The US Environmental Protection Agency has imposed the first-ever regulations limiting chemicals known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, in drinking water. Long-term, low-dose exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, can hinder the immune system, interfere with hormones, and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. It can also cause low birth weight and high cholesterol. High doses of PFAS increase the risk of kidney cancer, liver damage, testicular cancer, and thyroid disease. On April 10, the EPA passed historic regulations on six PFAS compounds in ..read more

While most parents of preschool and elementary aged children strive to give their kids a balanced, nutritional diet, some of their strategies to promote healthy eating, may backfire, experts say. For example, three in five parents customize meals if their child doesn’t like what everyone else is eating, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Meanwhile, one in eight parents require children to eat everything on their plate. And while just one in three believe the standard American diet is healthy for kids, few have tried ..read more

New research shows how a new treatment helps patients with MS, ALS, or Parkinson’s disease. Is it possible for nanoparticles to go through the digestive system and deliver medicine directly to the brain tissue? Researchers from Michigan State University say yes, and their latest findings are expected to benefit patients with neurodegenerative disorders like multiple sclerosis, or MS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS; and Parkinson’s disease, or PD. “Our work is focused on identifying the biological identity of nanoparticles, including the type of proteins that come to their surfaces,” sa ..read more

Authoritarian regimes exert control over the internet through transit networks that operate largely out of public view, according to a recent study by researchers in the US and Germany. The work also shows how more sophisticated authoritarian regimes extend their influence by providing network access in poorer but politically similar countries. “This is a mechanism autocracies seem to prefer, it’s a lot less visible,” says Alexander Gamero-Garrido, assistant professor of computer science at the University of California, Davis, and a coauthor of the paper. Eda Keremoğlu at the University of Ko ..read more

New research shows that people recognize more of their biases in algorithms’ decisions than they do in their own—even when those decisions are the same. Algorithms were supposed to make our lives easier and fairer: help us find the best job applicants, help judges impartially assess the risks of bail and bond decisions, and ensure that healthcare is delivered to the patients with the greatest need. By now, though, we know that algorithms can be just as biased as the human decision-makers they inform and replace. What if that weren’t a bad thing? New research by Carey Morewedge, a Boston Unive ..read more

Cases of measles, a highly contagious and deadly disease, are surging in parts of the US, worrying doctors and public health experts. This year, so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has recorded 64 cases, already more than the 58 counted in 2023. The cases have popped up in 17 states, including at a Chicago migrant shelter, a Florida elementary school, and at a restaurant in Arizona. Most cases are linked to unvaccinated travelers, possibly driven by an uptick in measles cases abroad—in the European Union, for example, officials counted more than 42,000 cases in 2023 ..read more

Climate change will increase the future value of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States by up to 19% by the end of the century, according to new research. The study defines the value of solar, or VOS, as household-level financial benefits from electricity bill savings plus revenues from selling excess electricity to the grid—minus the initial installation costs. For many US households, increased earnings from residential rooftop solar could total up to hundreds of dollars annually by the end of the century, the researchers say. The study is published in Nature Climate Chang ..read more

Social stress during adolescence in female mice later results in prolonged elevation of the hormone cortisol after they give birth, a new study shows. The researchers say this corresponds to the equivalent hormonal changes in postpartum women exposed to adverse early life experiences—suggesting that early life stress may underlie a pathophysiological exacerbation of postpartum depression (PPD). The team’s findings, published in Nature Mental Health, also suggest that current drug treatments for PPD in people may, in some cases, be less effective at targeting the relevant chemical imbalances i ..read more

By simply talking to parents about preventing injuries, pediatricians can help families keep kids safer, according to a new study. Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of suffering and mortality in young children, and doctors agree that many of these injury-related deaths are preventable. To address this, the American Academy of Pediatrics designed The Injury Prevention Program, or TIPP. Launched in 1983, TIPP helps pediatricians implement injury prevention counseling for parents by providing anticipatory guidance based on child development schedules including what new skills children a ..read more

While a new “electronic tongue” bears little physical resemblance to its namesake, its strand-like sensory probes still outperformed human senses when detecting contaminated wine in a recent study. In an experiment , the e-tongue identified signs of microorganisms in white wine within a week after contamination—four weeks before a human panel noticed the change in aroma. This was also before those microbes could be grown from the wine in a Petri dish. Winemakers traditionally rely on these two methods, sniffing the wine and Petri dish testing, to identify potential wine “faults” or spoilage ..read more