Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus first identified in Tanzania in the 1950s, has now reached the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first two cases of domestic transmission in Florida last week, following ongoing outbreaks in the Caribbean. While rarely fatal, the virus can cause agonizing joint pain. Meanwhile, in the northeastern U.S., researchers have identified the potentially deadly Eastern equine encephalitis, another pathogen transmitted by mosquitoes, though the virus hasn’t resulted in any infections this year. Roxanne Rutledge Connelly, a mosquito specialist at the University of Florida, identifies which species are virus-carrying culprits, and talks about the potential for these diseases to spread.

Mosquito-Borne Viruses Raise Public Health Concern

Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

Mosquito-Borne Viruses Raise Public Health Concern

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