Science
Southern California healthcare agencies fear cuts to HIV prevention will cost lives
Statements from the Trump administration that officials are considering cuts to key programs for the prevention of HIV and AIDS are generating outrage among two of the largest LGBTQ+ service organizations in Southern California.
Leaders of the LGBT Center in Los Angeles and DAP Health in the Coachella Valley said that a sharp cut in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention could endanger many lives and potentially drive up the long-term cost to taxpayers, if incidence of the virus that causes AIDS increases.
When the Wall Street Journal first broke news of the potential cut in mid-March, a spokesman said no “final decision” had been made “on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division.”
Asked this week for an update, CDC spokesman Nicholas Spinelli referred questions to the agency’s parent organization, the Department of Health and Human Services, which did not respond. The White House also did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Health agencies across the nation have helped drive down the incidence of HIV, largely through testing, counseling and the distribution of medications that prevent the spread of the disease. Much of the funding for that work came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of decline was 12% nationally between 2018 and 2022, with an even sharper 21% in the 50 local areas where the CDC focused its prevention efforts.
The LGBT Center in Los Angeles, which provides outreach, testing and HIV-preventative medications, said it has been left in limbo about what will become of its $450,000 CDC grant to support that work.
“We have seen tremendous gains in the fight to end HIV because of the real investments that have been made in prevention and care,” said Joe Hollendoner, CEO of the LGBT Center. “We’ve even been talking about how, in our lifetime, we could end the HIV epidemic and get to zero new cases.”
“But if we are terminating HIV prevention contracts in the way that we anticipate … it is not hyperbole to say it’s going to cost human lives.”
That echoed concerns voiced by DAP Health, which operates 25 clinics in Riverside and San Diego counties, including many in the Coachella Valley, which has a large gay population and where the HIV rate is four times the national average.
“This ‘cost-saving’ strategy of decimating the CDC’s HIV prevention program will only increase costs, both human and financial,” David Brinkman, the CEO of DAP Health, said in a statement.
Brinkman pointed to research that showed the average cost of lifetime treatment for a patient who contracts HIV to be about $500,000 a year. The estimated potential “savings” of $1.8 billion if the federal disease agency eliminates the HIV program would quickly disappear if more than 3,600 Americans were newly infected, Brinkman said, adding: “And we know the toll of lives impacted by HIV with this slashing will be in the tens of thousands.”
An outspoken voice against a possible reduction or elimination of the anti-HIV program is Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert), a former emergency room doctor who represents the Coachella Valley.
“The CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention plays a vital role in reducing new infections, saving billions in preventable health care costs, and ensuring that individuals can access life-saving medication,” Ruiz said in a statement.
Ruiz noted that the CDC program also plays a central role in responding to viral hepatitis and TB. The congressman joined 100 other Democrats in the House and Senate in sending a letter to President Trump, urging him to reconsider any plan to reduce or eliminate the disease prevention program.
The lawmakers reminded Trump that during his first term, in 2019, he declared the goal of ending the HIV epidemic. “One of the pillars of your initiative, as shown on CDC’s website, is prevention,” the letter said. “It is imperative that you uphold this commitment.”
C.J. Tobe, chief transformation officer for DAP Health, said the Trump administration’s potential change of course seemed inexplicable.
“It’s a 180-degree turn, to threaten to take this away,” Tobe said. “It feels personal and it makes zero sense.”
Confusion and turmoil have also enveloped U.S. government-supported research around HIV.
CNN reported this week that the National Institutes of Health had eliminated funding for dozens of HIV-related research grants. The news outlet cited a Department of Health and Human Services database and quoted scientists who said the cuts would also deal a crippling blow to the goal of ending HIV.
Among those on the chopping block were grants related to PrEP, the regimen of drugs that can thwart HIV infection, scientists told the New York Times.
Funding for intervention against the disease overseas also appeared endangered when the Trump administration froze foreign aid and then all but eliminated the U.S. Agency for International Development, the main American agency for delivering assistance to other countries.
A study published in the Lancet said that a reduction in support from the U.S. and other major funding countries could lead to 4.4 million to 10.7 million new HIV infections worldwide by 2030, killing 770,000 to nearly 3 million more people.
“Unmitigated funding reductions could significantly reverse progress in the HIV response by 2030, disproportionately affecting sub-Saharan African countries and key and vulnerable populations,” the study said.
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can observe only a fraction of astronomical phenomena with the naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.
The latest observable meteor shower will be the Lyrids, which has been active since April 14 and is forecast to continue through April 30. The shower reaches its peak April 21 to 22, or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, and have been enjoyed by stargazers for nearly 3,000 years. Their bright, speedy streaks are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher. They appear to spring from the constellation Lyra, which right now can be seen in the eastern sky at night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will be about 27 percent full tonight, appearing as a thick crescent in the sky, according to the American Meteor Society.
To get a hint at when to best watch for the Lyrids, you can use this tool, which relies on data from the Global Meteor Network. It shows fireball activity levels in real time.
And while you gaze at the heavens, keep an eye out for other stray meteors streaking across the night sky. Skywatchers are reporting that the amount of fireballs is double what is usually seen by this point in the year.
Where meteor showers come from
There is a chance you might see a meteor on any given night, but you are most likely to catch one during a shower. Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through the rubble trailing a comet or asteroid as it swings around the sun. This debris, which can be as small as a grain of sand, leaves behind a glowing stream of light as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor showers occur around the same time every year and can last for days or weeks. But there is only a small window when each shower is at its peak, which happens when Earth reaches the densest part of the cosmic debris. The peak is the best time to look for a shower. From our point of view on Earth, the meteors will appear to come from the same point in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower, for example, peaks in mid-August from the constellation Perseus. The Geminids, which occur every December, radiate from the constellation Gemini.
How to watch a meteor shower
Michelle Nichols, the director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, recommends forgoing the use of telescopes or binoculars while watching a meteor shower.
“You just need your eyes and, ideally, a dark sky,” she said.
That’s because meteors can shoot across large swaths of the sky, so observing equipment can limit your field of view.
Some showers are strong enough to produce up to 100 streaks an hour, according to the American Meteor Society, though you probably won’t see that many.
“Almost everybody is under a light-polluted sky,” Ms. Nichols said. “You may think you’re under a dark sky, but in reality, even in a small town, you can have bright lights nearby.”
Planetariums, local astronomy clubs or even maps like this one can help you figure out where to go to escape excessive light. The best conditions for catching a meteor shower are a clear sky with no moon or cloud cover, sometime between midnight and sunrise. (Moonlight affects visibility in the same way as light pollution, washing out fainter sources of light in the sky.) Make sure to give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to seeing in the dark.
Ms. Nichols also recommends wearing layers, even during the summer. “You’re going to be sitting there for quite a while, watching,” she said. “It’s going to get chilly, even in August.”
Bring a cup of cocoa or tea for even more warmth. Then lie back, scan the sky and enjoy the show.
Where weather is least likely to affect your view
Storm systems sweep across the country in early spring, and some will be obscuring skies tonight. But there will still be plenty of areas with clear skies, particularly in parts of the central United States.
“The best spot is going to be in the Upper Midwest,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will offer especially good sky-viewing weather and a beach on the Great Lakes could be a nice spot to look up at the stars.
But don’t expect to view the show from Chicago, as Illinois could see some thunderstorms. The weather will be better in the Northern and Central Plains, particularly the eastern Dakotas.
High, wispy clouds are expected over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and into parts of the Mid-Atlantic. But, Mr. Bann said, “you may be able to see some shooting stars through thin clouds.”
Clouds will be draped across much of the Southeast and the Northeast, though there could be some clearing in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Remember, the meteors could be visible all night long. If you look outside and see clouds, try again later.
Catching the spectacle will be challenging across much of the West, particularly from Washington into Northern California, where a storm system is bringing rain and snow. That system will move east overnight.
There are likely to be some pockets of clear skies at times across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah, Mr. Bann said.
Amy Graff contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation in the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in the letters.
President Trump told reporters last week that he had been briefed on the missing and dead scientists, which he described as “pretty serious stuff.” He said at the time that he expected answers on whether the deaths were connected “in the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists who disappeared or died. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two other Los Angeles scientists are part of the string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while on a hike near Mt. Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On Feb. 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his Llano home. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, in connection with the shooting. Snyder had been arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder has been charged with murder.
There is no evidence at this point that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a span of four years, are connected.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, said in a statement on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists.
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
Representatives from Caltech, which manages JPL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Ocean when a small motorboat carrying a team of Indigenous artisans and Mexican biologists dropped anchor in a rocky cove near Bahías de Huatulco.
Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, one of the craftsmen, was the first to wade to shore. With an agility belying his age, he struck out over the boulders exposed by low tide. Crouching on a slippery ledge pounded by surf, he reached inside a crevice between two rocks. There, lodged among the urchins, was a snail with a knobby gray shell the size of a walnut. The sight might not dazzle tourists who travel here to see humpback whales, but for Mr. Avendaño, 85, these drab little mollusks represent a way of life.
Marine snails in the genus Plicopurpura are sacred to the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis, a small town in southwestern Oaxaca. Men like Mr. Avendaño have been sustainably “milking” them for radiant purple dye for at least 1,500 years. The color suffuses Mixtec textiles and spiritual beliefs. Called tixinda, it symbolizes fertility and death, as well as mythic ties between lunar cycles, women and the sea.
The future of these traditions — and the fate of the snails — are uncertain. The mollusks are subject to intense poaching pressure despite federal protections intended to protect them. Fishermen break them (and the other mollusks they eat) open and sell the meat to local restaurants. Tourists who comb the beaches pluck snails off the rocks and toss them aside.
A severe earthquake in 2020 thrust formerly submerged parts of their habitat above sea level, fatally tossing other mollusks in the snail’s food web to the air, and making once inaccessible places more available to poachers.
Decades ago, dense clusters of snails the size of doorknobs were easy to find, according to Mr. Avendaño. “Full of snails,” he said, sweeping a calloused, violet-stained hand across the coves. Now, most of the snails he finds are small, just over an inch, and yield only a few milliliters of dye.
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