Excessively hot or cold temperatures in commercial aircraft may affect the health and safety of passengers and flight attendants. A new National Academies report surveys the evidence on the influence of cabin temperature and humidity on safety and recommends strategies to improve monitoring and risk management.

As summer approaches, infectious diseases such as H5N1 — commonly known as bird flu — can spread more easily and potentially mutate. Bird flu cases in humans are still relatively rare, and the virus has not yet been known to spread from person to person, but farm workers have contracted the virus after close, prolonged, and unprotected contact with infected animals. We caught up with Shawn Gibbs, dean of the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, to get his thoughts on what should be done to mitigate exposure risks.