Impact uncertain for local food web Kristen Curry URI’s R/V Cap’n Bert motors out of Wickford Harbor weekly to collect samples of Narragansett Bay with Abby Baskind and other graduate students. Over 60 years, all that weekly data adds up. (URI Photo / Capt. Steve Barber) URI researchers estimate that in Narragansett Bay, the level of tiny plantlike creatures called phytoplankton has dropped by half in the last half century, based on new analysis of a long-term time series study of the bay. That’s what a new paper published by the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of O ..read more

We've gotten so much more creative with new vaccines By UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY  Vaccines save lives, as proven during the recent pandemic, but one component of most vaccines — including the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine — goes unheralded: a molecule or other compound that primes the immune system to mount a more robust defense against infection. These so-called adjuvants are added in small quantities but have a big protective effect, particularly in infants with immature immune systems and older people with a declining immune response. Yet, one of the strongest adjuvants ..read more

FIRST ARTICLE: First case of highly pathogenic avian influenza transmitted from cow to human confirmed Texas Tech University Texas Tech University's Biological Threat Research Laboratory (BTRL) played a key role in detecting the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A (H5N1) transmitted from a mammal (dairy cow) to a human. The case was made public in an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Steve Presley, the director of The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) and the BTRL, and Cynthia Reinoso Webb, the biological threat coordina ..read more

What ever happened to the idea of retiring with dignity and security? LYNN PARRAMORE, Institute For New Economic Thinking Shameful fact: the plight of U.S. retirees is a global exception. In their pursuit of lower taxes, America’s wealthiest individuals support policies that make it extremely difficult for seniors to manage the increasing costs of healthcare, housing, and basic necessities. Not so in other rich countries like Germany, France, and Canada, where robust public pensions and healthcare systems offer retirees stability and dignity. After a lifetime of hard work, older citizens in t ..read more

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Leave baby animals alone! The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is again cautioning the public not to assume that finding a baby animal means it needs to be rescued. A fawn (baby deer) lying on the ground hidden in grass or brush should not be considered abandoned – it should be left alone by people and pets because moving or handling it may permanently separate it from its mother and jeopardize its life. White-tailed deer give birth to fawns in May and June. Each year, DEM receives many calls about fawns mistaken to have been abandoned by their mother. This ..read more

Cancer cure? Something else for RFK Jr. and the anti-vaxxers to rant about By UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA  In a first-ever human clinical trial of four adult patients, an mRNA cancer vaccine created at the University of Florida rapidly reprogrammed the immune system to target glioblastoma, the deadliest and most aggressive form of brain tumor. The results mirror those in 10 pet dog patients suffering from naturally occurring brain tumors whose owners approved of their participation, as they had no other treatment options, as well as results from preclinical mouse models. The bre ..read more

Morgan asks Dr. Jerome Larkin if he would order closures, masking when we are hit by another pandemic By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current Morgan, left, with ex-Charlestown state rep Blake "Flip" Filippi After a small clinic’s worth of physicians showed up to testify in support of Gov. Dan McKee’s choice for the next director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services affirmed its support for Dr. Jerome “Jerry” Larkin at a hearing Thursday. The committee voted 5-1 in favor of Larkin’s nomination, with Sen. Elaine Morgan, a Hopkinto ..read more

Here's why Trump has refused to release his tax returns = he's a cheat (big surprise) By Paul Kiel, ProPublica, and Russ Buettner, The New York Times By Dave Whamond A massive trove of tax information obtained by ProPublica, covering thousands of America’s wealthiest individuals, reveals what’s inside the billionaires’ bag of tricks for minimizing their personal tax bills — sometimes to nothing. Former President Donald Trump used a dubious accounting maneuver to claim improper tax breaks from his troubled Chicago tower, according to an IRS inquiry uncovered by ProPublica and The New ..read more

Anjali Chandrashekar  ..read more