Priyanka Runwal

New York

Science, Environment and Health Journalist at Freelance

Freelance science reporter | previously @NatGeo covering COVID-19 and health | @UCSC_SciCom | 🇮🇳 in 🇺🇸

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Articles

Glowing cave compounds could aid search for extraterrestrial life

4 weeks ago | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

If you've ever been on a cave tour where the guide shines a black light, you've seen the walls and formations glow. The stunning fluorescence is often the result of impurities trapped in calcite rocks that illuminate under UV light that is otherwise invisible to the human eye. Now, researchers at the University of Northern Iowa are using these UV spectral signatures to assess the chemical makeup of these cave features.
'Shocking' signs of damage in plastic-eating chicks

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

Seabirds and other marine creatures are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution. They mistake plastic debris floating in the ocean for food. Researchers recently coined the term ' plasticosis,' a condition that's causing seabirds' digestive tracts to become scarred from eating pieces of plastic. Now the same team, along with their colleagues, have found signs of dementia-like brain damage, kidney and liver dysfunction, and disruptions to the stomach lining of sable shearwater chicks ( Sci. Adv.
White House pulls CDC director nomination hours before hearing

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

In a statement he shared with C&EN, David Weldon- a physician and former Republican congressperson from Florida -says he received a call late March 12 from an assistant at the White House. Weldon was told that his nomination to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was being withdrawn. The reason: "there were not enough votes to get me confirmed," Weldon says in the statement.
NIH director nominee pledges to repair 'distrust' in research

1 month ago | cen.acs.org | Rowan Walrath |Priyanka Runwal

Stanford University health policy professor and economist Jay Bhattacharya is poised to become the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after testifying before a key US Senate committee on Wednesday. Bhattacharya says he has no concrete plans for additional layoffs at the organization, should he be confirmed as director.
Thousands of federal employees fired from US regulatory and science funding agencies

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Krystal Vasquez |Britt E. Erickson |Laurel Oldach |Prachi Patel |Priyanka Runwal |Rowan Walrath

Credit: AP Photo/Mark SchiefelbeinOver the past week, thousands of employees have been fired across multiple US regulatory and science funding agencies. The majority of those affected were probationary employees, a classification that includes newly hired or recently promoted workers who haven't been in their positions long enough to qualify for civil service protections.
Vaccinations for Sudan Ebola virus begin in Uganda to curb outbreak

2 months ago | pubs.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 Please be aware that pubs.acs.org is undergoing maintenance from Saturday February 1 to Monday Febraury 3, that may have an impact on your experience. During this time, you may not be able to access certain features like login, purchasing single articles, saving searches or running existing saved searches, modifying your e-Alert preferences, or accessing Librarian administrative functions.
Vaccinations for Sudan Ebola virus begin in Uganda to curb outbreak

2 months ago | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

On Jan. 30, Uganda confirmed an outbreak of the Sudan virus disease. The Sudan virus belongs to the same family as the Ebola virus. The announcement came after the death of a 32-year-old nurse in the capital, Kampala, who tested positive for the virus during a postmortem assessment. He initially developed high fever and chest pain and had difficulty breathing. Within days, the individual experienced bleeding and later died from multiorgan failure.
Tanzania declares Marburg virus disease outbreak

Jan 22, 2025 | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

On Jan. 20, Tanzania declared an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus disease in Biharamulo District in the northwestern part of the country's Kagera Region. The announcement comes after public health officials confirmed one case. Additionally, 25 people with suspected infections whose test results were later negative for Marburg virus are being closely monitored. This is the second Marburg virus disease outbreak in Tanzania.
The state of H5N1 infections and research as 2025 approaches

Dec 24, 2024 | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

In March 2024, US federal agencies announced a multistate outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in dairy cows. Since then, the virus has infected at least 876 cattle herds in 16 states and 65 people have tested positive for H5N1. The majority of human bird flu cases-typically reported in workers exposed to infected dairy cows or poultry-have been mild. But on Dec.
Color-changing cookies and appetizing ants

Dec 6, 2024 | cen.acs.org | Priyanka Runwal

What makes these cookies green? For a food chemistry class project, one of Lilian Were Senger's students baked cookies. Instead of using peanut butter, she opted for sunflower-seed butter. Fresh out of the oven, the cookies looked nothing out of the ordinary-golden brown with a cracked top and soft appearance. But breaking a cookie in half revealed a green center. Within a few hours, the rest of the cookie started turning green.