• Report details Nazi Medical Crimes

    The Holocaust and other mass murders under the Nazi regime would hardly have been conceivable without the involvement of medical professionals. This has once again been highlighted by a commission of twenty international researchers who published a comprehensive report on Nazi medical crimes.

  • Striving for a More Secure World

    By Allan Brettman

    PNNL experts work with international partners to tackle cross-border biological and chemical threats. PNNL’s border security focus can be traced to the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. U.S. policy makers became concerned about the security of nuclear material in the newly independent states of the former U.S.S.R.

  • Norway's Seed Vault Protecting Africa's Food Supply

    By Ludger Schadomsky

    African scientists have preserved precious seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, deep in Norway’s Arctic permafrost. The vault preserves food for disaster scenarios.

  • Arrest Made in Central California Bio-Lab Investigation

    Jia Bei Zhu, a citizen of China, was arrested earlier this week in California on a criminal complaint for manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices. Zhu and others manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 test kits, in addition to test kits for HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other conditions in the United States and China.

  • Floods Kill Long After the Water Has Gone

    People impacted by a flooding event are at significantly increased risk of dying – including heart and lung problems – in a crucial window between three and six weeks after the event, even after the flooding has dissipated.

  • Hurricane Ian Stirred Up Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Florida

    By Zoya Teirstein

    Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm in September last year, killing 149 people — the most deaths attributable to a single hurricane in the state in nearly a century. But the official death count didn’t include one of the most gruesome ways people died as a result of the storm: The state saw its highest number of vibriosis cases in more than 30 years.

  • Experts Warn of Risk of Civil Unrest in U.K. Due to Food Shortages

    Food shortages—especially a shortage of popular carbohydrates such as wheat, bread, pasta, and cereal — caused by extreme weather could lead to civil unrest in the U.K., according to a new study, which has surveyed some of the country’s leading food experts.

  • Flesh-Eating and Illness-Causing Bacteria in Florida’s Coastal Waters Following Hurricane Ian

    When Hurricane Ian struck southwest Florida in September 2022, it unleashed a variety of Vibrio bacteria that can cause illness and death in humans. Experts say that thepathogenic Vibrio bacteria are on the rise due to climate change, and it’s a ‘serious concern.’

  • Securing the Food Pipeline from Cyberattacks

    By Jesenia Hernandez

    Sensors detecting the amount of food that herds of cattle are eating. Machines taking thousands of photos of fruit per second to detect their defects and sort them by quality. Robots packing fruit and vegetables into bags and boxes for purchase at grocery stores: Researchers are protecting the food and agriculture sector.

  • Climate Intervention Technologies May Create Winners and Losers in World Food Supply

    By Kitta MacPherson

    A technology being studied to curb climate change – one that could be put in place in one or two decades if work on the technology began now – would affect food productivity in parts of planet Earth in dramatically different ways, benefiting some areas, and adversely affecting others.

  • $9.5 Million to Enhance Cybersecurity in Health Care

    By Miles Martin

    “Health care systems are highly vulnerable to ransomware attacks, which can cause catastrophic impacts to patient care and pose an existential threat to smaller health systems,” said an expert. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have been awarded $9.5 million for research that aims to protect the United States health care system against hostile cyber threats.

  • Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Improved Method for Tackling Bird Flu

    Concerning reports about avian flu outbreaks at poultry facilities across the country and abroad highlight the increasingly urgent need for a safe and effective vaccine that could thwart a possible spread of the virus from human to human. Researchers have developed an improved way to test potential vaccines against bird flu.

  • After COVID, Systems Need to Be Crisis-Ready for Better Public Health Response

    By Kristen Mally Dean

    The National Science Foundation funded Argonne and others to study the COVID-19 experiences of public health officials and stakeholders. By improving prediction and prevention, they hope to avoid reinventing a wheel no one wants rolling back into town.

  • Flesh-Eating Bacteria Infections Are on the Rise in the U.S. − a Microbiologist Explains How to Protect Yourself

    By Bill Sullivan

    Flesh-eating bacteria sounds like the premise of a bad horror movie, but it’s a growing – and potentially fatal – threat to people. In September 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory alerting doctors and public health officials of an increase in flesh-eating bacteria cases that can cause serious wound infections.

  • High Rate of Mental Health Problems and Political Extremism Found in Those Who Bought Firearms During COVID Pandemic

    People who bought firearms during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have much higher rates of suicidal thoughts, self-harm behaviors and intimate partner violence, a study suggests, compared with other firearm owners and people who don’t own firearms. Pandemic firearm buyers were also much more likely than the other groups to hold extreme beliefs, ranging from anti-vaccination views to support for QAnon conspiracy theories.