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DO GENERICS WORK JUST AS WELL?

Friday, September 22, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we figure out if there’s a difference in these drugs, realize that pandas experience jet lag, question how this earthquake app could save lives, ask if we’re getting enough Vitamin D ... and say Happy 135th Birthday to us!

An employee inspects medications produced at STADA Azneimittel AG in Bad Vilbel, Germany. STADA specializes in the production of generic and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals.

PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANK RUMPENHORST, PICTURE ALLIANCE/GETTY IMAGES

Nine of 10 prescriptions in the United States are for generic drugs (some pictured above). You may not even know that you are taking a generic, which costs 80 to 85 percent less than a brand name.

You may fear it is less effective, as do some doctors. What do the experts have to say?

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

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STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Mexico's last giant panda, Xin Xin, lounges in her habitat at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEJANDRO CEGARRA

Captivity can screw up pandas’ internal clocks Related: Meet Mexico's 'forgotten panda.' She's the last of her kind (above)

Explosive new images of the sun may help unravel long-standing mysteries

Pearl Harbor was the only WWII attack on the U.S., right? Wrong.

‘Nature does not forget’: These 4 animals are radioactive

‘I hear dead people’: How the world went wild for talking to spirits 100 years ago

This video game might actually be good for your mental health

You probably aren't getting enough vitamin D—here's what the experts say

A 902-pound pumpkin? Why freakishly large fruits and veggies thrive in Alaska

Why the equinox ushers in the arrival of fall

Want to live longer? Influence your genes.

Which cities will still be livable in a world altered by climate change?

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A car drives past collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey in February 2023. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake caused widespread destruction in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

PHOTOGRAPH BY YASIN AKGUL, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Warning: Earthquake! Seconds before a devastating quake hits, and depending on where you live, an app on your phone can send you a warning. While this technology is still new and improving, it’s “like weather forecasting 100 years ago,” Nat Geo reports. (Pictured, a car drives past collapsed buildings in Turkey following a February quake in which a warning failed to reach most residents in time.)

EARTHQUAKE WARNINGS

LUMBERING GRACE

a manatee swimming

VIDEO BY JASON GULLEY

Sea cows: Some manatees have made their way up to Rhode Island for the first time in seven years. These Florida-native creatures once faced extinction, but they’ve made a comeback. What future do they face now? (Pictured, a juvenile manatee floating in Florida’s Crystal River.)

SAVE THE MANATEES

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Bold colors frame the eye of an Edward’s fig parrot, photographed at Loro Parque Fundación in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE

Happy birthday to us! The first issue of National Geographic was published on this day in 1888. It had no photos and cost 50 cents. The first picture essay came in 1905—11 pages with photographs of Tibet. Two board members were so appalled they resigned, saying the magazine was becoming “a picture book.” Since then, Nat Geo has reached millions of people around the globe. Among its many iconic photos, this image (above) captured by Nat Geo Explorer Joel Sartore of an Edward’s fig parrot.

Related: Here’s what was in that first issue

15 ICONIC NAT GEO IMAGES

Today’s soundtrack: Birthday, Kings of Leon

Happy Friday! This newsletter has been curated and edited by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, Nancy San Martín, and David Beard. We’d love to hear from you: [email protected].

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