Month: November 2016

(credit: US DHHS)

A woman in Brownsville, Texas, has a confirmed case of Zika even though she didn’t travel to any Zika-stricken areas or have any other risk factors, Texas health authorities announced Monday. Her case is likely the first known instance of Zika transmission by local mosquitoes in the state.

But, if true, that transmission is entirely unsurprising, officials there said. Brownsville sits at the southern most tip of Texas, directly on the border of Mexico, which is experiencing ongoing transmission of the Zika virus by local mosquitoes.

In a press statement, John Hellerstedt, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said:

Enlarge / Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA. (credit: Getty | Bill Ingalls/NASA )

When Scott Kelly returned from his one-year space mission last March, he admitted that he, like many of his colleagues, came back with vision troubles. In fact, nearly two-thirds of astronauts who have gone on long-duration space missions inexplicably returned with blurry vision, flattened eyeballs, and inflamed optic nerves—and now researchers have a new theory as to why.

Despite years of research, the cause of the problems remains fuzzy. However, scientists have dubbed the astronauts’ condition “visual impairment intracranial pressure syndrome” or VIIP. The name is based on the leading theory that, in space, bodily fluids normally dragged down by gravity can freely flow into the head and increase the pressure on the brain and eyeballs. A researcher at Georgia Tech is even looking into a mechanical way to draw fluid back down to the legs to spare space-goers' eyesight.

But a new study involving 16 astronauts suggests that the leading theory is a tad off-kilter; it’s not vascular fluids bubbling up to the head causing problems, but instead sloshing cerebrospinal fluid tipping toward the eyes, the new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Miami presented those findings Monday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.

Enlarge / Channel lineups for AT&T's DirecTV Now online streaming service. (credit: AT&T)

When AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson last month announced a new DirecTV online video streaming service, he was clear about a few things: it would provide more than 100 channels, including "all the premium" channels customers want, and cost just $35 a month. As a result, AT&T has gotten a lot of headlines about its $35, 100-channel streaming service over the past few weeks.

But today we found out the full pricing details, and they're a bit less appealing than Stephenson's sales pitch. The offer of 100 channels for $35 is only good for customers who sign up when the service becomes available or shortly after that. Once the standard pricing sets in, new customers will pay $35 for 60 channels. The other standard packages are 80 channels for $50 a month, 100 channels for $60, and 120 channels for $70.

Premium channels HBO and Cinemax will cost an extra $5 a month in addition to the base price. The service will be available in the US only.