Jonathan Lambert

Chinmay and his colleagues argue that taking steps to conserve top scavengers by protecting their habitat or restricting their hunting could help preserve some of the benefits they provide.

But what happened to India's vultures offers a cautionary tale of sorts.

Yeah, so the Indian government banned the use of that toxic painkiller by veterinarians in 2006.

But the vultures are still struggling to get back to anything close to their old numbers.

Yeah, and this all just shows how dependent our collective health is on the natural world, and parts of it that we often ignore.

And it shows how widening our sense of what we can do to improve health, to include something as seemingly random as protecting animals that are really good at eating dead stuff, could lead to a healthier planet for everyone, us included.

Happy to do it.

And I'm Jonathan Lambert.

When a U.S. researcher gets an NIH grant, they can direct some of those funds to researchers in other countries where it makes more sense to study certain conditions. Approximately $500 million of NIH's $47 billion budget falls into this bucket. It funds a wide range of research, from vaccine trials on tuberculosis to cancer studies. Now, the NIH is stopping those kinds of grants.

When a U.S. researcher gets an NIH grant, they can direct some of those funds to researchers in other countries where it makes more sense to study certain conditions. Approximately $500 million of NIH's $47 billion budget falls into this bucket. It funds a wide range of research, from vaccine trials on tuberculosis to cancer studies. Now, the NIH is stopping those kinds of grants.

Instead, the agency will require foreign labs to apply directly for funding, a change it says is necessary for national security. Scientists say the move could drastically reduce research on diseases that aren't currently common in the U.S., but still pose a threat, such as malaria and untreated AIDS. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News.

Instead, the agency will require foreign labs to apply directly for funding, a change it says is necessary for national security. Scientists say the move could drastically reduce research on diseases that aren't currently common in the U.S., but still pose a threat, such as malaria and untreated AIDS. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News.

Hey, Emily.

Hey, Emily.

Hey, Emily.

Yeah. Salmon on drugs, specifically anti-anxiety drugs.

Yeah. Salmon on drugs, specifically anti-anxiety drugs.

Yeah. Salmon on drugs, specifically anti-anxiety drugs.

Basically through us. So when humans take medication, like for anxiety or bacterial infections, our bodies don't use all of it, and we end up peeing out some of the chemicals. That can end up in wastewater, which can get into rivers and streams, and runoff from pharmaceutical factories gets into waterways, too. Hmm.

Basically through us. So when humans take medication, like for anxiety or bacterial infections, our bodies don't use all of it, and we end up peeing out some of the chemicals. That can end up in wastewater, which can get into rivers and streams, and runoff from pharmaceutical factories gets into waterways, too. Hmm.