Month: September 2018

At any given moment, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has about two dozen Earth Observation Satellites in orbit. Instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites monitor levels of atmospheric aerosols, including both small and large particles of dust, ash, black carbon, industrial pollutants, and other substances. It is especially important to monitor the concentrations, and sources, of tiny particulate matter (PM_2.5), particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in size that can adversely affect human health, causing or exacerbating conditions like asthma and heart disease. Read Improving NASA Satellite Data with Low-Cost Sensors

The longest river in the world, the Nile spans 35 degrees of latitude, drains three million square kilometers of land (one-tenth of the total surface area of Africa), and runs through 11 countries whose combined population totals over 300 million people: Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Nile’s primary water source, Lake Victoria, is the world’s second-largest body of fresh water, and the Nile Delta in northern Egypt covers over 150 miles of the Mediterranean coastline. Read The Nile River Basin Initiative

What are the social, economic, and biological factors during adolescence and young adulthood that lead to chronic disease and poor health outcomes later in life? This is the kind of question that can only be answered by a longitudinal study—that is, a study that tracks a representative cohort of individuals over years, or even decades, assessing their health status at periodic intervals and drawing carefully weighted conclusions from the results. Read The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health