Category «Health Care»

The uneven energy costs of working from home

The Verge: “The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a sneak peek into how working from home changes electricity demand and what that might mean for Americans’ utility bills. The picture it’s painted so far isn’t very pretty, particularly for anyone who’s already struggling to meet their needs. The transition to remote work is changing our …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Health Care, Internet

Abortion bans are impeding access to ulcer, arthritis, and cancer medications

Popular Science – “Methotrexate was introduced in the 1940s as a chemotherapy agent. Misoprostol was developed in the 1970s to treat stomach ulcers. On July 13, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified pharmacies that refusing to fill prescriptions for medicines containing ingredients that can induce abortion or prevent pregnancy could be …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Medicine, Privacy

These Companies Know When You’re Pregnant—And They’re Not Keeping It Secret

Gizmodo identified 32 brokers selling data on 2.9 billion profiles of U.S. residents pegged as “actively pregnant” or “shopping for maternity products.” “A Gizmodo investigation into some of the nation’s biggest data brokers found more than two dozen promoting access to datasets containing digital information on millions of pregnant and potentially pregnant people across the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Records, Health Care, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

Student achievement in 2021–2022: Cause for hope and continued urgency

“NWEA — a not-for-profit, research and educational services organization serving K-12 students – announced today new research highlighting the latest data on achievement during the pandemic. Key findings from this third school year impacted by COVID-19 suggest early signs of rebounding offering some hope. However, results also underscore that recovery is still years away and …

Subjects: Education, Health Care

NOAA tool now brings disaster risk, vulnerability down to community level

NOAA – “A comprehensive update to NOAA’s Billion Dollar Disasters mapping tool now includes U.S. census tract data – providing many users with local community-level awareness of hazard risk, exposure and vulnerability across more than 100 combinations of weather and climate hazards. The enhanced interactive maps from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) cover …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Health Care

New LibGuide tracks response to the Roe v. Wade Dobbs v. Jackson decision

“I’ve created a new LibGuide to compile federal statements/actions to track the response to the Roe v. Wade/Dobbs v. Jackson decision. I’m being a bit more selective with this guide than some earlier guides, but please feel free to suggest resources I may have omitted or missed.” [Kelly L. Smith, Government Information Librarian, Librarian for …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Libraries, Privacy

The Default Tech Settings You Should Turn Off Right Away

The New York Times – “These controls, which are buried inside products from Apple, Google, Meta and others, make us share more data than we need to…Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft generally want us to leave some default settings on, purportedly to train their algorithms and catch bugs, which then make their products easier …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, E-Commerce, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Medicine, Privacy, Search Engines

John Roberts Was Lobbying Kavanaugh to Save Roe. Then the Draft Opinion Leaked

Rolling Stone – A new report says the leak, which conservatives insist was the work of a rogue liberal, actually helped get Roe overturned: “Immediately after the draft Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was released, conservatives began bleating about how the leak was the work of a nefarious liberal clerk who wanted …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

Biden Administration launches Heat.gov with tools for communities facing extreme heat

NOAA: “Today, the Biden Administration through the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) launched Heat.gov, a new website to provide the public and decision-makers with clear, timely and science-based information to understand and reduce the health risks of extreme heat. Heat.gov will provide a one-stop hub on heat and health for the nation …

Subjects: Climate Change, E-Government, Energy, Environmental Law, Health Care

U.S. Forest Carbon Data: In Brief

CRS Report – U.S. Forest Carbon Data: In Brief Updated July 26, 2022: “Introduction: The flux—or flow—of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is the dominant contributor to the observed warming trend in global temperatures. Trees, however, store (sequester) CO2 from the atmosphere, accruing significant stores of carbon over time. Trees …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Health Care

Healthy women can also benefit from spending time gardening

A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities demonstrates therapeutic benefits to healthy women. PLOS One. Published: July 6, 2022 “A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities demonstrates therapeutic benefits to healthy women. There is mounting anecdotal and empirical evidence that gardening and art-making afford therapeutic …

Subjects: Health Care