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Duckweed Science May Lead To Food That Farms Itself

Duckweed Science May Lead To Food That Farms Itself

Apr 07 2025 | comment(s)

Duckweed split into different species 59 million years ago, when the climate was more extreme than even the most aggressive climate simulation produced now.

A new study, genome sequences for five duckweed species, reveals how duckweed can essentially farm itself, and because it can double in mass after two days what that might mean for the future of food science.
French Chicks Impacted Most: Activists Set Their Sights On Banning Tebuconazole

French Chicks Impacted Most: Activists Set Their Sights On Banning Tebuconazole

Apr 04 2025 | comment(s)

A French team conducted experiments using sparrow chicks and write in Environmental Research that their tests led to slower growth, with females impacted most. 

They targeted the common fungicide tebuconazole, popular on food crops because it can stop everything from necrotic ring spot to blights, mildews, and smuts. They compare it to the popular weedkiller glyphosate, which they claim has caused a decline in birds in Europe, despite scientists showing the top reason for bird population changes in various areas has been land use changes and not the use of pesticides lacking an Organic™ label.
Life-Size Sculptures Uncovered In Pompeii Debunk Myths About Ancient Women

Life-Size Sculptures Uncovered In Pompeii Debunk Myths About Ancient Women

Apr 04 2025 | comment(s)

Visitors to the site of Pompeii, the ancient Roman town buried (and so preserved for thousands of years) by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, don’t often think to look beyond the city walls. And it’s easy to understand why: there’s plenty on offer within this monumentally well-preserved town, from jewel-like wall paintings of myths and legends like Helen of Troy, to the majestic amphitheater and sumptuously stuccoed baths.

But step outside the gates for a moment, and you’re in a very different – yet no less important – world.

The Problem With Peer Review

The Problem With Peer Review

Apr 02 2025 | comment(s)

In a world where misinformation, voluntary or accidental, reigns supreme; in a world where lies become truth if they are broadcast for long enough; in a world where we have unlimited access to superintelligent machines, but we prefer to remain ignorant; in this world we are unfortunately living today, that is, the approach taken by scientists to accumulate knowledge - peer review - is something we should hold dear and preserve with care. And yet...
Mammals On The Ground Before The Dinosaurs Were Gone

Mammals On The Ground Before The Dinosaurs Were Gone

Apr 02 2025 | comment(s)

For decades, natural history books have taught that when a catastrophic asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, it wiped out the dinosaurs and gave mammals – until then mostly small, tree-dwelling creatures – a chance to flourish on the ground​. It’s the classic “mammals rise after dinosaurs fall” narrative.

Yes, We’re Living Inside A Simulation

Yes, We’re Living Inside A Simulation

Apr 01 2025 | comment(s)

Reporting Live From The SmartZero City Conference, Taipei

Reporting Live From The SmartZero City Conference, Taipei

Mar 28 2025 | comment(s)

What are sustainable cities, and can we build them? I put my Institute Fellows’ decades of experience together with the content of this fine conference, and conclude: (1) A sustainable city will attend equally to innovation, to human opportunity and dignity, and to the Earth. (2) Cities are not yet doing that. (3) There are obstacles.

With Fluoride Ban, Utah Sets Out To Be The California Of The Right Wing

With Fluoride Ban, Utah Sets Out To Be The California Of The Right Wing

Mar 28 2025 | comment(s)

When asked about an effort to ban fluoride in drinking water, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said, "It’s not a bill I care that much about” but he still signed it, despite the health benefits being well-established and claims of harm being the kind of slimy epidemiology that claims "risk" of BPA, weedkillers, PFAS, and too many products to count.

Utah wants to be the California of the right-wing; ban things because it matches the politics of their voters and science will be marginalized.(1)
Is Canadian Patriotism Why Religion Is So Unpopular In The Country?

Is Canadian Patriotism Why Religion Is So Unpopular In The Country?

Mar 28 2025 | comment(s)

In 1961, less than one per cent of Canadians identified as having no religion. In 2021, 43 per cent of those between 15 and 35 considered themselves religiously unaffiliated.

Organized religion — and especially Christianity — is in decline. Secularization is advancing apace. Most sociologists of religion agree on this. What they disagree about, however, is why.

Sticky Pesticides Reduce Chemicals Needed To Protect Plants

Sticky Pesticides Reduce Chemicals Needed To Protect Plants

Mar 25 2025 | comment(s)

It's easy for Greenpeace employees in cities to talk about farming but in the real world, without pesticides we'd lose 78 percent of fruit, 54 percent of vegetables, and 32 percent of cereal crops.

Most farmers want to optimize razor-thin margins and protect their biggest asset, land, so they are cautious about spraying too much, but the organic process leads to startling amounts of nitrogen runoff into rivers and ground water. A study claims 31 percent of agricultural soils around the world were at high risk from pesticide pollution while the old ways of German farmers recently showed they were exposing everything to wasted chemicals. Seed treatments like neonicotinoids have gone a long way to reducing runoff but some products can only be sprayed.