Iberian lynx bounces back from extinction; the myth of Cinco de Mayo
|  | Thursday, May 5, 2022 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEVIN VAN PAASSEN, SUNNYBROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE | |
By Victoria Jaggard
The human body is very good at protecting the brain. A nice thick skull guards this most vital of organs from bumps and bruises, and a network of interlocking cells surrounding it keeps out unwanted chemical intruders lurking in the blood. But sometimes the brain is a little too protected for its own good. For most of medical history, the blood-brain barrier has prevented doctors from safely treating brain conditions such as cancer or Alzheimer’s disease with targeted life-saving drugs.
Now, though, scientists seem to be on the verge of a literal breakthrough. A technique called focused ultrasound can safely open up a gate in the blood-brain barrier, and early clinical trials are showing glimmers of promise for delivering drugs to treat brain cancers. Lab results are also showing encouraging signs for using focused ultrasound to treat neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
It’s still early days for the technology, and there are challenges in making it widely accessible. But experts and patients are already excited by its potential. “We can do it monthly, we can do it with a high degree of control and safety, and the patients tolerate it very well,” neurosurgeon Graeme Woodworth tells Nat Geo.
Read the full story.
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Pictured above, a research team and patient prepare for focused ultrasound treatment. At top, microbubbles are introduced to the bloodstream before focused ultrasound treatment.
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 | PHOTOGRAPH BY SERGIO MARIJUÁN
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| | Antarctic calling: When you live among hundreds of thousands of penguins, it's important to stand out. A call is unique to a penguin, allowing a chick or a partner to recognize it, even among large groups. This gentoo penguin is calling for its mate on a beautiful snowy morning in Antarctica. Hear the sound—and see what happens when you strap a camera to a gentoo’s back. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY ED RAM | | | The toll: As prolonged drought plagues the Horn of Africa, some people perceive animals as a threat to scarce resources, while other communities rally to protect the creatures. (Pictured above, Kenya Wildlife Service rangers prepare to move the body of a deceased giraffe in Lagboqol, in northeast Kenya. The giraffe got stuck in mud as it tried to find water in this nearly dried-up reservoir.) Wildlife activists are creating conservancies to protect animals, but it may not be enough to stem the destruction from climate change. | | | |
| | Saving manta rays: After wildlife filmmaker Malaika Vaz stumbled upon manta ray poaching near her home in India, she disguised herself as a fish trader to find out who was behind the plot. That was a dicey proposition as the Nat Geo Explorer pursued traffickers of the threatened animal in India, China, and Nepal, she tells Overheard, the Nat Geo podcast. “Very often we’re scared of the bigger guys—the kingpins and the people who, you know, liaise with the kingpins, the people in positions of power.” (Above, Vaz swimming with the rays in the Maldives.) | | | |
| | Night watch: Just like the celebrities that live there, mountain lions living in the hills above L.A. have become famous. But these large cats—also called cougars—are in trouble, Douglas Main reports. They’re likely to become locally extinct, due to inbreeding, as major roads restrict them from moving freely. “We’ve just reached a tipping point genetically,” says Audra Alexandra Huffmeyer, a UCLA postdoc researcher and Nat Geo Explorer. Luckily for the cougars, a large new wildlife overpass will soon be constructed to facilitate safe movement for the animals. Read more. (Above, a remote camera captures P22, an inhabitant of Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.) | | | |
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