We know there are micro-pathogens and germs everywhere, even inside us. Some are “good” and others will kill you. So here’s the bad news.

SPILLOVER-ZIKA, EBOLA & BEYOND: DOCUMENTARY INVESTIGATES THE RISE AND SPREAD OF VIRUSES WORLDWIDE AND HOW TO STOP THE NEXT PANDEMIC
Arlington, VA; July 11, 2016 — Around the globe, viruses are on the march: Zika, Ebola, Nipah, Chikungunya, Dengue and West Nile. All of these viruses reside in animals and have the potential to “spillover” and infect humans. What’s behind the rise in spillover viruses? Are the United States and the world prepared to anticipate, contain and prevent the next outbreak?

NOVA: CAN ALZHEIMER's BE STOPPED?
[BOSTON] – Alzheimer’s disease robs victims of their memories, their independence, and eventually their lives. It is the most common type of dementia, affecting five million people in the US alone, a number expected to double over the next 20 years as the population ages. With so much at stake, researchers, doctors, and patients worldwide are in a race to develop new drugs that could stop one of the most pressing global health challenges of our time.

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World Wins Best Book Award From Academies; Particle Fever, Your Inner Fish, Detroit News, Reuters Also Take Prizes
WASHINGTON -- The recipients of the 2015 Communication Awards were announced today by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation since 2003 as part of the Keck Futures Initiative, these prestigious awards -- each of which includes a $20,000 prize -- recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public. The winners will be honored during a ceremony on Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C.
Extinction is a scary word and a scary topic — but it's one that needs talking about. Why? Because it seems to be happening now. Scientists believe Earth is on the verge of its sixth mass extinction, an event that could devastate ecosystems all over the globe.
Cramming a lot of science into an hour, the project makes good use of computer animation and other graphics to illustrate the K/T Extinction, the asteroid strike that killed off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago; and the Great Dying, which claimed even more species 250 million years ago. Scientist Sean B. Carroll serves as a guide through the research, enlisting various colleagues in what essentially plays like a jigsaw puzzle, involving theory pieced together from the fossil and geologic record.

Our Planet Has Survived Five Mass Extinctions Smithsonian Channel and Tangled Bank Studios Partner To Investigate Whether We Are On The Brink Of A Sixth MASS EXTINCTION:LIFE AT THE BRINK Premieres Sunday, November 30 At 8 PM
New York, NY, September 17, 2014 - It’s a mystery on a global scale: five times in Earth’s past, life has been nearly extinguished, the vast majority of plants and animals annihilated in a geologic instant. What triggered these dramatic events? And what might they tell us about the fate of our world? MASS EXTINCTION: LIFE AT THE BRINK, narrated by Jeffrey Wright, a new one-hour special premiering Sunday, November 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel, is produced by Tangled Bank Studios, the film and television unit of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
We here at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia were lucky enough to host award-winning filmmaker Sonya Pemberton (who wrote/produced/directed the film)--and her crew in 2012, when they were filming segments of the documentary. A version aired in 2013 as a 90-minute film titled "Jabbed: Love, Fear, and Vaccines." Pemberton interviewed infectious diseases physician, vaccine developer, and College Fellow Paul A. Offit, MD, in our museum, and used images and artifacts from this website, our library, and the Mütter Museum collection.

AMID THE RETURN OF VACCINE-PREVENTABLE DISEASES, NOVA EXAMINES THE SCIENCE OF IMMUNIZATION, TRACKS OUTBREAKS, AND SHEDS LIGHT ON THE RISKS OF OPTING OUT – NOVA: VACCINES-CALLING THE SHOTS
[BOSTON, MA, July 17, 2014]- Measles. Mumps. Whooping cough. Diseases that were largely eradicated in the United States a generation ago are returning. Across America and around the globe, children are getting sick and dying from preventable diseases- in part, because some parents are choosing to skip their children's shots. How and why do vaccines work? What are the biggest concerns and misconceptions, and what are the risks to the child and society when people decide to forego immunization? The award- winning science series NOVA helps viewers find the answers they need.
Moving downward from the shoulder, the arms of Neil Shubin, fish paleontologist, are built like this: one bone, two bones, lots of bones, digits. The same is true for a bird's wing, a leopard's forward leg and the front fins of Tiktaalik, the ancient fish Shubin discovered in arctic Canada that was one of the first to walk on land.