, when scientists affiliated with Breakthrough Listen started collecting the data that would later reveal the intriguing signal. A team had been using the Parkes radio telescope in Australia to study Proxima Centauri for signs of flares coming from the red dwarf star, in part to understand how such flares might affect Proxima’s planets. The system hosts at least two worlds. The first, dubbed Proxima b upon its discovery in 2016, is about 1.2 times the size of Earth and in an 11-day orbit. Proxima b resides in the star’s “habitable zone,” a hazily defined sector in which liquid water could exist upon a rocky planet’s surface—provided, that is, Proxima Centauri’s intense stellar flares have not sputtered away a world’s atmosphere. Another planet, the roughly seven-Earth-mass Proxima c, was discovered in 2019 in a frigid 5.2-year orbit.
Using Parkes, the astronomers had observed the star for 26 hours as part of their stellar-flare study, but, as is routine within the Breakthrough Listen project, they also flagged the resulting data for a later look to seek out any candidate SETI signals. The task fell to a young intern in Siemion’s SETI program at Berkeley, Shane Smith, who is also an undergraduate student at Hillsdale College. Smith began sifting through the data in June of this year, but it was not until late October that he stumbled upon the curious narrowband emission, needle-sharp at 982.002 megahertz, hidden in plain view in the Proxima Centauri observations. From there, things happened fast—with good reason. “It’s the most exciting signal that we’ve found in the Breakthrough Listen project, because we haven’t had a signal jump through this many of our filters before,” says Sofia Sheikh from Penn State University, who helmed the subsequent analysis of the signal for Breakthrough Listen and is the lead author on an upcoming paper detailing that work, which will be published in early 2021. Soon, the team began calling the signal by a more formal name: BLC1, for “Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1.”
To pique any SETI researcher’s interest, a signal must first endure a barrage of simple automated tests to rule out obvious terrestrial interference. Hundreds of candidates, however, routinely pass this phase and are singled out for further investigation. From there, almost all will be dismissed as some mirage or error—perhaps an excess of static, for instance—that fooled the winnowing algorithm, eliminating them from consideration as any sort of transmission from talkative aliens. “Except this one,” Sheikh says.
Revisiting the data from 2019, Sheikh and her colleagues noted that the telescope had looked at Proxima multiple times in scans lasting 30 minutes over the course of a week. Breakthrough Listen uses a technique called “nodding,” where the telescope will spend a period of time looking at a target and then an equivalent period looking elsewhere in the sky, to check that any potential signal is truly coming from the target and not, say, someone microwaving their lunch in an observatory’s cafeteria. “In five of the 30-minute observations over about three hours we see this thing come back,” Sheikh says, a hint that the signal indeed originated from Proxima Centauri—or some other deep-space source in that part of the sky—before making its way to Earth.
One might think, then, that the case would be closed. But while a natural cosmic source may seem unlikely, it cannot yet be ruled out—and, the thinking goes, as unlikely as a natural explanation might be, an “unnatural” explanation such as aliens is even less likely still. Consequently, every member of the Breakthrough Listen team interviewed for this article steadfastly insists the chance of this being anything other than terrestrial interference is exceedingly remote. “The most likely thing is that it’s some human cause,” says Pete Worden, executive director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. “And when I say most likely, it’s like 99.9 [percent].”
That rational skepticism extends all the way to the top. “When we launched Breakthrough Listen with Stephen Hawking in 2015,” Milner says, “it was understood that the most rigorous scientific approach will be used to analyze all candidate signals.” Milner and seemingly all the SETI researchers his funding supports fully expect BLC1 to wither away under the project’s now-intense scrutiny. But, just maybe, it won’t.
For the time being, months of further analysis are in store to definitively rule out other potential sources. And BLC1 itself, while seeming to come from Proxima Centauri, does not quite fit expectations for a technosignature from that system. First, the signal bears no trace of modulation—tweaks to its properties that can be used to convey information. “BLC1 is, for all intents and purposes, just a tone, just one note,” Siemion says. “It has absolutely no additional features that we can discern at this point.” And second, the signal “drifts,” meaning that it appears to be changing very slightly in frequency—an effect that could be due to the motion of our planet, or of a moving extraterrestrial source such as a transmitter on the surface of one of Proxima Centauri’s worlds. But the drift is the reverse of what one would naively expect for a signal originating from a world twirling around our sun’s nearest neighboring star. “We would expect the signal to be going down in frequency like a trombone,” Sheikh says. “What we see instead is like a slide whistle—the frequency goes up.”
So far, follow-up observations using Parkes have failed to turn up the signal again, with a repeat observation being a necessity to confirm that BLC1 is a genuine technosignature. “If it’s an ETI it must eventually be replicable, because it’s unlikely it would be a one-off,” says Shami Chatterjee, a radio astronomer from Cornell University in New York. “If an independent team at an independent observatory can recover the same signal, then hell yes. I would bet money that they won’t, but I would love to be wrong.”
Nonetheless, it remains one of the most intriguing signals found by Breakthrough Listen—or indeed any SETI program—to date, one that Sheikh compares to the so-called “Wow! signal” detected in 1977, which some believed to be of extraterrestrial origin. “I think it’s on par with the Wow! signal,” she says. More likely than not, however, this is simply some previously unknown source of Earth-based interference. In a few months we’ll likely know for certain one way or another. But for the time being, it’s never aliens—right? “I hate that phrase, because if you say that, then why even look?” Wright says. “What we mean by that is that it’s never been aliens before.”


scientificamerican--2020-12-18--Profit & Loss: America on Dialysis

Profit & Loss: America on Dialysis

Kidney disease affects millions of Americans , but corporate capture of dialysis , along with disparities in treatment and transplant @ @ @ @ @ everyone 's journey is the same .

Medicine
In the U.S., a third of Americans are at risk of chronic kidney disease, and age is a major factor. More than half of Americans older than 75 are thought to have some sort of kidney damage...


scientificamerican--2020-12-18--Coronavirus News Roundup, December 12-December 18

The items below are highlights from the free newsletter , “ Smart , useful , science stuff about COVID-19.
” To receive newsletter issues daily in your inbox , sign up here .
A calculator recently published at The New York Times estimates your `` place in line '' for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among the full U.S. population .
It spits out a result based on your age , county of residence , occupation , and underlying health conditions .
The calculator draws on vaccine priority recommendations issued by an advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Engineering and Medicine , according to a story about it by Stuart A. Thompson ( illustrations by Jorge Colombo ) .
The calculator puts 268.7 million people ahead of me in line .
To help readers grasp the logistical complexity of the vaccine rollout , the story lists the supplies required for every 100 doses : 105 needles and syringes , 210 alcohol pads , 4 surgical masks , 2 face shields , and `` 100 vaccine report cards to track patients ’ vaccine histories.
” In English ; In Spanish .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vaccine Distribution Tracker , ” which illustrates the number of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses currently allocated to each U.S. state ( 12/16/20 ) .
Allocations were made in proportion to the size of each state ’ s population , for the most part , the piece states .
This “ first wave of shipments will vaccine less than 1 percent of the nation ’ s population and will cover only a fraction of the 21 million health care workers and 3 million long-term care facility residents who are up first , ” write Danielle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schoenfeld Walker , and Mitch Smith .
Approval of a second SARS-CoV-2 vaccine , Moderna ’ s genetic vaccine , is expected by week ’ s end , according to various reports .
“ Some states have begun to publish data on the Pfizer doses they have received and administered , ” the story states , “ but there is not yet a consistent method for them to publicly report how many doses they have received and administered.
” An interactive piece at Vox describes the current SARS-CoV-2 vaccine distribution situation in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the U.S. population could be vaccinated by the end of this year , according to the piece by Youyou Zhou and Julia Belluz ( 12/15/20 ) .
“ Hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. are simply going to have to wait — probably several months — to get a vaccine , ” the story states .
One graphic in the piece illustrates the state-by-state percentage of health care workers and long-term care facility residents who will be vaccinated with the first shipment of doses from Pfizer/BioNTech .
A rapid at-home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on 12/15/20 , reports Katherine J. Wu at The New York Times ( 12/17/20 ) .
The test , cleared for people as young as 2 years old , detects pieces of the virus that provoke an immune response ( antigens ) .
The manufacturer , Ellume , plans to “ deliver about 20 million home coronavirus tests to the United States within the first half of 2021 , ” Wu writes .
The test is most accurate in people who have symptoms of COVID-19 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 90 percent of asymptomatic infections that would be detected using the standard PCR test , the story states .
It is set to be sold over-the-counter for about $ 30 or less , the story states .
COVID-19 “ is the driving force behind ” excess deaths among young adults ages 25 to 44 in the U.S. between March and July this year , according to a 12/16/20 essay in The New York Times about the authors ’ study published the same day in the Journal of the American Medical Association .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” with nearly 12,000 more adults than expected in this group during the five-month period , write Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust of Brigham and Women ’ s Hospital , Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz of Yale , and Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky of Massachusetts General Hospital ( Walensky is also President-elect Biden ’ s nominee for director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ) .
The excess deaths in this age group primarily occur among Black and Hispanic people , the authors write .
“ What we believed before about the relative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply not been borne out by emerging data , ” the essay states .
For a list of authoritative answers to common questions on SARS-CoV-2 vaccines , see Tara Haelle ’ s 12/13/20 piece for Medium ’ s Elemental .
Topics addressed include vaccines likely to file soon for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , whether one can resume their Before Times lifestyle after they are vaccinated , the vaccine approval process , why this vaccine was developed so quickly , vaccine side effects ( actually , these are routine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two people in the UK who had serious allergic reactions after receiving the vaccine , what the vaccines are actually effective against , the science behind the vaccines , and how you might be notified when it ’ s your turn to get vaccinated .
Enter your zip code about a quarter of the way down this page to look up hospital and ICU-bed capacity data in your area as of 12/7/20 ( by Lauren Leathergy , John Keefe , Lucy Tompkins , Charlie Smart , and Matthew Conlen at The New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might enjoy , ” Your monthly horoscope , ” by Jena Friedman for The New Yorker ( 12/14/20 ) .

The items below are highlights from the free newsletter, “Smart, useful, science stuff about COVID-19.” To receive newsletter issues daily in your inbox, sign up here.
A calculator recently published at The New York Times estimates your "place in line" for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among the full U.S. population. It spits out a result based on your age, county of residence, occupation, and underlying health conditions. The calculator draws on vaccine priority recommendations issued by an advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, according to a story about it by Stuart A. Thompson (illustrations by Jorge Colombo). The calculator puts 268.7 million people ahead of me in line. To help readers grasp the logistical complexity of the vaccine rollout, the story lists the supplies required for every 100 doses: 105 needles and syringes, 210 alcohol pads, 4 surgical masks, 2 face shields, and "100 vaccine report cards to track patients’ vaccine histories.” In English; In Spanish.
The New York Times has published a “Vaccine Distribution Tracker,” which illustrates the number of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses currently allocated to each U.S. state (12/16/20). Allocations were made in proportion to the size of each state’s population, for the most part, the piece states. This “first wave of shipments will vaccine less than 1 percent of the nation’s population and will cover only a fraction of the 21 million health care workers and 3 million long-term care facility residents who are up first,” write Danielle Ivory, Jasmine C. Lee, Amy Schoenfeld Walker, and Mitch Smith. Approval of a second SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Moderna’s genetic vaccine, is expected by week’s end, according to various reports. “Some states have begun to publish data on the Pfizer doses they have received and administered,” the story states, “but there is not yet a consistent method for them to publicly report how many doses they have received and administered.”
An interactive piece at Vox describes the current SARS-CoV-2 vaccine distribution situation in the U.S. as scarce. Some 6% of the U.S. population could be vaccinated by the end of this year, according to the piece by Youyou Zhou and Julia Belluz (12/15/20). “Hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. are simply going to have to wait — probably several months — to get a vaccine,” the story states. One graphic in the piece illustrates the state-by-state percentage of health care workers and long-term care facility residents who will be vaccinated with the first shipment of doses from Pfizer/BioNTech.
A rapid at-home test for SARS-CoV-2 received emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on 12/15/20, reports Katherine J. Wu at The New York Times (12/17/20). The test, cleared for people as young as 2 years old, detects pieces of the virus that provoke an immune response (antigens). The manufacturer, Ellume, plans to “deliver about 20 million home coronavirus tests to the United States within the first half of 2021,” Wu writes. The test is most accurate in people who have symptoms of COVID-19, the story states, but it still detects 90 percent of asymptomatic infections that would be detected using the standard PCR test, the story states. It is set to be sold over-the-counter for about $30 or less, the story states.
COVID-19 “is the driving force behind” excess deaths among young adults ages 25 to 44 in the U.S. between March and July this year, according to a 12/16/20 essay in The New York Times about the authors’ study published the same day in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Young adults are dying at historic rates,” with nearly 12,000 more adults than expected in this group during the five-month period, write Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz of Yale, and Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky of Massachusetts General Hospital (Walensky is also President-elect Biden’s nominee for director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control). The excess deaths in this age group primarily occur among Black and Hispanic people, the authors write. “What we believed before about the relative harmlessness of COVID-19 among younger adults has simply not been borne out by emerging data,” the essay states.
For a list of authoritative answers to common questions on SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, see Tara Haelle’s 12/13/20 piece for Medium’s Elemental. Topics addressed include vaccines likely to file soon for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, whether one can resume their Before Times lifestyle after they are vaccinated, the vaccine approval process, why this vaccine was developed so quickly, vaccine side effects (actually, these are routine reactions), that whole deal with the two people in the UK who had serious allergic reactions after receiving the vaccine, what the vaccines are actually effective against, the science behind the vaccines, and how you might be notified when it’s your turn to get vaccinated.
Enter your zip code about a quarter of the way down this page to look up hospital and ICU-bed capacity data in your area as of 12/7/20 (by Lauren Leathergy, John Keefe, Lucy Tompkins, Charlie Smart, and Matthew Conlen at The New York Times, 12/9/20).
You might enjoy,” Your monthly horoscope,” by Jena Friedman for The New Yorker (12/14/20).


scientificamerican--2020-12-18--Historic Picks for EPA, Interior Complete Biden Climate Team

Joe Biden made climate change and racism top issues when running for president .
Now he ’ s melding them with the selection of his Cabinet .
Rep. Deb Haaland , Biden ’ s pick to head the Interior Department , would become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in history if confirmed .
Michael Regan , head of North Carolina ’ s Department of Environmental Quality , would be the first Black man to lead EPA .
Both have resumes with strong climate credentials and represent a significant win for the progressive movement , which pressured the Biden transition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it had favored for each role .
They have also spent their careers highlighting the disproportionate effects of pollution on Black , Indigenous and other minority communities .
“ This is a good day for signaling what the Biden-Harris administration will do in regards to environmental justice , but it ’ s actually not beyond what he had committed to doing , ” said Ryan Schleeter , a spokesman for Greenpeace USA .
Regan is an EPA veteran who served in a number of roles over the course of a decade during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including as national program manager for the agency ’ s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards .
That background could be important to career staff members who want to focus on environmental protections after rolling back safeguards under President Trump , said a source close to the transition .
“ His expertise is in energy efficiency programs , renewable energy programs , air regulations issues , ” the source said .
“ He has real environmental chops ; he ’ s not just someone with a keen understanding of the mission of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ important to help environmental justice communities .
He has very real energy and environmental expertise.
” Ryke Longest , co-director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Duke University , said Regan has demonstrated an ability to rebuild a depleted agency .
When North Carolina Gov .
Roy Cooper ( D ) tapped him to lead the Department of Environmental Quality four years ago , its staff had been slashed and its authorities scattered by the outgoing Republican administration .
“ In 2016 , Secretary Regan had to lead efforts to rebuild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Longest .
He credited Regan with rehabilitating the DEQ and delivering major settlements with Duke Energy Corp. over coal ash and with Chemours Co. to clean up harmful chemicals dumped into the Cape Fear River .
Haaland , a member of the Pueblo of Laguna , is the incoming Cabinet ’ s most direct link to climate activists within the Democratic Party .
She participated in anti-pipeline protests at the Standing Rock reservation in 2016 .
Her appointment would mean that the stewardship of about one-fifth of U.S. lands could move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in current Interior Secretary David Bernhardt ” to a climate activist who says she will prioritize the rights of American Indians .
Haaland , if confirmed by the Senate , will take over an agency tasked with the care of 500 million acres , including more than 52 million acres of tribal land .
In Congress , Haaland has prioritized climate issues .
Earlier this year , she proposed a series of bills that seek to plant 4 billion trees and restore or conserve 2 million acres of coastal wetlands by 2030 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Green New Deal and served on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis .
For weeks , people close to the transition said Biden ’ s top choice for EPA administrator was Mary Nichols , the head of the California Air Resources Board , who battled with the Trump administration ’ s attempt to roll back pollution protections .
But Nichols ’ nomination hit a wall after environmental justice groups said she had ignored their concerns for years .
Biden also considered Sen. Tom Udall ( D-N.M. ) to head Interior , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but progressive activists responded by campaigning aggressively in support of Haaland .
Four leading progressive groups circulated a letter to Udall on Dec. 10 that praised his record , including on environmental justice issues , but called on him to step aside .
“ It would not be right for two Udalls to lead the Department of the Interior , the agency tasked with managing the nation ’ s public lands , natural resources and trust responsibilities to tribes , before a single Native American , ” read the letter by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justice Democrats and the NDN Collective .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) told reporters yesterday that she was excited to see how Biden ’ s picks would craft U.S. climate policy .
“ I ’ m over the moon right now , ” she said , according to pool reports .
“ I think the Biden climate appointments , they represent progress , real progress , so I ’ m really excited .
I ’ m so thrilled.
” The Sierra Club also praised both selections , asserting that they were the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate justice , a central part of Biden ’ s $ 2 trillion climate plan .
The Interior Department ’ s focus during the Trump years on “ polluter profits ” meant that it has failed to live up to its mission , said Chris Hill , acting director of the Sierra Club ’ s Our Wild America campaign .
“ We ’ re confident Rep. Haaland can reset the Department of the Interior , ” Hill said in a statement .
“ We look forward to a transformation in how our country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and managed ” prioritizing Indigenous-led conservation , making public lands a part of the climate solution , and integrating equity into decision making at every level.
” While Haaland ’ s selection is an unalloyed victory for progressives and her fellow environmental justice advocates , Regan ’ s is viewed as more of a mixed bag by advocates for frontline communities in North Carolina .
Some see him as a champion , pointing to his record on coal ash and chemicals dumping , and his resistance to the Trump administration ’ s plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to oil and gas development .
He also established an environmental justice advisory board and developed the state ’ s first climate plan .
On the other hand , Longest of Duke said the DEQ has done an inadequate job of incorporating environmental justice principles into its permitting , remediation and enforcement work .
The agency under Regan approved a permit for the planned Atlantic Coast pipeline , a 600-mile conduit that advocates say would have run through two communities of color that have already suffered disproportionately from harmful pollution .
Robeson County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans , including many members of the Lumbee Tribe , is ranked worst on the state health index .
Garysburg , N.C. , where the pipeline would have had a compressor station , is a majority-Black community that has experienced harmful particulate pollution levels related to the lumber industry .
Donna Chavis , a senior fossil fuels campaigner with Friends of the Earth based in North Carolina , called the DEQ ’ s approval of the project , which has since been canceled , “ a picture-perfect case of environmental injustice.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the concerns , ” she said , adding that advocates went away from those meetings feeling dismissed .
It ’ s the same charge that California ’ s environmental justice groups leveled against Nichols .
But Schleeter of Greenpeace said that whatever the ambiguities in his record , Regan is no Nichols .
“ Mary Nichols was really put in the position she was in in California because of the ability to get oil and gas companies on board with a cap-and-trade program that disadvantaged frontline communities , ” Schleeter said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was never to really listen to the voices of environmental justice advocates , and as far as I know , that ’ s not the case with Michael Regan.
” La ’ Meshia Whittington of the North Carolina Black Alliance , which promoted Regan ’ s nomination in a letter to EPA this week with environmental justice groups , noted that national and local environmentalists strongly backed Cooper ’ s bid for reelection last month , hailing him as a leader on their issues .
Regan carried out Cooper ’ s environmental agenda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t undergo the same level of scrutiny and mixed reviews that Secretary Regan is undergoing , ” she noted .
“ And that notion of racial identity politics that we have heard is concerning.
” She said Regan , who grew up in Wayne County , N.C. , in an area that was contaminated by coal ash , had spent a decade working to improve the state ’ s environment .
He and the Cooper administration had to contend with a conservative state Legislature and pressure from the Trump administration , she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that progressives now have enough influence to compel a moderate incoming president to rethink his preferred choice for key Cabinet positions .
“ I think it ’ s a tremendous change in our political moment , ” said Jean Su , the energy justice lead for the Center for Biological Diversity .
“ I think it ’ s reflected in the choice of the vice president , and I think it ’ s carefully reflected in Cabinet positions.
” Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E & E News .
E & E @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environmental news at www.eenews.net .

Joe Biden made climate change and racism top issues when running for president. Now he’s melding them with the selection of his Cabinet.
Rep. Deb Haaland, Biden’s pick to head the Interior Department, would become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in history if confirmed. Michael Regan, head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, would be the first Black man to lead EPA.
Both have resumes with strong climate credentials and represent a significant win for the progressive movement, which pressured the Biden transition team to back off from establishment candidates it had favored for each role. They have also spent their careers highlighting the disproportionate effects of pollution on Black, Indigenous and other minority communities.
“This is a good day for signaling what the Biden-Harris administration will do in regards to environmental justice, but it’s actually not beyond what he had committed to doing,” said Ryan Schleeter, a spokesman for Greenpeace USA.
Regan is an EPA veteran who served in a number of roles over the course of a decade during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, including as national program manager for the agency’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. That background could be important to career staff members who want to focus on environmental protections after rolling back safeguards under President Trump, said a source close to the transition.
“His expertise is in energy efficiency programs, renewable energy programs, air regulations issues,” the source said. “He has real environmental chops; he’s not just someone with a keen understanding of the mission of the agency and why it’s important to help environmental justice communities. He has very real energy and environmental expertise.”
Ryke Longest, co-director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Duke University, said Regan has demonstrated an ability to rebuild a depleted agency. When North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) tapped him to lead the Department of Environmental Quality four years ago, its staff had been slashed and its authorities scattered by the outgoing Republican administration.
“In 2016, Secretary Regan had to lead efforts to rebuild the agency’s basic functionality,” said Longest.
He credited Regan with rehabilitating the DEQ and delivering major settlements with Duke Energy Corp. over coal ash and with Chemours Co. to clean up harmful chemicals dumped into the Cape Fear River.
Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, is the incoming Cabinet’s most direct link to climate activists within the Democratic Party. She participated in anti-pipeline protests at the Standing Rock reservation in 2016.
Her appointment would mean that the stewardship of about one-fifth of U.S. lands could move from a former energy industry lobbyist”in current Interior Secretary David Bernhardt”to a climate activist who says she will prioritize the rights of American Indians.
Haaland, if confirmed by the Senate, will take over an agency tasked with the care of 500 million acres, including more than 52 million acres of tribal land.
In Congress, Haaland has prioritized climate issues. Earlier this year, she proposed a series of bills that seek to plant 4 billion trees and restore or conserve 2 million acres of coastal wetlands by 2030. She is also a champion of the Green New Deal and served on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
‘Over the moon’
For weeks, people close to the transition said Biden’s top choice for EPA administrator was Mary Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, who battled with the Trump administration’s attempt to roll back pollution protections.
But Nichols’ nomination hit a wall after environmental justice groups said she had ignored their concerns for years. Biden also considered Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) to head Interior, a post Udall’s father held, but progressive activists responded by campaigning aggressively in support of Haaland.
Four leading progressive groups circulated a letter to Udall on Dec. 10 that praised his record, including on environmental justice issues, but called on him to step aside.
“It would not be right for two Udalls to lead the Department of the Interior, the agency tasked with managing the nation’s public lands, natural resources and trust responsibilities to tribes, before a single Native American,” read the letter by the Sunrise Movement, Data for Progress, Justice Democrats and the NDN Collective.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters yesterday that she was excited to see how Biden’s picks would craft U.S. climate policy.
“I’m over the moon right now,” she said, according to pool reports. “I think the Biden climate appointments, they represent progress, real progress, so I’m really excited. I’m so thrilled.”
The Sierra Club also praised both selections, asserting that they were the best people to focus the administration on climate justice, a central part of Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan.
The Interior Department’s focus during the Trump years on “polluter profits” meant that it has failed to live up to its mission, said Chris Hill, acting director of the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign.
“We’re confident Rep. Haaland can reset the Department of the Interior,” Hill said in a statement. “We look forward to a transformation in how our country’s lands and waters are used and managed”prioritizing Indigenous-led conservation, making public lands a part of the climate solution, and integrating equity into decision making at every level.”
While Haaland’s selection is an unalloyed victory for progressives and her fellow environmental justice advocates, Regan’s is viewed as more of a mixed bag by advocates for frontline communities in North Carolina.
Some see him as a champion, pointing to his record on coal ash and chemicals dumping, and his resistance to the Trump administration’s plans to open North Carolina’s coastlines to oil and gas development. He also established an environmental justice advisory board and developed the state’s first climate plan.
On the other hand, Longest of Duke said the DEQ has done an inadequate job of incorporating environmental justice principles into its permitting, remediation and enforcement work.
The agency under Regan approved a permit for the planned Atlantic Coast pipeline, a 600-mile conduit that advocates say would have run through two communities of color that have already suffered disproportionately from harmful pollution.
Robeson County, which is home to 30,000 Native Americans, including many members of the Lumbee Tribe, is ranked worst on the state health index. Garysburg, N.C., where the pipeline would have had a compressor station, is a majority-Black community that has experienced harmful particulate pollution levels related to the lumber industry.
Donna Chavis, a senior fossil fuels campaigner with Friends of the Earth based in North Carolina, called the DEQ’s approval of the project, which has since been canceled, “a picture-perfect case of environmental injustice.”
“He was met with numerous times about the concerns,” she said, adding that advocates went away from those meetings feeling dismissed.
It’s the same charge that California’s environmental justice groups leveled against Nichols. But Schleeter of Greenpeace said that whatever the ambiguities in his record, Regan is no Nichols.
“Mary Nichols was really put in the position she was in in California because of the ability to get oil and gas companies on board with a cap-and-trade program that disadvantaged frontline communities,” Schleeter said. “So from the beginning, her intent was never to really listen to the voices of environmental justice advocates, and as far as I know, that’s not the case with Michael Regan.”
La’Meshia Whittington of the North Carolina Black Alliance, which promoted Regan’s nomination in a letter to EPA this week with environmental justice groups, noted that national and local environmentalists strongly backed Cooper’s bid for reelection last month, hailing him as a leader on their issues. Regan carried out Cooper’s environmental agenda.
“Gov. Cooper didn’t undergo the same level of scrutiny and mixed reviews that Secretary Regan is undergoing,” she noted. “And that notion of racial identity politics that we have heard is concerning.”
She said Regan, who grew up in Wayne County, N.C., in an area that was contaminated by coal ash, had spent a decade working to improve the state’s environment. He and the Cooper administration had to contend with a conservative state Legislature and pressure from the Trump administration, she said.
Observers say the two picks show that progressives now have enough influence to compel a moderate incoming president to rethink his preferred choice for key Cabinet positions.
“I think it’s a tremendous change in our political moment,” said Jean Su, the energy justice lead for the Center for Biological Diversity. “I think it’s reflected in the choice of the vice president, and I think it’s carefully reflected in Cabinet positions.”
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net.


scientificamerican--2020-12-19--50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: December 2020

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: December 2020

“ In laboratories at the Oldham General Hospital in Lancashire and at the University of Cambridge , human eggs have now been successfully brought to maturity , fertilized in vitro and cultured in vitro to the blastocyst stage of development , which is the stage immediately preceding the beginning of normal implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus .
Clinically it should be possible with these procedures to circumvent certain causes of infertility and to avert the development of embryos that otherwise could be expected to grow abnormally .
Still further possibilities can be imagined .
Eggs fertilized in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stage could be transferred back to the mother with an excellent chance of completing development normally .
—R .
G. Edwards and Ruth E. Fowler ” The first baby to be conceived by in vitro fertilization was born at Oldham hospital in July 1978 .
“ Commenting on articles in the New York Tribune in which the abandonment of the superdreadnaught battleship was advocated , Rear Admiral Fiske says that most of the men who oppose the strenuous development of aeronautics have not carefully studied its possibilities .
He believes with many others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ a revolution in warfare , in comparison with which the revolution brought about by the invention of the gun was like a vaudeville performance.
’ Pretty strong words these for an admiral !
” “ One development of the impasse in import and export business between Germany and other countries growing out of the depressed value of the German mark is a modification of the barter system .
Arrangements have been made by various British cotton interests who have arranged to furnish German cotton mills with raw cotton and take from them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manufacturers retaining a portion of the yarn as their payment for the use of their plant , of their labor , and other costs of manufacture.
” “ This whole business of spiritualism has been the source of much mischief , and has brought insanity into many a family .
Our readers ought to know , that no man of science , no sane man of intelligence has any faith in it .
Before the light of science the whole thing is shown to be an imposition .
But , as Dr. William @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a religion .
As such it is held tenaciously by many well-meaning people .
To reason with these would be a waste of words , just as much as would be the attempt to persuade a madman out of his delusion .
Emotion , or interest , or accident might change them , but facts never.
’ “ In attaching letter-boxes to lamp posts , this box is constructed in two hemispherical sections .
The drop holes are made without movable lids , being protected by a projecting shield , as shown .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the use of one hand only is required to insert letters .
The closing of an umbrella in a rain storm , or the setting down of a basket or a child in arms , in order to put a letter in the box , is thus obviated .
Patented , through the Scientific American Patent Agency by Albert Potts , of Philadelphia , Pa. ” In 1775 Benjamin Franklin was appointed the U.S. 's first postmaster general .
Letters and—more important for Scientific American—periodicals have been keeping citizens informed and engaged in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years after this magazine was founded in 1845 , the U.S. Post Office started issuing postage stamps as a convenient way to pay for mailed items .
This “ folly ” was decried by our forebears : delivery of the publication now had to be prepaid instead of being paid for by the recipient .
The volume of mail has grown with the evolution of the technology to collect , sort and deliver it .
In 1895 five billion pieces of mail went through sorting offices such as the one pictured above ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of e-mail , FedEx and UPS , 143 billion pieces of mail were delivered .

1970
In Vitro Progress
“In laboratories at the Oldham General Hospital in Lancashire and at the University of Cambridge, human eggs have now been successfully brought to maturity, fertilized in vitro and cultured in vitro to the blastocyst stage of development, which is the stage immediately preceding the beginning of normal implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus. Clinically it should be possible with these procedures to circumvent certain causes of infertility and to avert the development of embryos that otherwise could be expected to grow abnormally. Still further possibilities can be imagined. Eggs fertilized in the laboratory and cultivated to the blastocyst stage could be transferred back to the mother with an excellent chance of completing development normally. —R. G. Edwards and Ruth E. Fowler”
The first baby to be conceived by in vitro fertilization was born at Oldham hospital in July 1978.
1920
Battleship vs. Torpedo Plane
“Commenting on articles in the New York Tribune in which the abandonment of the superdreadnaught battleship was advocated, Rear Admiral Fiske says that most of the men who oppose the strenuous development of aeronautics have not carefully studied its possibilities. He believes with many others that aeronautics is destined to bring about ‘a revolution in warfare, in comparison with which the revolution brought about by the invention of the gun was like a vaudeville performance.’ Pretty strong words these for an admiral!”
After Currency Collapses
“One development of the impasse in import and export business between Germany and other countries growing out of the depressed value of the German mark is a modification of the barter system. Arrangements have been made by various British cotton interests who have arranged to furnish German cotton mills with raw cotton and take from them cotton yarn manufactured therefrom, the German manufacturers retaining a portion of the yarn as their payment for the use of their plant, of their labor, and other costs of manufacture.”
1870
Spiritualism
“This whole business of spiritualism has been the source of much mischief, and has brought insanity into many a family. Our readers ought to know, that no man of science, no sane man of intelligence has any faith in it. Before the light of science the whole thing is shown to be an imposition. But, as Dr. William A. Hammond says: ‘Spiritualism is a religion. As such it is held tenaciously by many well-meaning people. To reason with these would be a waste of words, just as much as would be the attempt to persuade a madman out of his delusion. Emotion, or interest, or accident might change them, but facts never.’
Patents for Post
“In attaching letter-boxes to lamp posts, this box is constructed in two hemispherical sections. The drop holes are made without movable lids, being protected by a projecting shield, as shown. This is a great convenience, as the use of one hand only is required to insert letters. The closing of an umbrella in a rain storm, or the setting down of a basket or a child in arms, in order to put a letter in the box, is thus obviated. Patented, through the Scientific American Patent Agency by Albert Potts, of Philadelphia, Pa.”
U.S. Postal Service
1896: Systems, people power and a few machines join forces to sort the mail. Credit: Scientific American, Vol. LXXIV, No. 16; April 18, 1896
In 1775 Benjamin Franklin was appointed the U.S.'s first postmaster general. Letters and—more important for Scientific American—periodicals have been keeping citizens informed and engaged in the democratic process ever since. Two years after this magazine was founded in 1845, the U.S. Post Office started issuing postage stamps as a convenient way to pay for mailed items. This “folly” was decried by our forebears: delivery of the publication now had to be prepaid instead of being paid for by the recipient. The volume of mail has grown with the evolution of the technology to collect, sort and deliver it. In 1895 five billion pieces of mail went through sorting offices such as the one pictured above; by 2019, even in the era of e-mail, FedEx and UPS, 143 billion pieces of mail were delivered.


scientificamerican--2020-12-19--Pregnant Women Must Be Included in Medical Research

Pregnant women have historically been excluded from the majority of medical research under the justification of protecting these women and their pregnancies from harm .
But when new treatments are not tested in this population , we can not know whether those treatments are safe and effective .
People who are sick or have chronic conditions can become pregnant , and those who are pregnant can get sick or develop health conditions .
More than 90 percent of women take at least one medicine during pregnancy , and a significant portion are given recommended vaccines : the flu shot and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only the recipient but their family as well .
The COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of why pregnant people must be included in research .
have shown that pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness from the coronavirus .
They are more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and receive invasive ventilation , and are at increased risk of death compared to nonpregnant women .
As a high-risk population , pregnant people clearly need access to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 .
Yet , pregnant women are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meaning they are unlikely to have timely access to these critical interventions because we will not know whether they are safe for pregnant people .
To address these concerns , we must move toward protecting pregnant people through research , not from research .
Fortunately , a federal task force has just released a plan on how to do this .
The Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women ( PRGLAC ) outlines steps for implementing 15 recommendations designed to address obstacles to the inclusion of pregnant women and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force is made up of representatives from the National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) , clinicians , researchers and industry .
The PRGLAC implementation plan identifies roles for each of these stakeholders within the research and medical community , as well as for Congress , in the effort to overcome this harmful precedent of exclusion .
To integrate pregnant women and breastfeeding women into the national clinical research agenda , all agencies under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HHS ) need to be on the same page regarding rules , regulations and best practices around the inclusion of these populations in research .
The PRGLAC plan recommends the creation of an HHS-wide guidance on ethical issues and strategies for designing studies that include these populations , as well as the establishment of a central committee or office to oversee work in this area .
The PRGLAC Task Force recommends expanding the workforce of clinicians and researchers with expertise in obstetric and lactation pharmacology and therapeutics .
The task force also calls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providers with important information on research in people who are pregnant or breastfeeding .
Medical professional societies such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( ACOG ) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine ( SMFM ) are well positioned to lead these efforts around the training , mentorship and career development of clinicians and researchers .
Congressional action could play a critical role in implementing many of the PRGLAC Task Force recommendations , including the potential for legislation similar to the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act , which provides financial incentive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on new therapies , and the Pediatric Research Equity Act , which allows the FDA to require drug developers to assess certain therapies in children .
In addition , Congress will need to dedicate funding for the expansion or creation of federal programs and activities that will move this space forward .
For example , existing NIH infrastructure and research networks , such as the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network , could facilitate much-needed research if provided additional resources .
Given the research challenges , ethical considerations and liability issues inherent to incorporating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studies , the pharmaceutical industry has historically limited its investment and work in these populations .
The PRGLAC plan notes the importance of addressing liability issues and creating incentives to drive industry investment in this space .
But pharmaceutical companies must also commit to ensuring the inclusion of those who are pregnant or breastfeeding in their drug development plans when appropriate , and the companies should work to design clinical trials that eliminate barriers that make participation difficult for these populations .
Finally , the PRGLAC Task Force recommends that all stakeholders—federal agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as the Society for Women ’ s Health Research ( SWHR ) —should band together to develop a public awareness campaign that explains the importance of research on therapeutic products in people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and that encourages the participation of these populations in research .
The inclusion of pregnant women and breastfeeding women in medical research is long overdue .
With almost four million women in the U.S. giving birth each year , 80 percent of whom will breastfeed their infants , and about 74 million women of childbearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to include pregnant women and breastfeeding women in research .
With a health pandemic raging across the globe , a rising maternal mortality rate and wide disparities in health outcomes , women are working every day to protect themselves and their families .
We have a plan endorsed by experts—and although it will take work , women ’ s health will greatly benefit from these efforts .

Pregnant women have historically been excluded from the majority of medical research under the justification of protecting these women and their pregnancies from harm. But when new treatments are not tested in this population, we cannot know whether those treatments are safe and effective.
People who are sick or have chronic conditions can become pregnant, and those who are pregnant can get sick or develop health conditions. More than 90 percent of women take at least one medicine during pregnancy, and a significant portion are given recommended vaccines: the flu shot and Tdap, both of which protect not only the recipient but their family as well.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example of why pregnant people must be included in research. Recent studies have shown that pregnant women are at increased risk for severe illness from the coronavirus. They are more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit and receive invasive ventilation, and are at increased risk of death compared to nonpregnant women.
As a high-risk population, pregnant people clearly need access to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. Yet, pregnant women are currently being excluded from COVID-19 research, meaning they are unlikely to have timely access to these critical interventions because we will not know whether they are safe for pregnant people.
To address these concerns, we must move toward protecting pregnant people through research, not from research. Fortunately, a federal task force has just released a plan on how to do this.
The Task Force on Research Specific to Pregnant Women and Lactating Women (PRGLAC) outlines steps for implementing 15 recommendations designed to address obstacles to the inclusion of pregnant women and breastfeeding women in research. The task force is made up of representatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), clinicians, researchers and industry.
The PRGLAC implementation plan identifies roles for each of these stakeholders within the research and medical community, as well as for Congress, in the effort to overcome this harmful precedent of exclusion.
To integrate pregnant women and breastfeeding women into the national clinical research agenda, all agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) need to be on the same page regarding rules, regulations and best practices around the inclusion of these populations in research. The PRGLAC plan recommends the creation of an HHS-wide guidance on ethical issues and strategies for designing studies that include these populations, as well as the establishment of a central committee or office to oversee work in this area.
The PRGLAC Task Force recommends expanding the workforce of clinicians and researchers with expertise in obstetric and lactation pharmacology and therapeutics. The task force also calls for communication strategies to supply health care providers with important information on research in people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Medical professional societies such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) are well positioned to lead these efforts around the training, mentorship and career development of clinicians and researchers.
Congressional action could play a critical role in implementing many of the PRGLAC Task Force recommendations, including the potential for legislation similar to the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which provides financial incentive to drug developers for conducting pediatric studies on new therapies, and the Pediatric Research Equity Act, which allows the FDA to require drug developers to assess certain therapies in children. In addition, Congress will need to dedicate funding for the expansion or creation of federal programs and activities that will move this space forward. For example, existing NIH infrastructure and research networks, such as the Maternal Fetal Medicine Units Network, could facilitate much-needed research if provided additional resources.
Given the research challenges, ethical considerations and liability issues inherent to incorporating those who are pregnant or breastfeeding in studies, the pharmaceutical industry has historically limited its investment and work in these populations. The PRGLAC plan notes the importance of addressing liability issues and creating incentives to drive industry investment in this space. But pharmaceutical companies must also commit to ensuring the inclusion of those who are pregnant or breastfeeding in their drug development plans when appropriate, and the companies should work to design clinical trials that eliminate barriers that make participation difficult for these populations.
Finally, the PRGLAC Task Force recommends that all stakeholders—federal agencies, medical societies, industry and nonprofits such as the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR)—should band together to develop a public awareness campaign that explains the importance of research on therapeutic products in people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and that encourages the participation of these populations in research.
The inclusion of pregnant women and breastfeeding women in medical research is long overdue. With almost four million women in the U.S. giving birth each year, 80 percent of whom will breastfeed their infants, and about 74 million women of childbearing age in the U.S., it is time to include pregnant women and breastfeeding women in research. With a health pandemic raging across the globe, a rising maternal mortality rate and wide disparities in health outcomes, women are working every day to protect themselves and their families. We have a plan endorsed by experts—and although it will take work, women’s health will greatly benefit from these efforts.


scientificamerican--2020-12-20--Dressing for (Health) Success

Dressing for (Health) Success

No doctor has ever prescribed a shirt to save a patient ’ s life .
But on a family summer vacation in 2017 , Rob Leibowitz wore a T-shirt while walking around Disney World that bore the phrase : “ In Need of Kidney , O Positive.
” After a picture was posted on Facebook , the story went viral , and a few months later , Leibowitz , who had been on the transplant list for several years , underwent a successful surgery to implant a kidney donated by a complete stranger .
Although this story might be an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can medicine and fashion intersect in other ways ?
They might seem like as odd a combination as polka dots and plaid .
Yet fashion , broadly defined , is already being considered in health care settings .
For example the effect of hospital gowns on patients has been studied , and it should come as no surprise that many patients report feeling a loss of privacy , individuality and autonomy when putting on a gown .
Furthermore , the hospital gown prompted patients to internalize the idea that they were unwell .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ patient said , “ I would say that when the gown comes out there is something that psychologically goes ‘ this is serious , I ’ m ill. ’ ” As a result of such criticism , designers ranging from students at Parsons School of Design to Diane von Furstenberg have rethought what a patient gown could look like .
Such redesigns have not been widely adopted by hospitals yet , perhaps because the gowns have to be cheap , easy to manufacture and easily washable .
However , even if they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be spending considerable time in the hospital , gowns in different sizes and colors might help give these patients a feeling of control and agency—especially when so much is out of their control .
In fact , creative solutions to patient gowns have already been shown to have positive effects in clinical settings .
At Weill Cornell , young patients undergoing MRI scans were given an “ MRI-am-a-Hero ” kit to explain the procedure and make the experience feel like part of a superhero adventure .
Among other activities , patients could choose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wear inside the machine .
When studying the program , researchers found that the kit decreased the percentage of pediatric MRI cases that needed sedation by more than five percentage points—showing the potentially transformative nature of hospital attire .
The association of garments with illness could be one of the reasons why , in many Western countries , few people wore facemasks before the pandemic to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses such as the H1N1 influenza .
Just as a patient gown has been associated with being ill , wearing a face @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diseased and even dangerous .
Today , by contrast , they ’ re increasingly seen as a fashion accessory—and while that might seem like an attempt by retailers to profit from the COVID crisis , there are potential benefits to this perspective .
In an interview with NPR , for example , fashion historian Valerie Steele said that “ fashionizing masks is a good way to normalize them and to say that you do n't need to be scared.
” That view is supported by research in the Journal of Hospital Infection , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ young Korean pop singers made the wearing of face masks fashionable , ” which might help explain why the incidence of COVID-19 has been so low in South Korea .
Fashion is also addressing the needs of the differently abled in the form of so-called “ adaptive fashion , ” designed to allow a person to easily dress him/herself stylishly .
The beauty of adaptive fashion lies not only in its functionality but also in the effect it can have on the wearer ’ s self-esteem .
The lack of appropriate clothing has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to events such as school dances , job interviews and funerals .
Along with companies like Target and Zappos , one of the most successful brands to create an adaptive line has been Tommy Hilfiger , whose distinctive prints and colors now appear on clothing with features like one-handed zippers and magnetic buttons for people who have dexterity impairments ; tagless and flat seams for people who have sensory sensitivity ; and pants with higher backs and easy closures for people who use wheelchairs ( try putting on or taking off a pair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll realize how difficult this is ) .
The research is persuasive , but my own experience also has shown me the value of thinking about how important fashion can be in settings where it has traditionally been ignored .
A few years ago , I was working on a clinical study that aimed to understand how patients could find potential kidney donors through social networks .
Inspired by the “ Disney Dad , ” one of the first things we did when we met the study participants was to hand them a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phone number on it .
I later found out several of them had already created their own custom shirts .
As I got to know the people in the study , I remember asking one woman about her shirt , which was pale pink with “ Help Me Find a Kidney ” on the front and a picture of her and her family printed on the back .
“ Every time I put it on , ” she explained , “ I am reminded that there is still hope .
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No doctor has ever prescribed a shirt to save a patient’s life. But on a family summer vacation in 2017, Rob Leibowitz wore a T-shirt while walking around Disney World that bore the phrase: “In Need of Kidney, O Positive.” After a picture was posted on Facebook, the story went viral, and a few months later, Leibowitz, who had been on the transplant list for several years, underwent a successful surgery to implant a kidney donated by a complete stranger. Although this story might be an anomaly, it made me wonder: can medicine and fashion intersect in other ways?
They might seem like as odd a combination as polka dots and plaid. Yet fashion, broadly defined, is already being considered in health care settings. For example the effect of hospital gowns on patients has been studied, and it should come as no surprise that many patients report feeling a loss of privacy, individuality and autonomy when putting on a gown. Furthermore, the hospital gown prompted patients to internalize the idea that they were unwell. In one of these studies, a patient said, “I would say that when the gown comes out there is something that psychologically goes ‘this is serious, I’m ill.’”
As a result of such criticism, designers ranging from students at Parsons School of Design to Diane von Furstenberg have rethought what a patient gown could look like. Such redesigns have not been widely adopted by hospitals yet, perhaps because the gowns have to be cheap, easy to manufacture and easily washable. However, even if they’re only available to people who will be spending considerable time in the hospital, gowns in different sizes and colors might help give these patients a feeling of control and agency—especially when so much is out of their control.
In fact, creative solutions to patient gowns have already been shown to have positive effects in clinical settings. At Weill Cornell, young patients undergoing MRI scans were given an “MRI-am-a-Hero” kit to explain the procedure and make the experience feel like part of a superhero adventure. Among other activities, patients could choose shorts and a T-shirt with superhero emblems to wear inside the machine. When studying the program, researchers found that the kit decreased the percentage of pediatric MRI cases that needed sedation by more than five percentage points—showing the potentially transformative nature of hospital attire.
The association of garments with illness could be one of the reasons why, in many Western countries, few people wore facemasks before the pandemic to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses such as the H1N1 influenza. Just as a patient gown has been associated with being ill, wearing a face mask in public was associated with being diseased and even dangerous.
Today, by contrast, they’re increasingly seen as a fashion accessory—and while that might seem like an attempt by retailers to profit from the COVID crisis, there are potential benefits to this perspective. In an interview with NPR, for example, fashion historian Valerie Steele said that “fashionizing masks is a good way to normalize them and to say that you don't need to be scared.” That view is supported by research in the Journal of Hospital Infection, which points out that “Interestingly, young Korean pop singers made the wearing of face masks fashionable,” which might help explain why the incidence of COVID-19 has been so low in South Korea.
Fashion is also addressing the needs of the differently abled in the form of so-called “adaptive fashion,” designed to allow a person to easily dress him/herself stylishly. The beauty of adaptive fashion lies not only in its functionality but also in the effect it can have on the wearer’s self-esteem. The lack of appropriate clothing has discouraged people with mobility impairments from going to events such as school dances, job interviews and funerals.
Along with companies like Target and Zappos, one of the most successful brands to create an adaptive line has been Tommy Hilfiger, whose distinctive prints and colors now appear on clothing with features like one-handed zippers and magnetic buttons for people who have dexterity impairments; tagless and flat seams for people who have sensory sensitivity; and pants with higher backs and easy closures for people who use wheelchairs (try putting on or taking off a pair of jeans while sitting and you’ll realize how difficult this is).
The research is persuasive, but my own experience also has shown me the value of thinking about how important fashion can be in settings where it has traditionally been ignored. A few years ago, I was working on a clinical study that aimed to understand how patients could find potential kidney donors through social networks. Inspired by the “Disney Dad,” one of the first things we did when we met the study participants was to hand them a T-shirt with the transplant center’s phone number on it. I later found out several of them had already created their own custom shirts. As I got to know the people in the study, I remember asking one woman about her shirt, which was pale pink with “Help Me Find a Kidney” on the front and a picture of her and her family printed on the back. “Every time I put it on,” she explained, “I am reminded that there is still hope.”