Quick hits: Medical flights increase; inflation navigation; rethinking grass-fed meat; NASA astronauts splash home

When every minute matters, a medical helicopter
can be a rural patient's best option. (WSAZ photo)

As more rural hospitals close, medical helicopter services are more likely to be called for emergency medical treatment. "Over the past decade, demand for air ambulance services has grown more than 50%. One factor experts say is a rising number of rural hospitals shutting their doors," reports Blair Miller of WSAZ in West Virginia. "As rural hospitals close and demand for medical flights grows, the healthcare industry faces another hurdle, a shortage of medical pilots."

Since late January, measles infections have spread from Texas to New Mexico to Oklahoma. As of late March, 321 people have contracted the disease, including a child who died from the infection. Even though most infections occur in unvaccinated people, it's still prudent to understand how the disease spreads and who may need a measles, MMR, vaccination, or vaccination booster, reports The Conversation. "In a Q&A, Daniel Pastula, a neurologist and medical epidemiologist, explained how and when you should take action." MedPage Today also offers measles vaccination guidance.

Some Americans skip the expensive
snacks. (Adobe Stock photo)

Amid increasing food costs and health care worries, many U.S. consumers are dropping some of their expensive habits, leaving convenience store sales feeling the pinch. "Convenience-store sales fell 4.3% by volume in the year ended Feb. 23, as consumers cut back on snacks and cigarettes due to rising prices and health concerns," report Jesse Newman and Laura Cooper of The Wall Street Journal. "The change in behavior is hurting U.S. sales of Doritos, Twinkies, Heath bars and Newports. . . . Lottery ticket sales remain strong."

At the time Isaac Newton pondered the idea that "what is up, must come down," he was observing an apple fall from a tree branch. Had he been watching U.S. food costs, he might have come to a completely different conclusion. "The USDA states that food costs have climbed over the past few years and will continue to do so in 2025," reports CaLea Johnson of Mental Floss. "More specifically, food-at-home prices (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) are expected to increase by 1.3%." To see which states people spend the most on groceries, click here.

After years of touting grass-fed burgers as healthier for the planet, some ranchers and conservationists may want to rethink their sales pitch. "A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges found that cattle raised only on pastures do not have a smaller carbon footprint than feedlot cattle, which are quickly fattened on corn and other grains," reports Anna Phillips of The Washington Post. "This held even when the researchers took into account that healthy pastureland can help capture more carbon by pulling it out of the air and storing it in roots and other plant tissues."

NASA astronauts return home to Earth after an extended stay in outer space. (NASA photo)

Steven Speilberg's alien darling, E.T., was famously stranded on Earth and couldn't stop begging to phone home. NASA astronauts had a similar, but opposite problem. They were stuck in space wanting to get back home to Earth. "Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore set off to spend eight days at the space station. The trip lasted nine months," report Kenneth Chang and Thomas Fuller of The New York Times. SpaceX and the Coast Guard members met the astronauts as they "splashed down in calm, azure waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle. . . . A pod of curious dolphins also greeted the astronauts."