Science

By DORANY PINEDA, Associated Press Chronic exposure to pollution from wildfires has been linked to tens of thousands of deaths annually in the United States, according to a new study. The paper, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, found that from 2006 to 2020, long-term exposure to tiny particulates from wildfire smoke contributed to an average of 24,100 deaths a year in the lower 48 states. RELATED: How a new system of drones and low-cost sensors can protect communities from air pollution “Our message is: Wildfire smoke is very dangerous. It is an increasing threat to human health,” said Yaguang Wei, a study author and assistant professor in the department of environmental medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Other scientists who have studied the death toll from wildfire smoke were not surprised by the findings. “The estimates they’re coming up with are reasonable,” said Michael Jerrett, professor of environmental health science at the Universit...

By MARCIA DUNN, Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s long-awaited moonshot with astronauts is off until at least March because of hydrogen fuel leaks that marred the dress rehearsal of its giant new rocket. Related Articles Here’s a look at the significance of sending animals to space We’ve got rhythm — but why? What science can explain about dance Bay Area lab’s new model for forecasting wildfires could change how they’re fought — and save lives US life expectancy hit an all-time high in 2024, CDC says Regenerative vineyards can pay their way, new Bay Area study finds It’s the same problem that delayed the Space Launch System rocket’s debut three years ago. That first test flight was grounded for months because of leaking hydrogen. NASA announced the news Tuesday, shortly after the critical fueling test ended at Kennedy Space Center. Until the exasperating hydrogen leaks, the space agency had been targeting as soon as this weekend for humanity’s first trip ...

Ham it up Jan. 31 marks the day Ham, a chimpanzee, was launched into sub-orbital space in a Mercury capsule aboard a Redstone rocket to become the first great ape in space. Related Articles Disney child star-turned-CEO raises $100 million for California space-antenna firm NASA plane makes fiery belly landing at Houston airfield A lost map of the stars. A medieval manuscript. And a Menlo Park machine powerful enough to bring it back. Astronauts say space station’s ultrasound machine was critical during medical crisis NASA sends 4 astronauts back to Earth in first medical evacuation On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. However, three months earlier NASA had launched “Number 65” on a mission that helped pave the way for Shephard’s momentous flight. Number 65 was a male chimpanzee born in 1957 in the French Cameroons in West Africa. After being captured by trappers, he was sent to a rare bird farm in Florida. In 1959, he was sold to the U.S. Air Forc...

The Trump administration’s recently updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans mark a troubling retreat from the best available science about alcohol consumption. At a time when alcohol-related fatalities have increased 30% over the last decade — now claiming approximately 178,000 American lives annually — the federal government has missed a critical opportunity to safeguard the nation’s health. Alcohol hasn’t changed, but our understanding of its risks has evolved considerably. Decades of research and federal advisory findings indicate that no amount of alcohol is truly safe for health, yet the updated dietary guidelines fail to clearly warn the public or provide sufficient information for people to make informed choices. Some omissions are stark. For example, the updated dietary guidelines fail to address the well-established link between alcohol and cancer risk. Alcohol is a known carcinogen linked to several types of cancer, including breast, colon and liver cancer. Related ...

By MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press NEW YORK — U.S. life expectancy rose to 79 years in 2024 — the highest mark in American history. It’s the result of not only the dissipation of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also waning death rates from all the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer and drug overdoses. What’s more, preliminary statistics suggest a continued improvement in 2025. “It’s pretty much good news all the way around,” said Robert Anderson, of the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the 2024 data on Thursday. Related Articles Why Silicon Valley is raising billions while Southern California biotechs struggle East Bay man blazed trail for others with pioneering back surgery Sleep-tracking devices have limits. Experts want users to know what they are Can AI help make homeless Bay Area residents healthier? Thomas Fogarty dies; innovative Stanford surgeon, Peninsula winemaker Life expectancy...

The earthquake swarm that has shaken San Ramon for more than two months appears to be over, scientists said Monday. But when it comes to earthquake swarms, nothing is set in stone. Since Nov. 9 there have been 91 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 and above — the largest being a 4.0 on Dec. 19 — in the East Bay community. But no quake of that size has happened since Jan. 10, when a 2.3 and 2.0 both occurred there. “There’s been a gap for about two weeks,” said Sarah Minson, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Science Center at Moffett Field. “It looks like the swarm may be done.” The challenge, she noted, is that scientists are still learning about earthquake swarms, which are collections of dozens or even hundreds of small, usually harmless quakes. And they don’t have strict parameters for when swarms start or conclude. “There isn’t a good way to officially define when swarms begin and end,” Minson said. “If there was more activity now we would probably ...