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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Tropical Hunch"
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TROPICAL HOTSPOTS... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. BY "TROPICAL HOTSPOTS", WE DON'T MEAN UMBRELLA-IN-THE-DRINK/"BEACH-Y"-KIND-OF HOTSPOTS. THESE PLACES HAVE BEEN TARGETED AS POTENTIAL LAUNCH-PADS FOR THE NEXT MAJOR, WORLDWIDE DISEASE OUTBREAK. RESEARCHERS RELIED ON GLOBAL DATABASES AND COMPUTER MODELING IN ORDER TO PLOT, MAP, AND PREDICT WHERE A GLOBAL PANDEMIC IS MOST LIKELY TO ORIGINATE. IF YOU LOOK AT THE MAP, IT'LL PROBABLY BE A TROPICAL AREA--RICH IN WILDLIFE, AND UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE FROM LAND DEVELOPMENT BY HUMANS. THE RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT IT WILL LIKELY BE A DISEASE PASSED FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS; MOST OF THE HOTSPOTS ARE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET A SCIENTIFIC PREDICTION OF WHERE A DISEASE LIKE H-I-V OR "SARS" MIGHT ORIGINATE; IT'S A NEW PRO-ACTIVE APPROACH THAT STUDIES PATTERNS AND HISTORY OF DISEASE OUTBREAKS--IN ORDER TO FORECAST FUTURE ONES. IF WE PAY ATTENTION, IT COULD BE A CHANCE TO TAKE PREVENTIVE MEASURES. THE IRONY IS THAT MOST OF THE WORLD'S HEALTH RESOURCES ARE FOCUSED ON AREAS OUTSIDE THE TROPICS. THESE SCIENTISTS ADVOCATE THAT WE RE-ALLOCATE FUNDING--IN ORDER TO SET UP SMART SURVEILLANCE IN THESE AT-RISK AREAS, TO MONITOR THINGS BEFORE THEY GET OUT OF HAND. THE BEST WAY TO STOP AN EMERGING PANDEMIC MAY BE TO NOT LET IT EMERGE, IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
