Desperate for Shade on Your Walk? There’s (Almost) an App for That Cities have been measuring heat for years but nobody has built a tool that actually helps you avoid it on a walk, until now, almost. Researchers are getting close and the thinking behind it matters. Learn more at Grist.
Scientists Say Most People Need More Protein Than Current Guidelines Suggest A new review suggests that eating more protein and getting more exercise than current minimum recommendations may help people stay stronger, sharper, and more independent as they age, with the goal being to extend healthspan and maintain the ability to fully enjoy life for decades longer. Learn more at ScienceDaily.
Adobe Houses Can Last Thousands of Years and Barely Cost Anything to Make. Here’s Why They’re Banned. Adobe, one of the oldest building materials on earth, is naturally fire resistant, thermally efficient, and incredibly durable, yet U.S. building codes have made it nearly impossible to use. Cement industry lobbyists played a major role in writing the very regulations that sidelined it, and the costs that followed have kept adobe out of reach for most builders. Learn more at Upworthy.
Joaquin Phoenix on the Mental Health Crisis Hidden Inside Factory Farms In a Variety op-ed, Phoenix turns the spotlight away from animals and toward the people doing the work. Factory farm and slaughterhouse workers, many of them undocumented or from marginalized communities, face relentless psychological exposure to suffering, with little access to mental health care and enormous barriers to speaking up. Read the full piece at Variety.
They Shut Down the Government’s Climate Science Website. So the Scientists Rebuilt It Themselves. Climate.gov’s team was fired after a directive “from above” ordered their contract cut. Former managing editor Rebecca Lindsey refused to let the mission die and recruited former colleagues to build climate.us, a new nonprofit picking up where the government left off. Read the full story at Ars Technica.
Summer Rainbow Pickled Vegetable Plate A beautiful way to use whatever is coming out of the garden right now. Quick-pickled vegetables in a rainbow of colors, the kind of thing that looks like you tried harder than you did. Get the recipe at Chelsea Green.
The Quiet Unraveling of America’s Food Safety Net The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is reshaping SNAP in ways that are only beginning to be felt. The law reduced federal SNAP funding by $186 billion through 2034, the largest cut to food assistance in U.S. history, and raised work requirement ages so that more older adults now risk losing benefits. Learn more at Politico.
Your Local Park Is Bringing in the Green (and By That, We Mean Money) A new report finds that for every dollar invested in parks, cities see $3 in economic benefits, which is a compelling argument for anyone who has ever watched their city defund green space. Learn more at Grist.
Breastfeeding Leaves Subtle Epigenetic Marks on Infants’ DNA The largest study of its kind found that babies exclusively breastfed for at least three months carry DNA methylation marks in their blood linked to immunity and developmental processes, offering a potential molecular explanation for why breastfeeding has such lasting effects on health. Learn more at Technology Networks.
Your AI Habit Is Wasting Precious Resources. Here’s How to Use It Responsibly Every ChatGPT prompt you fire off to polish a sentence or answer something you already half-know is running through a massive data center burning real electricity and water. Global data center electricity use could roughly double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. Worth thinking about. Learn more at The Conversation.
New Research Advances Amaranth as a Nutritious and High-Performing Leafy Green Crop New studies highlight significant diversity within amaranth varieties, with certain accessions showing high biomass yield, uniform growth, and elevated levels of essential nutrients, making the ancient grain a promising candidate for sustainable agriculture in regions facing climate variability or limited resources. Learn more at Phys.org.
Q&A: Why Climate Politics Cannot Be Separated from Indigenous Sovereignty and Justice As governments prioritize energy security and resource extraction, Indigenous leaders are warning that land rights and consultation processes are increasingly being pushed aside. Learn more at Eco-Business.
Scientists Reveal Why Mosquitoes Bite Some People More Than Others Some people get eaten alive while the person next to them walks away without a single bite. Researchers are finally getting closer to understanding the specific chemical mix on certain people’s skin that makes them so much more attractive to mosquitoes. Learn more at ScienceAlert.
GMO Deregulation Becomes Law in Europe: 20 Organizations Condemn Vote Against Food Sovereignty and the Rights of Farmers and Consumers For twenty-five years, Europe resisted the kind of GMO deregulation that the U.S. accepted long ago. Last week that resistance ended. The European Parliament voted to eliminate risk assessment, traceability, and labeling requirements for crops produced with new genetic techniques, opening the door for Bayer-Monsanto, Syngenta, Corteva and others to patent their way through the European seed supply. Twenty organizations across the continent have signed a joint condemnation. Learn more at Navdanya International.
Amid National PFAS Frenzy, the “Maine Model” Shows States How to Stop “Forever Chemicals” at the Source As the federal government continues to reduce PFAS protections, states have an opportunity to step up for their residents, but only if they avoid certain pitfalls and loopholes that can undermine those efforts. Learn more at The Revelator.
Bones Communicate With the Rest of the Body to Support Overall Health Your skeleton is running a whole communication system you probably never knew about, sending signals to your organs, responding to your gut microbiome, and constantly remodeling itself in ways that affect your overall health. Learn more at The Conversation.
Regenerative Gardening, Flower Farming & Building Soil with Briana Bosch, Acres U.S.A. Podcast Ep. 112 A lovely listen for anyone curious about growing things with the soil in mind. Briana Bosch talks through how regenerative practices apply to home gardens and small flower farms. Find it on Apple Podcasts.
