Abstracts: Hot Air, Prozac, and Sea Pickles
• More than 40 American Airlines flights in Phoenix have been cancelled due to record-breaking heat in the city. Temperatures have crept up to 120 degrees in the last few days, making the air too thin for smaller plains to lift off. (New York Times)
• A new algorithm created by a Nashville-based artificial intelligence company can predict the likelihood that a congressional bill will become a law. (Science Magazine)
• A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that while the percentage of sexually active teenagers in the United States has stayed constant over the past 15 years, the use of contraception among them has increased. Notably, the report found that between 2011 and 2015, 81 percent of teenage girls used contraception when having sex for the first time, compared to just 75 percent in 2002, and the use of emergency contraceptives among teenage girls has nearly tripled. (STAT)
• Pyrosomes — rare, bioluminescent marine invertebrates — have showed up along the West Coast in a massive and mysterious bloom. Usually found in the tropics, these “sea pickles” are crowding fishermen’s nets and bewildering researchers. (The Guardian)
• Deep-brain stimulation might have just gotten a whole lot cheaper and more practical. Neuroscience researchers recently found a way to use the technique on mice without having to implant electrodes in the brain, which could lead to DBS becoming more accessible for people dealing with depression and other illnesses. (Pacific Standard)
• Prozac might help children with autism, according to a recent study in Science Advances. After receiving the antidepressant, mice that were bred to exhibit behaviors associated with autism displayed improvements in social situations and communication, and the benefits seemed to carry into their adult lives as well. (Los Angeles Times)
• Volcanologist Jess Phoenix is running for office in California to bring more scientists to Washington. The Democrat, largely in response to the climate-denying rhetoric of the Trump administration, is hoping to win California’s 25th Congressional District, which is now held by a Republican. (NBC News)
• And finally, Yellowstone’s grizzly bears are about to lose the protected status they’ve held under the Endangered Species Act for more than 40 years. (Washington Post)