Natalia Mesa

1 month ago | hcn.org | Natalia Mesa

Gerri-Lynn Graveshas lived in Boise, Idaho, nearly all of her life. But after progressive back pain and a botched surgery caused a series of medical issues, walking became excruciating, and she lost her job. Bills mounted and she could not pay rent. With a small suitcase in hand, in November of 2021, she went to the Interfaith Sanctuary, a homeless shelter in downtown Boise.

Feb 4, 2025 | nationalgeographic.com | Natalia Mesa

Almost 30 percent of children in the U.S have a diagnosed allergy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, putting them at risk of symptoms ranging from hives and sneezing to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Several large studies have established that introducing children to potential food allergens within the first year of life decreases their chances of developing an allergy. But how much of an allergen should you give a child and when?

Feb 1, 2025 | hcn.org | Natalia Mesa

On a cool October day, the wind whipped around Nathaniel Fletcher as he bear-crawled his way along a rocky reef in the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve, a protected area on California’s central coast. He reached into cracks and peered into crevices with a flashlight, hoping to find an endangered marine snail whose shell recently has become California’s state seashell: the black abalone. Seven species of abalone were once abundant along the California coast.

Jan 17, 2025 | hcn.org | Natalia Mesa

As a child, herding her grandmother’s sheep, Teracita Keyanna unknowingly wandered onto land contaminated with radioactive waste from three abandoned uranium mine and mill waste sites located near her home on the Navajo Nation. Keyanna and other Diné citizens have been living with the consequences of uranium mining near the Red Water Pond Road community since the 1960s. But now, uranium waste rock that has sat for decades at a Superfund site will finally be moved to a landfill off tribal land.

Jan 16, 2025 | nationalgeographic.com | Natalia Mesa

How do you read? Some people only read dialogue, while others might skip long sections of text or only read the first and last sentence in a paragraph. Others say they read each word, and revisit the same section two or three times to make sure that they don’t miss anything. The digital age has had a profound impact on how we read. Surveys show that Americans are reading fewer books per year than they did 30 years ago.