March 19, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.
HEALTH
- Kennedy gives food company CEOs an ultimatum (Politico)
- USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks (Politico)
- Bird flu-infected San Bernardino County dairy cows may have concerning new mutation (Los Angeles Times)
- As Texas measles outbreak grows, U.S. cases quickly surpass total for all of 2024 (NBC)
- Doctors didn't warn women of 'risky sex' drug urges (BBC)
- DOGE wants access to very personal information of Americans (NPR)
SCIENCE AND TECH
- NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally return home after more than nine months in space (CNN)
- DOGE cuts could end decades of ground-breaking climate research in Hawaii (USA Today)
- This machine turns carbon dioxide into fuel (BBC)
For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.
HEALTH
Kennedy gives food company CEOs an ultimatum (Politico)
The HHS secretary pressed for commitments to reduce food additives in a closed-door meeting Monday.
USDA cancels $1B in local food purchasing for schools, food banks (Politico)
The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending.
Bird flu-infected San Bernardino County dairy cows may have concerning new mutation (Los Angeles Times)
A new H5N1 bird flu mutation has appeared in a cluster of infected dairy cows. It’s a genetic change that scientists say could not only make the virus more lethal, but increase its spread between mammals and possibly humans.
As Texas measles outbreak grows, U.S. cases quickly surpass total for all of 2024 (NBC)
The vast majority of this year’s cases have been in Texas, nearly all of them in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.
Doctors didn't warn women of 'risky sex' drug urges (BBC)
Patients prescribed drugs for movement disorders - including restless leg syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson’s - say doctors did not warn them about serious side effects that led them to seek out risky sexual behaviour.
DOGE wants access to very personal information of Americans (NPR)
Some federal agencies store information that many people don't share even with their closest friends and family: Medical diagnoses and treatment. Notes from therapy sessions. Whether a person has filed for bankruptcy. Detailed income information…. Here's an overview of a few federal agencies that hold data on large swaths of Americans – and where things stand with the DOGE team's access.
SCIENCE AND TECH
NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally return home after more than nine months in space (CNN)
NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — who gained international attention as their planned short stay in space stretched into a more than nine-month, politically fraught mission — are finally home.
DOGE cuts could end decades of ground-breaking climate research in Hawaii (USA Today)
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is considering terminating the lease of a tiny office that supports a huge climate science experiment - one that's been ongoing for 67 years.
This machine turns carbon dioxide into fuel (BBC)
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found a way to take carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into a fuel named syngas, creating a carbon-neutral energy cycle. But there’s still work to be done before it’s publicly available.