In The News

Swine Fever in N Korea May Spur Talks: Korean Times

Park Ji-won June 6, 2019
Africa swine fever attacks domestic and wild pigs and causes severe economic losses. The disease emerged last year in China and has since spread to Mongolia, Vietnam, and North Korea. US and South Korean officials are in talks to assess how South Korea can provide food aid and prevent the disease’s spread. Seoul has urged cooperation and awaits response from North Korea. South Korea also requires...

Everest Rules Might Change: New York Times

Bhadra Sharma and Jeffrey Gettleman May 29, 2019
Images of long lines at the summit of Mount Everest and stories of climbers, desperate for air, stepping over the bodies of others who succumbed, are a public relations disaster. Reaching the summit, what should be a glorious achievement, has become another garish display of human excess. Some blame Nepal for selling too many permits. Others complain about rude behavior. At least 11 people have...

Battle to Contain Swine Fever: Wall Street Journal

April 26, 2019
China leads in pork consumption, and its pig population is the world’s largest. Over the past year, the nation has battled African swine fever among its stock. With the United States and China embroiled in trade talks, the epidemic is another major disruption for the industry. The only solution is for farmers to cull their herds with humane procedures and avoid cross-contamination with...

Gratitude and Mental Health: DW

Julia Vergin April 22, 2019
Universities are increasingly offering classes in gratitude, happiness and mindfulness to counter a constant focus on what’s wrong with the world or people’s lives. Searching out and recognizing the good aspects of one’s life and surroundings is a start to gratitude, and “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions," suggests psychologist Dirk Lehr who teaches at Leuphana University in...

The Unknowns of 5G Health Effects: Wired

Susan Crawford April 10, 2019
Communities may be rushing toward new technologies, particularly 5G networks, without considering health consequences. The 5G networks, unlike previous technologies, rely on high-frequency radio waves emitted from small cells in close proximity. Regulators rely on standards more than two decades old that focus on heat rather than other effects of radio-frequency waves and electromagnetic...

Poor Diets Linked to Deaths Worldwide: Time

Jamie Ducharme April 4, 2019
Healthy diets could reduce chronic disease and prevent one in five premature deaths globally, reports a study for the Lancet. “The sweeping review – which analyzed nearly 20 years of dietary data from 195 countries, alongside epidemiological studies about nutrition-related health risks and benefits estimates that poor diets killed 11 million people around the world in 2017, mostly by contributing...

Washington Post: Response Needed in Yemen

Missy Ryan January 20, 2019
Aid agencies and the United Nations have put out a warning about the food shortages in Yemen as the civil war rages on. As Missy Ryan for the Washington Post reports, “the civil war is putting more and more civilians on the brink of starvation.” Analysis suggests that 16 million people, more than half Yemen’s population, are regarded as “food insecure.” This announcement comes in the face of...