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| The latest news from the Academies
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Jul 22 -- Millions of people each day rely on transit, yet few urban area emergency plans have focused on its role in an emergency evacuation, says a new report from the National Research Council. Transit systems could play a significant role in transporting carless and special needs populations in times of emergency, but these groups are inadequately addressed in most local emergency plans.
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Jul 17 -- A transition to hydrogen vehicles could greatly reduce U.S. oil dependence and carbon dioxide emissions, but challenges remain, including high costs and a lack of infrastructure, says a new report from the National Research Council. These obstacles could be overcome, however, with continued support for research and development from the automotive industry and the federal government.
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Jul 17 -- There have been numerous accidents in the North Pacific's major shipping lane through Unimak Pass in Alaska's Aleutian Islands, including when the Selendang Ayu ran aground in 2004 during a severe storm and spilled more than 300,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil. A new National Research Council report presents a framework for conducting a comprehensive risk assessment of ship accidents and spills to better manage safe shipping operations in this region.
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| Breaking stories in science
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Jul. 18 -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City has announced the implementation of an alternative to the current poverty measure. It will be the first time any local government has reformulated the nation's 40-year-old standard for determining poverty levels, which is based primarily on food expenditures.
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Jul. 10 -- Over the past few months, a salmonella outbreak has infected over 1,000 people around the U.S. The suspect food items -- certain types of tomatoes, jalapeno and serrano peppers and cilantro -- have had the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other public health officials scrambling to determine where in the cultivation and distribution chain the infection originated, and what can be done to protect consumers.
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Jun. 26 -- European astronomers have found a trio of "super-Earths" circling a star 42 light years away. This is the first time three planets close to Earth's size have been found orbiting a single star, although they appear to be too hot to support life.
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Jun. 20 -- The Ugandan government recently started spraying insecticides in homes and settlements to combat mosquitoes that spread malaria, the country's leading cause of death. A new report from a committee of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS) says that as the spraying continues, the government needs to monitor mosquitoes for resistance to insecticides, and manage the spraying program in ways that minimize resistance. UNAS is a participant in the African Science Academy Development Initiative, a joint effort of several African academies and the U.S. National Academies to advance science-based policy advice in Africa.
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| Featured Books |
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| Site Highlights
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July 26, attend a free family day and learn how to Germ Proof Your Kids.
Attend a chemical sciences roundtable on strengthening high school chemistry education through teacher outreach programs, Aug. 4-5.
Register to attend the July 30 open session on state voter registration databases.
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| This Week in PNAS
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