Humanities
Report: Expanding Medicaid programs a win for both residents and state budgets
Posted by Kim Krisberg on March 25, 2016 Here’s what states get when they expand Medicaid: more savings, more revenue, more jobs, more access to care for their communities.
Are Engineers More Likely To Be Terrorists, And If So, Why?
Posted by Greg Laden on March 25, 2016 
I met a student, I was on his examining committee, who had been a civil engineer for years (he was getting his undergraduate degree late in life). He was politically conservative and cynical about academia. He needed the degree in order to get a major promotion, hated the idea of going back to college, but…
Study: Vaccine refusal is fueling the spread of potentially deadly diseases
Posted by Kim Krisberg on March 23, 2016 A recent study finds vaccine refusals have, indeed, accelerated the resurgence of whooping cough and measles here in the U.S. The findings are making headlines around the country — and comment sections are filling up with vitriol from anti-vaxxers — but it would feel amiss not to highlight the study on a blog dedicated to public health. But first, let’s remind ourselves of the pain and suffering that preceded vaccines.
Worth reading: Dollars for docs, lead in the water, and risk pools
Posted by Liz Borkowski on March 22, 2016 Recent stories address prescribing by doctors paid by drug companies; excessive lead levels in nearly 2,000 US water systems; how to understand candidates’ claims about health insurance reforms; and more.
193-197/366: March Meeting
Posted by Chad Orzel on March 20, 2016 
I didn’t take the DSLR to March Meeting with me, but I did throw a point-and-shoot in my bag. A few of these are still just cell-phone snapshots, because I didn’t have the bag with me all the time. 193/366: Stadium View When I checked into the hotel, they told me I had a “stadium…
Public health ROI: Foodborne illness network is saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars
Posted by Kim Krisberg on March 18, 2016 In another example of the value of investing in public health, a recent study finds that PulseNet, a national foodborne illness outbreak network, prevents about 276,000 illnesses every year, which translates into savings of $507 million in medical costs and lost productivity. That’s a pretty big return on investment for a system that costs just $7.3 million annually to operate.
Occupational Health News Roundup
Posted by Kim Krisberg on March 16, 2016 Vox explores the mental health impact of medical errors on health care workers; California policymaker announces efforts to protect women janitors from sexual assault; farmworkers call on fast food chain Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program for better wages; and a judge upholds a worker’s social media rights.
Zootopia: Unscientific, Racist Family Fun
Posted by Wesley Dodson on March 16, 2016 
Would it surprise you to learn that the top movie at the North American box office, a computer-animated family film made for children, is a nakedly racist allegory, a celebration of the urban police state, and an insult to the entire animal kingdom and the natural world at large? The premise of Zootopia is simple:…
Does Our Paleolithic Past Shape Our Modern Survival Instinct?
Posted by Greg Laden on March 15, 2016 
The latest National Geographic Roundtable Question: Survivor-style television has grown increasingly popular over the years and done a great job of illustrating our brain’s fascinating built-in survival instinct. What role do you think our ancestral instincts play today in helping us survive, thrive and accomplish our goals? How much of our ancestral survival instincts are…
Flight advantages in older hummingbirds
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on March 14, 2016 In a new study published in The Auk, scientists report that well-fueled older tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) might be capable of non-stop flights of over 4,000 kilometers, wind conditions permitting. They made this remarkable observation while studying birds from 2010-2014 as the animals made stopovers at a wildlife refuge during their annual migration to South America. In general, older birds not only…
