The Verge: All Posts by Rachel Beckerhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52801/VER_Logomark_32x32..png2019-05-07T10:02:00-04:00https://www.theverge.com/authors/rachel-becker/rss2019-05-07T10:02:00-04:002019-05-07T10:02:00-04:00Why NASA wants you to point your smartphone at trees
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<figcaption>Alex Parkin / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="AqZJ7i">NASA would like you to take a picture of a tree, please. The space agency’s ICESat-2 satellite estimates the height of trees from space, and NASA has created a new tool for citizen scientists that can help check those measurements from the ground. All it takes is a smartphone, the app, an optional tape measure, and a tree. So to help, the <em>Verge Science</em> video team went on a mission to measure some massive trees in California as accurately as they can. </p>
<p id="xtXp2f">Launched <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/icesat-2">in September 2018</a>, the <a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/">ICESat-2 satellite</a> carries an <a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/space-lasers">instrument called ATLAS</a> that shoots <a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/space-lasers">60,000 pulses of light</a> at the Earth’s surface every second it orbits the planet. “It’s basically a laser in space,” says <a href="https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/team/tom-neumann">Tom Neumann</a>, the project scientist for ICESat-2 at NASA Goddard Space...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/15/18308044/nasa-app-point-smartphone-trees-picture-height-satellite-why">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/15/18308044/nasa-app-point-smartphone-trees-picture-height-satellite-whyRachel Becker2019-05-03T16:26:09-04:002019-05-03T16:26:09-04:00Why century-old ship logs are key to today’s climate research
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<figcaption>Photo: <a class="ql-link" href="http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/29357" target="_blank">State Library of Victoria, Allan C. Green collection of glass negatives</a> via Wikimedia</figcaption>
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<p id="BhCmI1">Through both sunny days and torrential storms, sailors cutting through the waters around New Zealand and Antarctica faithfully recorded the weather they encountered, building up a treasure trove of data. Over a century later, <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery/about/research">scientists are digging through</a> these maritime records for insights about the past and future of the region’s climate — and <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery">they need the public’s help</a>.</p>
<p id="y2N61y">Knowing what the weather was up to in the past can help scientists calibrate climate models like the ones they use to predict how weather conditions are likely to change as global temperatures continue to rise. Sailors traveling around New Zealand from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s to trade goods, hunt whales, or explore Antarctica kept logs about the <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/drewdeepsouth/southern-weather-discovery/about/research">water and air...</a></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/3/18528638/southern-weather-discovery-ship-logs-climate-change">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/3/18528638/southern-weather-discovery-ship-logs-climate-changeRachel Becker2019-05-01T10:16:46-04:002019-05-01T10:16:46-04:00New York state is allowing early vaccination for infants to combat measles outbreaks
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<img alt="Measles is known for causing rashes — like the one affecting this child in the Philippines in 2014." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KibcGjU5xl5dU1VJPvFtQE1uG1Q=/3x0:698x463/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63715832/19433_lores.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Measles is known for causing rashes — like the one affecting this child in the Philippines in 2014. | <a class="ql-link" href="https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=19433" target="_blank">Photo by Jim Goodson, M.P.H. / CDC</a></figcaption>
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<p id="juczro">As the number of measles cases in the United States has surged, some officials are encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/press/2019/emergency-orders-measles.pdf">sooner rather than later</a>. Normally, kids would get their first measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine when they’re about a year old, but given the rise in cases, babies in areas with ongoing measles outbreaks may be able to get theirs earlier in an effort to keep some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of those communities safe. </p>
<p id="gb7ZfS">The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6817e1.htm">reported on Monday</a> that the number of people infected with measles in the US continues to climb, reaching 704 as of April 26th. That’s the highest case count since 1994, and 2019 still has eight months remaining for that...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/1/18524877/measles-outbreaks-vaccines-mmr-new-york-city-brooklyn-six-months">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/1/18524877/measles-outbreaks-vaccines-mmr-new-york-city-brooklyn-six-monthsRachel Becker2019-04-30T15:33:34-04:002019-04-30T15:33:34-04:00The National Academy of Sciences moves toward ejecting sexual harassers
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<p id="PicF55">The National Academy of Sciences took a major step today to oust sexual harassers when members at its annual meeting voted to approve a new amendment that would allow the organization to kick out people who badly violate <a href="http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/code-of-conduct.html">its new code of conduct</a>. This vote isn’t the final verdict, however: the entire membership of the NAS still needs to weigh in — a process that’s expected to be wrapped up by mid-June. </p>
<p id="6RTK14">The National Academy of Sciences, or NAS, was founded in 1863, and is one of the three academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Together, they conduct massive research analyses and produce reports to help “solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions,” <a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/brochure/index.html?_ga=2.146899760.648719787.1497270255-141596223.1486144204">according to their website</a>....</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/30/18524350/national-academy-of-sciences-remove-sexual-harassment-vote">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/30/18524350/national-academy-of-sciences-remove-sexual-harassment-voteRachel Becker2019-04-26T10:29:44-04:002019-04-26T10:29:44-04:00Why Big Tobacco and Big Vape love comparing nicotine to caffeine
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<p>‘They’re apples and oranges’</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/26/18513312/vape-tobacco-big-companies-nicotine-caffeine-comparison-drugs-chemicals">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/26/18513312/vape-tobacco-big-companies-nicotine-caffeine-comparison-drugs-chemicalsRachel Becker2019-04-25T16:47:01-04:002019-04-25T16:47:01-04:00The WHO’s new screen time limits aren’t really about screens
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<figcaption>Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="2VCqmc"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/24/who-infants-under-year-old-shouldnt-be-exposed-any-electronic-screens/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1c828702bb03">Much has been made</a> of the World Health Organization’s <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more">new recommendations</a> that caregivers restrict the amount of time young kids stare at screens. But the guidelines are less about the risks of screen time itself, and more about the advantages of spending time doing pretty much anything else. </p>
<p id="hFGZWf">The <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/24-04-2019-to-grow-up-healthy-children-need-to-sit-less-and-play-more">recommendations are broadly</a> about physical activity and sleep for children under five years old, and are an attempt to create healthy habits during a critical developmental window. Among the recommendations for tummy time and active play, the WHO also spells out that between the ages of two and five, children should spend no more than an hour a day plopped in front of a screen. And children under the age of two shouldn’t engage in sedentary...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/25/18516669/screen-time-limits-who-children-health-physical-activity-sleep-tv-phones">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/25/18516669/screen-time-limits-who-children-health-physical-activity-sleep-tv-phonesRachel BeckerJon Porter2019-04-24T19:58:43-04:002019-04-24T19:58:43-04:002019 has seen the most measles cases in 20 years, CDC says
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<img alt="A photo of a patient with a rash taken at a New York Hospital in 1958." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6gBGMj1vhEd0AkeGD5J3bbCOwN8=/0x3:2967x1981/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63668351/462803922.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by CDC via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="evek0Z">Measles just hit a major milestone as it spreads across the country, infecting the most people since the year 2000, when public health officials <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/history.html">declared the virus eliminated</a> in the US. Thanks to the anti-vaccination movement, the virus has come roaring back.</p>
<p id="kasgHN">The case count has climbed to 695 people infected across 22 different states, driven in part by outbreaks that have <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/26/18283214/rockland-new-york-county-ban-unvaccinated-children-public-spaces-measles">lingered in New York</a> and Washington, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stopping these ongoing outbreaks as soon as possible will be critical, the CDC says. “The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. </p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="BTR9pK"><q>“The longer...</q></aside></div>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/24/18515047/measles-outbreak-cdc-milestone-new-york-disease-spread">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/24/18515047/measles-outbreak-cdc-milestone-new-york-disease-spreadRachel Becker2019-04-20T12:05:00-04:002019-04-20T12:05:00-04:00That mental health app might share your data without telling you
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<figcaption>Illustration by William Joel / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="jjTWxj">Free apps marketed to people with depression or who want to quit smoking are hemorrhaging user data to third parties like Facebook and Google — but often don’t admit it in their privacy policies, a new study reports. This study is the latest to highlight the potential risks of entrusting sensitive health information to our phones. </p>
<p id="15D1xL">Though most of the easily-found depression or smoking cessation apps in the Android and iOS stores share data, only a fraction of them actually disclose this. The findings add to a string of worrying revelations about what apps are doing with the health information we entrust to them. For instance, a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-give-apps-sensitive-personal-information-then-they-tell-facebook-11550851636?mod=e2tw"><em>Wall Street Journal </em>investigation</a> recently revealed the period tracking app Flo shared users’ <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/22/18236398/facebook-mobile-apps-data-sharing-ads-health-fitness-privacy-violation">period dates and...</a></p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/20/18508382/apps-mental-health-smoking-cessation-data-sharing-privacy-facebook-google-advertising">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/20/18508382/apps-mental-health-smoking-cessation-data-sharing-privacy-facebook-google-advertisingRachel Becker2019-04-18T15:13:39-04:002019-04-18T15:13:39-04:00Why Juul and Republican lawmakers want to raise the minimum vaping age
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<figcaption>Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge</figcaption>
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<p id="aYVnoB">Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing a new bill that would block all tobacco and vape purchases for Americans under 21 years old, <a href="https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=C7912202-0742-4404-8775-8836F261DDEF">according to an announcement today</a> that was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-18/gop-leader-mcconnell-urges-raising-tobacco-purchase-age-to-21?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&utm_source=twitter">reported by <em>Bloomberg</em></a>. </p>
<p id="3eKIZI"><a href="https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=C7912202-0742-4404-8775-8836F261DDEF">In a statement today</a>, McConnell presented the bill as a response to widespread public health risks posed by teen vaping. “For some time, I’ve been hearing from the parents who are seeing an unprecedented spike in vaping among their teenage children,” <a href="https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=C7912202-0742-4404-8775-8836F261DDEF">McConnell said</a>. “In addition, we all know people who started smoking at a young age and who struggled to quit as adults. Unfortunately it’s reaching epidemic levels around the country.” McConnell says he will look to the 11 states that already have Tobacco 21 laws on the books for...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/18/18485601/why-juul-minimum-age-raise-tobacco-vape-purchase-mitch-mcconnell-bill-21">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/18/18485601/why-juul-minimum-age-raise-tobacco-vape-purchase-mitch-mcconnell-bill-21Rachel Becker2019-04-16T09:02:13-04:002019-04-16T09:02:13-04:00How big data for DNA puts you at risk — even if you’ve never taken a test
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<figcaption>Photo: Alex Parkin</figcaption>
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<p id="231HOA">The <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612880/more-than-26-million-people-have-taken-an-at-home-ancestry-test/">rise of direct-to-consumer DNA tests</a> comes with a host of thorny problems, including <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/20/16613650/helix-dna-testing-kit-fitness-genes-results-dnafit">how to interpret the data</a> and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/11/17964862/family-dna-crime-search-golden-state-killer-forensics">major questions about genetic privacy</a>. Even if <em>you</em> decide not to spit in a tube, if your relative does, your genetic privacy might already be compromised. </p>
<p id="FGPkD1">To understand how, <em>Verge </em>Science<em> </em>and <em>Vox</em> took a closer look at the hunt for the Golden State Killer, who was connected with at <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/article209779364.html">least 51 rapes and 12 murders</a> in the <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/article209779364.html">1970s and 1980s</a>. Even though the killer <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article212334279.html">left his DNA at multiple crime scenes</a>, investigators couldn’t find him until they turned to a massive genealogical website called GEDmatch. Users can <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/science/gedmatch-genealogy-cold-cases.html">upload their genetic profiles to GEDmatch</a> — and websites like it — to learn about their family trees and look for...</p>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/16/18312048/dna-testing-genetic-privacy-data-at-home-family-tree-golden-state-killer-crime">Continue reading…</a>
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https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/16/18312048/dna-testing-genetic-privacy-data-at-home-family-tree-golden-state-killer-crimeRachel BeckerWilliam Poor