Grant funding Ohio LGBTQ+ history markers gets cut
Elon Musk's DOGE recently canceled a $250,000 grant the Ohio History Connection received to fund 10 new LGBTQ+ historical markers statewide, WCMH-TV reports.
Why it matters: It's a major blow for those working to uncover the "hidden history" of LGBTQ+ Ohioans, project adviser Julia Applegate tells Axios.
An estimated 6.2% of Ohio adults identify as LGBTQ+, but only 0.2% of the state's historical markers highlight that community.
Between the lines: Getting a marker installed usually requires exhaustive research, community organizing and fundraising — all challenges the grant was meant to overcome.
Zoom in: Applegate previously helped get a marker placed at the former Summit Station bar and was eyeing a new one honoring local HIV/AIDS service organizations like the Pater Noster House.
The West Broad Street hospice center was the site of a famous photo that "changed the face of AIDS."
She expected a 2026 marker dedication, but now is unsure.
What they're saying: The Ohio History Connection has made no staffing changes based on the lost grant, spokesperson Neil Thompson tells us.
Thompson had no updates about the 10 planned markers.
The big picture: Applegate, a senior lecturer at OSU's College of Public Health, says she's lost funding on five health, cultural and historical projects already this year.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mars by 2026? The 4 key takeaways from Elon Musk's Starship update
SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk says that despite Starship setbacks, the space company hasn't taken its eyes off the ball — and that ball is big, red, and roughly 140 million miles away. In a 42-minute video posted to X on Thursday evening, Musk laid out a plan to launch the mammoth spacecraft to Mars for the first time as early as next year. His ultimate vision has been to use a fleet of Starships to send 1 million humans to Mars by 2050. To be clear, he doesn't just want to visit the planet; he wants to establish a permanent, independent city there. The new timeline is hard to fathom, especially for those who watched another Starship prototype explode this week. Though the ship reached space during the test, it failed to achieve many of its goals. Musk has earned a reputation for wildly underestimating schedules — he once aimed to send an uncrewed ship to Mars by 2018 — but that didn't stop him from presenting yet another ambitious timeline. "If we have two planets, we keep going," he said. "We can be out there among the stars, making science fiction no longer fiction." Here are the key takeaways from Musk's latest Mars update: SEE ALSO: Listen to the eerie sounds of Mars recorded by a NASA rover Elon Musk gave a presentation called "The Road to Making Life Multiplanetary." Credit: SpaceX / X screenshot Musk is now targeting late 2026 for the first uncrewed Starship flight to Mars, taking advantage of an orbital alignment that would shorten the journey between planets. The ship would arrive seven to nine months later in 2027. Musk considers the odds of launching in that upcoming window to be about 50-50. If SpaceX misses it, the next opportunity wouldn't come for another two years. In order to head to Mars that soon, SpaceX first has to master how to refuel a Starship in low-Earth orbit, after it has already blasted off the planet — something that, by the way, has never been done before. Though the first flight won't carry people, SpaceX still intends to put some butts in seats. The "crew" will consist of humanoid Optimus robots, built by Musk's electric car company, Tesla. During his talk, Musk presented some renderings of the sci-fi robots, including one meant as an homage to the famous Lunch atop a Skyscraper photo, with Optimuses (Optimi?) sitting together on a steel beam. "That would be an epic picture to see Optimus walking around on the surface of Mars," he said. NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft looked at Arcadia, a region with ice, in 2001. Credit: NASA / JPL / Arizona State University SpaceX is looking at several potential areas on Mars where Starship could land, but the lead candidate so far is a region known as Arcadia, which also happens to be the name of one of Musk's children. It's one of the few regions where lots of shallow ice exists relatively near the Martian equator, according to NASA. SpaceX will be prioritizing a location that isn't close to the poles, has ice as a source for water, and isn't too mountainous for the rockets, Musk said. With each Mars alignment launch window, SpaceX wants to increase its cadence of flights. To do that, they'll need a lot more rockets and ships. Right now the SpaceX plant in Starbase, Texas — which residents just voted to make a city — can make a new Starship every two to three weeks, Musk said. The company will build two so-called "Giga Bay" facilities — one in Texas and another in Florida — to ramp that up to several per day. He envisions 1,000 to 2,000 ships heading to the Red Planet every couple of years, with the ability to catch and reuse boosters within hours. The goal is to send enough people, infrastructure, and supplies so that if for some reason cargo shipments from Earth stop coming, the Martian city won't die. "My guess is that's about a million tons, but it might be 10 million tons. I hope it's not 100 million tons," he said. "That'd be a lot."
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
HIV/AIDS: Facts about the viral infection that attacks the immune system
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. QUICK FACTS ABOUT HIV What it is: A lifelong viral infection that weakens the immune system, if left untreated Prevention methods: Taking preventive medicines called PrEP, using condoms, and avoiding needle sharing Treatments: Medicines called antiretroviral therapy (ART) Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a germ that causes a lifelong infection that slowly weakens the immune system. Though the infection is lifelong, medicines can keep the virus in check and help people reach lifespans of near-normal length. However, when people don't have access to those medicines, HIV infections progress to an advanced stage called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is fatal within about three years if not treated. When a person has AIDS, most of their key, disease-fighting immune cells are lost. This loss of immune protection leaves the person vulnerable to deadly infections and cancers. Although an HIV diagnosis was once a death sentence, scientists have developed treatments that suppress the virus and enable people to live long lives without transmitting the disease to others. Additionally, there are now effective preventive medications that can dramatically reduce the risk of getting HIV in the first place. There is not yet a widespread cure for HIV/AIDS, although a handful of people have been cured of the infection or are in long-term remission thanks to special stem-cell transplants, specially cell transplants from people who have genes that make them resistant to the virus. Scientists are exploring potential avenues for a cure, which could someday mean that people who contract HIV could be rid of the infection rather than having to take medication for life to manage the disease. HIV/AIDS remains a major public health threat worldwide, with an estimated 39.9 million people living with the disease at the end of 2023. Around 630,000 people died from illnesses related to AIDS the same year; by weakening the immune system, AIDS opens the door to these fatal diseases. HIV can spread through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids, although it's important to note that not all bodily fluids can transmit the virus. Bodily fluids that can spread HIV include blood, semen, preseminal fluid, vaginal secretions, breastmilk and rectal discharge (liquid from the anus that's not blood or stool). HIV is not transmitted through saliva, sweat or tears. It's also not spread through the air or through casual contact, such as hugging, shaking hands or sharing food. For transmission to occur, the bodily fluids containing HIV must come into contact with mucous membranes — tissues that line cavities in the body, like the vagina, anus or mouth. The fluids can also transmit HIV when they come into contact with cuts or sores, or when they're introduced to the bloodstream via contaminated needles, for instance. Most people who contract HIV get it through unprotected anal or vaginal sex — meaning sex without a condom or without HIV-preventing medications. People can also contract the virus by sharing the equipment used to inject drugs, such as needles or syringes. Babies can get HIV in the womb, during childbirth or from breastfeeding, if their mother has HIV. People living with HIV who take medicines called ART can suppress the virus to the point that it can't spread via sex. These "virally suppressed" people also have a much lower chance of transmitting HIV to their kids via pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. They are also less likely to spread the virus via shared injection equipment, although experts aren't sure exactly how much the risk is reduced. The symptoms of HIV vary depending on how far the disease has progressed. The virus can spread from one person to another at any stage of the infection, unless the infected person is taking ART and has reached "viral suppression" (see glossary). The initial stage is called "acute HIV infection." Within two to four weeks of contracting the virus, many people develop a flu-like illness involving symptoms like fever, headache, rash and sore throat. These symptoms can last from a few days to a few weeks. Some people have no symptoms at this stage, however. The viral load, or amount of HIV in the blood, at this stage is very high. The second stage of the disease is "chronic HIV infection," during which the virus continues to multiply but at a slower speed than during acute infection. This stage is also called "clinical latency" or "asymptomatic HIV infection," as many people don't feel sick during it. People can remain in this stage of the disease for 10 to 15 years, though some pass through it more quickly. As the virus multiplies, levels of an important type of immune cell — CD4 T lymphocytes — decline. Without treatment, the disease will eventually enter its most advanced stage: AIDS. This can come with a wide range of symptoms, including rapid weight loss; recurring fever; night sweats; extreme tiredness; prolonged swelling of the lymph nodes; diarrhea; sores of the mouth, anus or genitals; and blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose or eyelids. It can also trigger neurological problems, like memory loss. AIDS raises the risk of severe bacterial infections and cancers, including lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma. It can also worsen viral infections, such as hepatitis B and mpox. Without any treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years. HIV and AIDS are related, in that AIDS is the most advanced stage of an HIV infection, and therefore, the HIV virus causes both conditions. AIDS can also be called a "stage 3 HIV infection." AIDS is defined in part by a very low CD4 count of fewer than 200 CD4 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3) of blood. Generally speaking, the CD4 counts of healthy teens and adults are around 500 to 1,200 cells/mm3. Anything below 500 cells/mm3 is considered low, and 200 cells/mm3 marks the threshold for an AIDS diagnosis. Doctors also diagnose AIDS by considering a patient's history of "AIDS-defining illnesses." These are medical conditions often seen in people with AIDS because their immune systems can't fight the illnesses off. They include "opportunistic" infections — those caused by germs that wouldn't necessarily harm a person with a well-functioning immune system. Such infections include a fungal infection called extrapulmonary cryptococcosis, recurrent blood infections with Salmonella bacteria, the parasitic infection toxoplasmosis, and lower respiratory infections caused by the herpes simplex virus. The bacterial disease tuberculosis poses a major risk to people with AIDS, and it is currently the leading cause of death for people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. AIDS-defining illnesses also include cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and invasive cervical cancer. Others include HIV encephalopathy, which affects brain function, and HIV wasting syndrome, which causes extreme weight loss and weakness. Complications of AIDS-defining illnesses raise the risk of death, but the degree of risk varies among diseases. At all three stages of the infection, HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) — combinations of medications that drive down the amount of HIV in the blood. Different ART drugs work in different ways to keep the amount of virus, or viral load, in check. They are available as daily pills or as shots given periodically throughout the year, depending on the person's treatment plan. It's key for patients to take their medication as prescribed, because missing pills or shots can open the door for the virus to multiply, as well as develop drug resistance, which causes the medication to work less well. ART medications can also interact with other drugs and carry some risk of serious side effects, so patients work with their medical providers to figure out which drug combination is best for them. The goal of ART is "viral suppression," which describes when a person's viral load falls low enough that there are 200 or fewer copies of the virus's genetic material per milliliter (mL) of blood. Historically, tests weren't sensitive enough to detect levels of HIV below that threshold, so doctors called this level "undetectable." Studies also found that people who reach viral suppression can't transmit the virus via sex; have a lower chance of spreading the virus through pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding; and likely have a lower chance of spreading it through needle sharing. This is why the slogan "undetectable equals untransmittable," or "U = U," was coined. Nowadays, some tests for HIV are extremely sensitive, so they can detect viral loads significantly below 200 copies/mL. However, experts emphasize that 200 copies/mL is still the critical threshold at which transmission risk becomes extremely low. If a person with HIV/AIDS develops another medical condition, such as an AIDS-defining illness, the individual would receive treatment for that condition in addition to their ART regimen. There is no widespread cure for HIV/AIDS. However, a handful of people have been cured of their HIV infections through stem cell transplants, and a few more are considered "potentially" cured via the same process. Stem cells can develop into different types of cells in the body. In certain cancers that affect blood cells, stem cell transplants can be used to replace the cells lost in the course of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. Each individual who has been cured of HIV also had one of these cancers, so their doctors searched for stem cell donors who carry a rare gene that makes them resistant to HIV infection. By swapping in cells from an HIV-resistant individual, the procedure essentially locks the virus out of the patient's CD4 cells. There is one exception to this rule: A person known as the "Geneva patient" was potentially cured of HIV after a stem cell transplant, but the donor didn't have this special genetic resistance. It's unclear exactly why the man entered long-term remission from the infection after this procedure, but scientists are investigating. There have also been a couple of cases in which people's own immune systems somehow rallied against the virus and controlled it without treatment; these people are known as "elite controllers." Scientists hope to learn from both the stem cell recipients and from elite controllers to discover cures that could reach far more people with HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, some researchers are exploring the use of gene-editing tools like CRISPR to cure the infection, while others are investigating the use of drugs and modified immune cells. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) – Combinations of medications that lower the amount of HIV in a person's blood. These drugs, given as pills or shots, prevent the viral infection from progressing to AIDS and dramatically lower a person's risk of complications and of transmitting the virus to others. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – Medicines that people at risk of being exposed to HIV take to prevent the infection. Viral load – The amount of HIV in a person's blood. This is measured in terms of the number of HIV RNA molecules — the virus's genetic material — found in a milliliter of blood. It's an important way to measure how well ART is working. Viral suppression – When a person's viral load falls to 200 copies/mL or lower. Viral suppression is the goal of ART, as it both lowers a person's likelihood of spreading the virus and extends their lifespan by preventing the infection from progressing to AIDS. CD4 T lymphocyte – A type of white blood cell that helps coordinate the actions of other immune cells to fight infections. HIV infects CD4 cells and uses them to multiply while the virus depletes the number of CD4 cells in the body. Image 1 of 4 In the 1980s and 1990s, groups organized "die-ins" to protest the lack of U.S. government attention to the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis. Die-ins were also conducted to push for support for research to uncover effective treatments and, once treatments were discovered, to demand that those drugs be released to the public. The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power — known as ACT UP — was a major force behind such protests and remains an active organization today. Image 2 of 4 Kaposi's sarcoma, an example of an AIDS-defining illness, characteristically causes big, purple patches or nodules to appear on the skin and mucous membranes. Image 3 of 4 The public health slogan "U = U," depicted on this sign, refers to the fact that people living with HIV who have undetectable viral loads cannot transmit the virus to others via sex. It stands for "undetectable = untransmittable." Image 4 of 4 The "Berlin patient," pictured here, was the first person cured of HIV via a stem cell transplant. His name was later revealed to be Timothy Ray Brown. Brown went on to launch a foundation under his name that was dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS. We could end the AIDS epidemic in less than a decade. Here's how. In a 1st, HIV vaccine triggers rare and elusive antibodies in humans Nearly 3 million extra deaths by 2030 could result from HIV funding cuts, study suggests
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches 26 Starlink satellites from California amid foggy conditions
June 8 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched another 26 of its Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit Sunday amid foggy conditions at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The company livestreamed the launch on Elon Musk's X platform, with the footage showing the Falcon 9 rocket obscured by fog before takeoff. SpaceX warned residents in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties that they might hear "one or more sonic booms" during the launch. After the launch, the first stage booster of the rocket landed on Of Course I Still Love You, a floating barge stationed in the Pacific Ocean. The flight marked the seventh voyage for the first stage booster, which previously launched NROL-126, Transporter-12, SPHEREx, NROL-57, and two Starlink missions.
