What's in Wildfire Smoke, and Why Is It So Bad for Your Lungs?

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September 10, 2020

Dear Reader, Devastating wildfires are raging across the American West, sending smoke and ash through communities in hot, dry states. For today's main story, an environmental toxicologist explains what exactly is in this smoke and how it affects humans who breathe it. Our next piece is about the stigma of addiction. Despite what the science says, many people view substance abuse as a result of moral weakness and flawed character. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, counters this thinking and illustrates how addiction is influenced by factors outside an individual's control. Also featured in this roundup: SpaceX's attempts to dim Starlink fall short and a look at how climate change threatens to undermine the stability of the U.S. financial system.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Public Health What's in Wildfire Smoke, and Why Is It So Bad for Your Lungs? An environmental toxicologist explains the factors involved By Luke Montrose,The Conversation US

Space SpaceX's Dark Satellites Are Still Too Bright for Astronomers The company's attempts to dim the spacecraft in its megaconstellation fall short of eliminating disruptions to the world's ground-based observatories By Emily Zhang

Biology Discoverer of Neural Circuits for Parenting Wins $3-Million Breakthrough Prize Biologist Catherine Dulac netted one of four big life sciences awards. Also announced were one for mathematics and two for physics By Zeeya Merali,Nature magazine

Space Molecular Medicine Keeps Mice Mighty in Microgravity An experimental gene treatment aboard the International Space Station demonstrates how rodents—and humans—might stay buff beyond Earth By Amber Dance,Knowable Magazine

Behavior & Society Fighting Back against the Stigma of Addiction When health care providers demonize people addicted to drugs or alcohol, it just makes the problem worse By Nora D. Volkow

Behavior & Society Emotional Labor Is a Store Clerk Confronting a Maskless Customer The preeminent sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild discusses the control over one's feelings needed to go to work every day during a pandemic By Gary Stix

Behavior & Society Don't Feel Guilty about Your Online Security Habits Most of the finger-wagging advice you hear is based on little or no evidence By Cormac Herley,Elissa Redmiles

Climate 'Slam the Brakes': Regulator Flags Climate Risk in Markets The U.S. financial system must better prepare for global warming-related shocks, a first-of-its-kind report warns By Avery Ellfeldt,E&E News

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FROM THE ARCHIVE The Hidden Toll of Wildfires A huge aerial campaign seeks to understand the effects of biomass smoke on human health By Kyle Dickman | March 2020

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