Congress 2021, Medical Myths, Hand Sanitizer

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Democrats Capture Senate Majority and Congress Affirms Biden’s Win, Despite Trump-Backed Riots (0:30) When the dust settles on this very unusual–and frankly unsettling–period of presidential transition, the Democrats will control the White House, House of Representatives, and US Senate. James Curry talks about the future of Congress and blames the President for Wednesday's violent protests. Curry is a political science professor at the University of Utah and a former Congressional staffer. Looking in Mud For Answers About What The World Used To Look Like (24:05) Lots of important foods grow out of midwestern fields, but climate change is making for an uncertain future there. How can we really know what’s in store? Northeastern Environmental sciences professor Samuel Muñoz is finding answers in the Midwest’s mud. How Discarded Christmas Trees Can Help Restore Eroding Beaches (40:02) In some coastal communities, discarded Christmas trees can take on a second life. Juliana Barrett says they can act as skeletons for new sand dunes, which can help communities vulnerable to flooding. Barrett is a Coastal Habitat Specialist and ecologist with the Connecticut Sea Grant Program. Why We Fall For Medical Myths (52:19) Misinformation and even outright conspiracy theories about COVID-19 are rampant and really difficult to dispel. Seema Yasmin used to track the spread of disease, but now she tracks the spread of misinformation about diseases. She’s a physician and director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative with a new book called “Viral B.S.” Non-alcoholic Hand Sanitizer is Effective Against SARS-CoV-2 (1:30:51) We’re all using alcohol-based sanitizers because that’s what the CDC recommends for the pandemic. But a study just published in the “Journal of Hospital Infection” found the non-alcohol hand sanitizers work just as well against the COVID virus Brad Berges also says they’re a lot easier on the skin. Berges led the study and is a professor of microbiology and molecular biology at Brigham Young University.