In the throes of scorching summer and the dead of winter, electric and gas bills get expensive. Climate control is the biggest single power suck, making up more than half of all energy used in most homes. It’s bad for your wallet and the planet, and the cost makes staying comfortable difficult for many. There are lots of ways to make your home more efficient, from switching out old appliances for heat pumps or installing double-pane windows–but these options are big, expensive upgrades. It costs thousands of dollars to replace windows and HVAC systems. 

Yet there’s a deceptively easy and much more affordable way to cut back on your heating and cooling costs, and it’s likely accessible even for renters: Reconsider your window coverings. Through insulation and control over radiant heat from sunlight, window coverings have the power to keep heat in or out, depending on the season. There are products to fit most budgets, and lots of what’s out there is likely better than the familiar, plastic or metal Venetian blinds or ill-fitting curtains that hang in most homes. One type of covering in particular, the cellular shade, is an unsung, energy efficient hero, according to multiple analyses from national labs.

Why windows? 

First off, some necessary explanation. All the things that separate a building’s inside from the outside are collectively referred to as the “building envelope.” This term encapsulates doors, walls, windows, the foundation, and the roof. Altogether, that barrier is enormously important for indoor thermal efficiency, says Robert Hart, a technology researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). “An envelope-first approach reduces the need for energy in the first place,” he explains. If you’re able to effectively keep the outside out, then you’ll have to put way less work into making your home comfortable when the weather isn’t.

The biggest and most easily adjusted source of thermal flux within the matrix of materials that make up a building is generally the transparent, glass windows. “Windows tend to be the largest aspect of building envelope that you can focus on,” says Christian Kaltreider, a building energy research engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Yet most people opt for the window coverings that are already there or go for style over function. By doing so, they miss out on energy savings. 

Efficiency researchers and engineers have tested all manner of window coverings, combinations, and use decisions in experimental houses around the country. Though many variables count towards power consumption, the right shades make a big difference.

The benefit of cellular shades

Adding a honeycomb or cellular shade (a style of fabric covering designed with one or more layers of air pockets between the material) can reduce heating costs in the winter by as much as 9 percent, compared with vinyl Venetian blinds, according to a 2018 PNNL report. Given that heating alone constitutes between 25 and 47 percent of home energy use, a 9 percent reduction isn’t trivial. Energy costs vary widely by state, home size, and appliances, but if you live somewhere with cold winters, you can expect to save around $10 a month on gas and electricity. In the summer, the potential benefit is even larger: up to 25 percent reductions in cooling cost in the best-case scenario, and up to 15 percent savings compared with Venetian blinds in a day-to-day use scenario.

“For ease of implementation… and bang for your buck, cellular shades are generally going to be your best bet,” says Kaltreider. 

[Related: The best blackout shades for all your windows]

A 2022 analysis from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) found even more promising results. In winter, cellular shades can save up to 20 percent on heating costs, compared with blinds, per that assessment. In summer, ORNL researchers determined cooling savings were also up to 15 percent. Mahabir Bhandari, a co-author on that study and an efficiency and buildings researcher at ORNL, agrees that cellular shades are one of the most affordable and accessible options for boosting home energy efficiency. “You can go to Home Depot or Lowe’s and easily get whatever kind you want,” he says. Most are easily self-installed. The least expensive versions start around $25. 

Simple alternatives

Not all cellular shades are created equal. Some are more transparent, others blackout opaque. They come in single and multi-layered versions, are made of different materials, and have variations in how they’re controlled–from fancy, automated kinds to your standard pull-down ones. Choosing one requires balancing personal needs (like privacy and light filtering) with budget and preference. More opaque, multi-layered shades will be more insulating and prevent more heat exchange, but they’ll also keep more light out in the summer. It’s all a trade-off, Hart says. Energy savings “really depend on the specific product,” he notes, and cellular shades aren’t the only option–but they are a good one.

Window quilts are another effective, seasonal alternative, says Bhandari. External shade structures like awnings, if you’re able to install them, can do a lot in the hot months and climates, note Hart and Kaltreider. And storm windows, secondary panes of glass added to existing window frames, are another great way to reduce heating and cooling costs that exist somewhere between the affordability of swapping out your shades and the expense of getting entirely new windows installed. All three efficiency experts recommended storm windows for their ability to minimize air leakage. Even just a simple tube of caulk can help fill gaps and reduce energy losses, says Bhandari.

How to choose the right shade 

With so many variables and products to consider, online tools like this one, which Hart helped to develop, can help users narrow it down. You can also search for specific products through the website of the Attachments Energy Rating Council, a non-profit that offers comparable information about different window covering features. 

No matter what you choose, the way you use it changes the outcome. “Operating [window coverings] smartly gives you the most benefit, no matter what shade,” says Hart. If you install a blackout cellular shade and then leave it up all the time, there’s no point, he explains. Investing in “efficient” coverings only pays off if you heed the operation advice, which is mostly common sense. And even the coverings you already have can be deployed to good effect. 

Let the sun in if you want heat and keep it out if you don’t. Prioritize west and south facing windows, which can be the biggest sources of manipulatable heat gain. If it’s cooler outside than in during summer nights, leaving shades open can help heat to dissipate through the glass. In winter, leave your shades open on sunny days to catch warmth. When the sun isn’t shining, think about drawn shades as a means to keep heat from leaking out.

Your window coverings are more than just home decor; They’re a tool. Use them to slash your energy bill.

The post Ditch your old blinds for cellular shades appeared first on Popular Science.

Kristy Murray was there at the very beginning. In 1999, the epidemiologist and tropical medicine expert, now a professor of pediatrics at Emory University, was part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) team responding to the initial U.S. outbreak of West Nile virus in New York City. “It was my very first outbreak assignment,” Murray tells Popular Science. Thirty cases of unexplained encephalitis had been reported in the city, and it was up to Murray and her colleagues to figure out why. The cause was initially baffling. People had symptoms of paralysis, “which is very unusual to see in encephalitis,” she explains, and older adults comprised the majority of those worst off, despite viral paralysis often being most common in children. None of the patients had any relation or apparent connection to one another. 

To figure out what was happening, Murray says she and the rest of the CDC team acted as “disease detectives.” The first clue came from interviewing family members of those who were sick. “The one thing that kept coming up is that many of them were active, and spent a lot of time outside,” says Muray. From there, and through home visits, a CDC entomologist narrowed the potential sources down to Culex mosquitoes. More false leads and confusing test results finally gave way to a West Nile virus identification, after birds in the Bronx Zoo also began to fall ill with encephalitis. In total, the investigation took about three weeks, says Murray. 

[ Related: Can we prevent a bird flu pandemic in humans? ]

Though the initial mystery was resolved relatively quickly (“especially for 1999,” notes Murray), uncertainties surrounding West Nile have lingered. When and where the worst outbreaks will occur remains unpredictable. Exactly why some people have no symptoms, while other infections prove deadly is unclear. There’s still no available vaccine or proven treatment. 

It’s been 25 years since the mosquito borne virus was first found in the U.S.. In that quarter century, the disease has spread from New York City across all 48 contiguous states. “It’s everywhere–all over the map, literally,” says Murray. “There is no place in the [lower 48] where you can really hide from this pathogen.” Each year, 2024 included, West Nile virus cases are reported, with a peak between late July and October. Here’s what to know as this year’s season unfolds, what we still don’t know, and how experts recommend you protect yourself.

How does West Nile virus spread?

Birds are the primary host and reservoir for West Nile virus. The pathogen is mainly passed from host to host via mosquito bites. Culex mosquitos, a genus found worldwide and especially common in major cities, are the primary vector, transmitting the virus between birds or from birds to humans or horses. People and other mammals infected with the illness don’t produce a high enough concentration of viral particles to act as a reservoir and subsequently infect additional mosquitos. “Humans are what we call a dead end host,” says Gonzalo Vazquez-Propkopec, a disease ecologist and professor of environmental science at Emory University. Only a small proportion of cases are transferred between humans through blood transfusions and organ transplants. 

Yet though we can’t generally pass the virus on to each other, mosquitos do plenty of work to spread it themselves. “It’s the most widespread viral vector borne disease in the United States, without a doubt,” says Murray. “It far surpasses any other.” Other non-viral vector-borne illnesses, like tick-borne Lyme’s disease, may affect more people each year. But Lyme is a bacterial disease with an effective antibiotic treatment. There is no approved therapeutic for treating West Nile. 

Is 2024 a bad year for West Nile? 

The CDC tracks West Nile cases, along with other arthropod-borne illnesses, through ArboNET. As of August 13, the federal agency has confirmed 174 West Nile cases in 30 different states, with double digit numbers in Texas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Arizona. Of these, 113 have been “neuroinvasive,” or the more severe variant of infection that causes neurological symptoms like encephalitis (brain swelling), or meningitis, which is swelling of the membrane surrounding the brain. So far, eight of those reported cases have proved deadly. 

If you look at past years’ West Nile case numbers, fewer than 200 cases nationwide may not sound like much. However, it’s relatively early in the season and each confirmed case at this point likely represents many more hidden ones, says Murray. 

In general, cases are vastly underreported because many cases are asymptomatic and many symptomatic infections are mild and difficult to distinguish from other viral infections, she explains. Fever, a rash on the torso, fatigue, aches, and malaise are how the majority of symptomatic West Nile cases present. Often, those infected don’t seek any treatment or testing. A small proportion of infections, less than one percent, turn more serious, affecting the brain and nervous system and becoming “neuroinvasive.” These cases can be life threatening. Survivors of neuroinvasive illness often end up with lifelong disabilities, says Kiran Thakur, a neurology professor at Columbia University who studies neuroinfectious disease. 

Yet even those severe cases are undercounted because providers don’t always test and tests don’t always come back positive, she says. In 2022, 827 confirmed neuroinvasive cases were reported to the CDC, but the agency estimates that between 24,810 and 57,890 neuroinvasive infections occurred. Up to 15 percent of neuroinvasive cases are estimated to be fatal, notes Thakur.  

Delays in testing and reporting also mean that it takes time for the CDC to learn about a confirmed case. “There’s a lag in reporting cases, typically by about two weeks,” Murray says, and we’re just getting into the peak transmission time now. 

Given those caveats, “we are seeing a few more cases than we [usually] would at this time of year, and some earlier cases,” says Erin Staples, a physician and medical epidemiologist with CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. The biggest wave of illness onset tends to come at the end of August and beginning of September, Staples says. 

However, that doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed to have a terrible West Nile season nationwide. Predicting how this year’s season will progress over the next couple of months “is very difficult,” Staples tells Popular Science. Trends can shift rapidly and lots of variables contribute to an outbreak’s severity. 

Year-to-year, West Nile levels and epicenters vary a lot. The virus may spike in the Northeast one season and then the Southwest the next. In 2003, there was a major outbreak, another came in 2012. As a result, experts consider it “cyclic”, peaking in waves that come about once a decade, says Vazquez-Prokopec. “It seems, roughly, that we’re due for another spike,” he adds. 

Climate and rainfall are important. Warm temperatures and the right level of moisture can contribute to a mosquito boom. Bird immunity levels also play a role, he says. If most birds in a region have antibodies and are avoiding illness in a given year, then there will also be fewer human cases, as the reservoir is smaller, Vazquez-Prokopec explains. “It’s a very complex cycle,” he adds– which makes accurate forecasting hard. 

Regardless of what unfolds in the next couple of months, Staples notes that right now is a critical time to take preventative measures. 

How can we manage West Nile virus?

Through surveillance of mosquito populations and birds, cities keep tabs on the viral threat year to year. In addition, many municipalities also treat for Culex mosquitos with pesticide sprays dispersed from fogging vehicles and by targeting the aquatic larvae. Mosquitoes need water to breed, so applying insecticide to drainage ditches and catchment basins can help reduce their populations without inadvertently killing beneficial insects like pollinators, says Vazquez-Prokopec. 

The CDC is researching preventative vaccines and antiviral treatments (and has been for years), says Staples–though the development process, which requires large scale human trials to prove efficacy, is challenging for such an unpredictable virus. A silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic is that it made alternate pathways to FDA approval and licensure clearer, she adds. 

But in the meantime, without a vaccine or medication to rely on, iIndividual people can mitigate their own risk by eliminating sources of standing moisture around their homes (ex: emptying buckets and kiddie pools). Then, there’s behavioral interventions. 

“We have to exercise–not panic, but caution,” says Vazquez-Prokopec. Mosquitoes are more than a nuisance, they’re a public health problem, he says. So, he advises that people take earnest steps to avoid bites.

Insect repellents, specifically ones registered with the Environmental Protection Agency and recommended by the CDC, are a critical tool. Wearing loose fitting long sleeve shirts and pants helps to prevent bites as well. And people should be particularly mindful when going out around dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active. “I have a can of repellent by my front door and another by my back door, so I remember to [apply] before I walk outside,” says Staples.

[ Related: How to build a mosquito kill bucket ]

It’s still not completely understood why some people become very sick while others have asymptomatic infections. However, some trends are clear and certain groups are known to be more vulnerable to severe West Nile virus. People who are immunocompromised, including those who take medications for autoimmune diseases, should be more vigilant, says Staples. People over the age of 50 are also at higher risk, says Murray. Severe neuroinvasive illness is more commonly reported among men, though that could be because men share a higher level of other risk factors, like working outdoors or comorbidities such as diabetes, notes Thakur. And ultimately, anyone can end up with a severe case.

West Nile virus may be benign for most people, and the worst consequences may be rare, but preventative steps are simple and accessible. When the stakes are so high, it’s best to take the risk seriously, says Thakur. Plus, the same strategies for avoiding West Nile will also help to minimize exposure to other vector borne diseases like Dengue or Powassan, Staples adds. ” “Another great reason to use your repellent,” she says. 

Getting in the habit now will be good practice for our warming future, where we’ll all want to take biting bugs more seriously. Under climate change, mosquito seasons are likely to grow longer, and vector–borne illnesses, including West Nile, are set to spread into new regions where people have no prior exposure or immunity. As global warming progresses, “it’s a disease category I worry about a lot,” says Thakur.

The post West Nile Virus cases are on the rise again: How to protect yourself appeared first on Popular Science.

If you consume social media, you may have heard: Seed oils are terrible for your health–even toxic! Cooking oils derived from seeds cause everything from heart disease to inflammation to fatigue to bad skin–according to a certain subset of Internet influencers. Yet contrary to the posts demonizing the common ingredients, a bevy of scientific research disagrees. Here’s how to understand the health “scare.” 

What are seed oils?

There’re many different types of plant-based cooking oils, but when people talk about seed oils, they’re often referencing a list of eight: Canola, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and rice bran oils. (Note that things like olive, avocado, and coconut oil are absent from this list.) All of these eight oils contain fat and therefore fatty acids (an essential major nutrient group). And many (though not all) of these seed oils contain a relatively high proportion of omega-6 fatty acids.

A quick chemistry aside: fatty acids are the building blocks of triglycerides, or complete fat molecules. They are organic compounds made up of predominantly carbon and hydrogen chains with an acid group on the end. In saturated fats, every carbon except for the terminal ones have two hydrogens bonded to it. In unsaturated fats, some of those hydrogens are replaced with double bonds between adjacent carbons instead. Omega-6 fatty acids are unsaturated, and the first of those double bonds occurs at the 6th carbon from the end–hence the name.

There are multiple kinds of omega-6 compounds, but one particular type, called linoleic acid, is at the center of most of the scorn against seed soils. Linoleic acid is, again, an essential nutrient that our bodies need. We cannot synthesize it, and we need it to support healthy cell signaling, function, and immune systems.

But seed oil detractors argue that we are ingesting far too much linoleic acid, leading to the accumulation of byproducts like arachidonic acid, which they claim causes inflammation and also counteracts the benefits of eating omega-3 fatty acids. The domino impact of all of this, anti-seed oil advocates assert, is higher risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. 

A kernel of truth

Inside the backlash against seed oils are a few kernels of truth. Eating fried and processed foods in excess is generally detrimental to your health. So if avoiding seed oils translates into eating fewer french fries and snack cakes, you might feel better. 

Plus, if you eat a typical western diet, you are probably at no risk of linoleic acid deficiency, and you likely ingest more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s. In recent decades the amount of linoleic acid in our diets has increased because many processed foods and restaurant meals are made with soy, sunflower, or safflower oils and animal feed now contains a lot of soy, which translates to more linoleic acid inside meat and dairy products, says Philip Calder, a nutrition scientist and professor at the University of Southampton in England. “Linoleic acid has permeated the food chain in the last 50 to 60 years,” he tells Popular Science. 

Additionally, Calder explains that there is “theoretical evidence” that linoleic acid can be partially converted into arachidonic acid, which is subsequently partially converted into compounds associated with inflammation. Additionally, omega-6s and omega-3s can compete for the same metabolic pathways. All those biological mechanisms exist in the human body. 

Yet here is where things get sticky: that theoretical argument doesn’t stack up to scientific observation. “That just really doesn’t happen in real life,” says Guy H. Johnson, a nutrition scientist and adjunct professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “If you’ve got enough omega-3, the inflammatory environment isn’t increased by omega-6s.”

What the research indicates

Calder agrees. “Most human studies either show there isn’t a relationship between linoleic acid intake and inflammation biomarkers, or that the relationship is the opposite to what you might think would happen. You see higher linoleic acid and higher arachidonic acid are associated with lower levels of inflammation biomarkers,” he says. He co-authored a 2018 review study assessing the published literature on inflammation and omega-6s and concluded as much. 

“We didn’t find anything that demonstrates there’s a harmful association between omega-6’s and inflammatory markers in humans,” he adds. A 2012 review co-authored by Johnson found the same thing.

Many other review studies and meta-analyses have come to similar conclusions, and additionally finding pluses where you might expect minuses. “Every time anybody looks at blood levels of omega-6s and health outcomes–and we’ve done this several times with thousands of people… you find that people with the highest levels of omega-6s have the best outcomes,” says William S. Harris, a professor at the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine and president of the Fatty Acid Research Institute. 

Harris has co-authored multiple human cohort studies as well as large review papers assessing the impacts of omega-6 fatty acids on health. In a 2017 meta-analysis, he and his co-authors found that omega-6 consumption actually lowers risk of type 2 diabetes. In a 2020 review of 30 observational studies, Harris and his colleagues concluded that higher linoleic acid levels are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. 

In fact, higher linoleic acid intake is associated with lower risk of death from all causes including heart disease and cancer, according to another 2020 meta-analysis that assessed 38 different studies. I could keep linking studies–there are dozens of them, but you probably get the point. 

The way fatty acids and metabolic processes unfold in the body is complicated. “There’s a nuanced interplay between omega-6s, omega-3s, and a variety of other metabolites,” Harris says. The view that omega-3s are good and omega-6s are bad “is not true and is far too simplistic,” he adds. 

There are a couple of legitimate, contrary bits of research out there, say both Harris and Calder. Including two, often-cited papers published by lead author Christopher Ramsden, chief of the Lipid Peroxidation Unit in the National Institute on Aging. In these studies, Ramsden uncovered previously unpublished research from the late 1960’s and early ‘70’s wherein two groups of people fed a diet high in seed oils and margarine showed worse health outcomes. 

However, there are big caveats to these findings. For one, the study participants were fed much higher levels of omega-6-containing oils than is common in diets today, notes Harris. Plus many of the solid margarines the study used likely contained high amounts of trans fats, which are uniformly understood to be harmful to human health, says Calder.

Another concern that the seed oil skeptics cite is the use of hexane in production. “It’s true that hexane is used to extract vegetable oils from whatever their source is,” notes Johnson, who has written multiple health claim petitions on various oils. “But the product that consumers buy in the grocery store has no hexane in there at all. It’s gone,” he adds– removed during processing. 

All in all, the vast majority of scientific evidence indicates that cooking with omega-6 containing oils is harmless and probably good for you. 

So, what should you eat?

Given the above, it might sound like you start chugging safflower oil, but that’s not exactly the case. Since the western diet already includes so much omega-6, you’re probably covered. “We’re getting plenty of omega-6s. I’m not really advocating that people start supplementing their diet with omega-6,” says Harris. “But what I would say is efforts to reduce the intake of omega-6 are going to have an adverse effect on health,” he adds. This because less omega-6 means less of the observed protective benefits of linoleic acid, Harris explains. 

And it may also be that those seeking to swap out seed oils inadvertently end up swapping in less healthy alternatives. Often, influencers combine their disdain for seed oils with other health fads, like promoting the “carnivore diet,” anti-sunscreen sentiment, or even sometimes all three in one. This pile of misinformation would have viewers eschewing sun protection and vegetables, while chowing down on whole t-bone steaks and sticks of butter daily. Nothing in the vast amount of scientific research on human health and nutrition indicates any of the above is a good idea. 

Saturated fats may not be as harmful to heart health as once thought, but a diet very high in saturated fats and animal products can still raise your risk of high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. And again, we already eat a lot of saturated fat. In order from most to least healthy in the context of the modern western diet, Calder says that omega-3s are the best option, omega-6s come second, and saturated fats are at the bottom of the pyramid of things you need to eat more of. 

Harris, too, recommends people try to eat more omega-3’s, particularly the kind found in seafood (seaweed and algae can provide a plant-based source for vegans and vegetarians). 

And broadly, the best path to a healthy diet is probably what you’d expect. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, with whole grains and lots of fiber, is best, say Calder and Johnson. “It’s what your mother told you,” Johnson adds. Moving more and eating slightly less overall, are probably also good ideas for most Americans, notes Harris. “It’s not sexy, but that’s the way it is.” 

Finally, to stay your sharpest, be mindful of the health claims you see online. Always remember correlation doesn’t equal causation, one person’s experience is not equivalent to a robust scientific study, and there is no simple quick-fix for every health problem. “If it sounds too good or simple to be true, then it probably is,” says Johnson. 

The post What science actually says about seed oils appeared first on Popular Science.