- German monks developed an easy to ship powdered beer. It’s environmentally friendly but at least for now, non-alcoholic.
2. You get a pesky itch but your skin looks perfectly normal. Why? Bacteria overgrowth may cause itching. A new study discovered Staphylococcus aureus can activate itch enzymes without causing inflammation.
3. On a more serious note, a Sickle cell treatment has FDA approval. The Sickle Cell mutation affects hemoglobin and the blood’s ability to carry blood. It’s a painful, debilitating condition that shows up in adulthood. The new therapy is a gene editing technique and reverts red blood cells to their adolescent form. There is a catch for females. The treatment destroys egg cells and causes infertility.
4. Vaccines have made the news more than once. An effective malaria vaccine is both safe and inexpensive. A new mRNA vaccine (the same type as the COVID vaccine) is being used to treat pancreatic cancer. A vaccine to prevent RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, is now available to the public. Although it’s not new, studies have supported the safety and effectiveness about the HPV vaccine. Too bad Iowa schools have dropped teaching about it.
5. If you are still soured on vaccines, even though the United States leads to world on COVID deaths, probiotics might ease COVID symptoms and enhance vaccine effectiveness in a variety of cases.
6. Are you creeped out by public restrooms or bathrooms in general? A new silicone treatment creates a Slippery toilet bowl which repels bacteria.
7. This past summer in the Northern Hemisphere was the hottest on record.
8. Iowa’s high cancer rate made the news. Our legislature’s response? To ban books.
9. Plastic particles are everywhere, including in microwaved foods.
10. The year’s top extinctions– birds and mussels.
11. A new treatment for Muscular Dystrophy may make it a disease of the past. Children born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disease, lose muscle power until they are unable to breathe or pump blood effectively.
12. India is the first country to land a spacecraft on the Dark Side of the Moon.
What stories caught your attention?
Catherine Haustein 
I recall be told ONLY put glass in microwaves! When was it all right to put plastic in them? Banning books is SHOCKING! In the 21st century? Why don’t they ban the internet or at least have some controls over it? My biggest worry is AI. It’s a scary world for the majority of people, with little or no time to adapt. The world I live in today (I’m in my 70s) is completely NOT the world I grew up in (beliefs, morals you name it). Sorry! I wish I was more optimistic. 🙏
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I didn’t add AI to my list because it is technology, not science, in my opinion. I worry it will lower standards as to what is readable.
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Very interesting to learn about the vaccine developed for pancreatic cancer. Quite a few people in our area have died from it in the past year or so, and hopefully this new medicine will make a real difference.
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Yes, I hope so. I lost my cousin in law to it far too young and my dad’s best friend as well.
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