Delivering news about end-of-life issues is one of the most difficult tasks clinicians encounter in medical practice. Researchers from the Texas Medical Center on behalf of the ETHICS study investigators, in Houston, Texas, aimed to assess how prepared health-care providers feel in communicating end-of-life issues and determining if proper training had been given to health-care…

Northwestern Medicine scientists have used an innovative gene editing technique to identify the genes that may lead to Parkinson’s disease after exposure to paraquat, a commonly-used herbicide.

China is rapidly expanding its solar power supply, hoping to meet 10 percent of the nation’s electricity needs with solar energy by 2030. But there’s a problem: Severe air pollution is blocking light from the sun, significantly reducing China’s output of solar energy, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the country.

In 1995, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program called for a united, global effort to reduce persistent organic pollutants (POPs) — synthetic chemicals such as PCBs, DDT, and dioxins. The compounds were known to persist and accumulate far from their sources, polluting the environment and causing adverse health effects in humans.

Tuna is one of the most ubiquitous seafoods. It can be eaten from a can or as high-end sashimi and in many forms in between. But some species are over-fished and some fishing methods are unsustainable. How do you know which type of tuna you’re eating?Some tuna is certified as sustainably caught by groups such…

Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center released the U.S. Winter Outlook today, with La Nina potentially emerging for the second year in a row as the biggest wildcard in how this year’s winter will shape up. La Nina has a 55- to 65-percent chance of developing before winter sets in.NOAA produces seasonal outlooks to help…

Tropical rainforests continue to buffer wildlife from extreme temperatures even after logging, a new study has revealed.

NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead and captured an image of Typhoon Lan in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and saw a well-organized storm with a clear eye that was 50 nautical miles in diameter.

The ocean plays a critical role in climate and weather, serving as a massive reservoir of heat and water that influences tropical storms, El Nin~o, and climate change.  In addition, the ocean has absorbed 30 percent of the carbon dioxide associated with human activities, lessening the climate effects of fossil fuel combustion. 

For the last century, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been a challenge for patients and the medical community in the western world. New research published today in The Lancet by Dr. Gilaad Kaplan shows that countries outside the western world may now be facing the same pattern of increasing IBD rates.