Gleanings of the Week Ending March 07, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

2/20/2026 BBC How ultra-processed foods affect our gut microbiome - The additives added to processed food to keep it fresher for longer might be having an unexpected effect on the health of the microbes in our guts. Research carried out on both animals and humans appears to pinpoint a direct link between emulsifiers and ill health. One French study of more than 100,000 adults in 2024 found those who were more exposed to emulsifiers had a greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Another study of more than 90,000 adults found a potential link between emulsifiers and breast and prostate cancers.

2/20/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Researchers Retrieve the Deepest-Ever Rock Core from Beneath Antarctica’s Ice. It Holds Clues About the Earth’s Past—and Future - The 748-foot-long sediment core contains a record of roughly the past 23 million years, including periods when the planet’s surface temperature was hotter than it is today.

2/20/2026 National Parks Traveler Tidal Basin Gets Hundreds of New Cherry Trees - Paid for by a generous donation from the nation of Japan, the trees represent the most recent chapter in this remarkable cultural exchange dating back to Japan's original gift of cherry trees in 1912.

2/19/2026 Science Daily New sodium ion battery stores twice the energy and desalinates seawater - Being able to use sodium vanadate hydrate in salt water is a really exciting discovery, as it shows sodium-ion batteries could do more than just store energy -- they could also help remove salt from water. In the long term, that means we might be able to design systems that use seawater as a completely safe, free and abundant electrolyte, while also producing fresh water as part of the process.

2/18/2026 The Guardian Hazardous substances found in all headphones tested by ToxFREE project - Bisphenol A (BPA) appeared in 98% of samples, and its substitute, bisphenol S (BPS), was found in more than three-quarters. Synthetic chemicals used to stiffen plastic, BPA and BPS mimic the action of estrogen inside organisms, causing a range of adverse effects including the feminization of males, early onset puberty in girls, and cancer. Previous studies have shown that bisphenols can migrate from synthetic materials into sweat, and that they can be absorbed through the skin. Given the prolonged skin contact associated with headphone use, dermal exposure represents a relevant pathway, and it is reasonable to assume that similar migration of BPA and its substitutes may occur from headphone components directly to the user’s skin.

2/17/2026 The Conversation Air pollution may directly contribute to Alzheimer’s disease – U.S. researchers tracked nearly 28 million older adults over six years nationwide. They found that those exposed to higher levels of fine particulate air pollution were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. The US study used Medicare insurance claims to confirm Alzheimer’s diagnoses and area data by postcode for fine particle pollution levels. It also looked at other factors that could explain the link, such as the proportion of smokers or overweight people living in more or less polluted areas.

1/15/2026 Science Daily Scientists question the safety of BPA-free packaging - BPA-free is an incredibly misleading label. It usually means one bisphenol has been swapped for another, and there are more than 200 of them. Some may be just as harmful, or even worse. We need to test these compounds before they're widely adopted, not after.

2/11/2026 Archaeology Magazine What Caused Ancient People to Abandon a Fruitful Bison Hunting Site? - For around 700 years, Native people of the American Great Plains hunted bison at a site in central Montana that archaeologists call Bergstrom. Then, around 1,100 years ago, humans abandoned the site even though bison remained abundant in the area. Researchers discovered that drought caused the water supply to process the animals at the site dried up…forcing the hunters to move away.

2/23/2026 Planetizen California Seals 21 Urban Oil Wells in South LA After Decades of Activism – There are too many stories like this – why do we ever trust the oil companies to not walk way and leave a toxic mess? I’m glad the state is stepping in…but the companies that made money from the site over the years need to be held financially accountable.

2/23/2026 Science Daily Babies exposed to far more “forever chemicals” before birth than scientists knew - By using advanced chemical screening on umbilical cord blood, scientists detected 42 different PFAS compounds, including many that standard tests do not routinely check for. These long lasting chemicals are found in common products like nonstick cookware, food packaging, and stain resistant fabrics, and they can build up in the body over time. The study helps show that prenatal PFAS exposure is more complex and widespread than earlier studies suggested

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 28, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

2/16/2026 Journal of Advanced Research Association between exposure to microplastics and lipid disorders: A case-control study – Study with 239 patients aged ≥18 years who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collected. Microplastics in BALF were identified and quantified using laser direct infrared spectroscopy. Fourteen main types of microplastics were detected in BALF with PE being dominant. Exposure to microplastics was associated with elevated levels of total cholesterol.

2/16/2026 National Parks Traveler A Day in the Park: Canyon de Chelly National Monument – This article reminded me of a visit to the park in 1983! We hiked the White House Trail, and I remember wading across a stream with the 4 of us holding hands just in case there was a pocket of quicksand. We managed to get through with neither of the two cameras getting dipped in the water.

2/13/2026 Science Daily Scientists make microplastics glow to see what they do inside your body - A new study proposes an innovative fluorescence-based strategy that could allow researchers to track microplastics in real time as they move, transform, and degrade inside biological systems.

2/15/2026 Our World in Data Four minutes of air conditioning - In at least 45 countries, the average residential electricity use per person for an entire day is less than the electricity that is required to power an air conditioner for one hour. In India, the daily electricity budget is sufficient for only 44 minutes of AC. In Nigeria, just 13 minutes; and in South Sudan, just 4. Most people in some of the world’s hottest countries do not use AC. The most recent data from the International Energy Agency suggests that just 5% of households in India, 6% in South Africa, and 16% in Brazil had air conditioning. In the very poorest countries, almost no one has it. In colder countries, we wouldn’t accept people freezing in their homes. The opposite is also true: we shouldn’t accept people working and living in oppressive heat without ways to cool themselves down.

2/15/2026 Planetization South Carolina Mapping Tool Tracks Marsh Migration From Sea Level Rise - A new mapping tool funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation maps South Carolina’s shifting salt marshes, which are pushing inland as seawater levels rise. The mapping tool translates theoretical projections into actionable data. For a more detailed explanation and videos see the article on Governing.

1/23/2026 The Scientist Antibiotic Resistance Is Rising: 4 Trends Could Change That Course - Antibiotic resistance is sometimes framed as an inevitable catastrophe. But I believe the reality is more hopeful: Society is entering an era of smarter diagnostics, innovative therapies, ecosystem-level strategies and policy reforms aimed at rebuilding the antibiotic pipeline in addition to addressing stewardship. For the public, this means better tools and stronger systems of protection. For researchers and policymakers, it means collaborating in new ways. The question now isn’t whether there are solutions to antibiotic resistance – it’s whether society will act fast enough to use them.

2/11/2026 Smithsonian Magazine Ice Fishermen Catch Record-Breaking 244-Pound Atlantic Halibut After Hours-Long Struggle - The fish measured more than six and a half feet long and easily broke the previous record—194 pounds—for the largest halibut caught on the Saguenay, which had been set last winter. The record-breaking Saguenay fish was the 27th halibut hooked this winter as part of the research project. After organs are removed for study, the fishermen will get to keep and split roughly 170 pounds of meat.

2/16/2026 Science Daily Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s only native insect - Scientists have discovered that Belgica antarctica — a tiny, rice-sized midge and the southernmost insect on Earth — is already ingesting microplastics in the wild. While lab tests showed the hardy larvae can survive short-term exposure without obvious harm, those exposed to higher plastic levels had reduced fat reserves, hinting at hidden energy costs.

2/16/2023 Cool Green Science 8 of the World’s Little-Known Wildlife Migrations – Lots of different kinds of animals of this list!

2/16/2026 Yale Environment 360 Despite Rollbacks, U.S. Fossil Fuels Face Tough Road Ahead - The weakening of environmental regulations belies the downward trajectory for fossil fuels under President Trump. Today, the U.S. coal fleet is the smallest it has been in decades, having shrunk roughly in half since 2010. There are no new coal plants under construction. Oil is expected to stagnate as global production outpaces demand. Oil executives say the shale boom may be coming to an end. Natural gas remains a bright spot for U.S. fossil fuels as a recent boom in gas exports continues to drive demand for U.S. gas

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 7, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

1/22/2026 I’m Plastic Free How Geography Impacts Plastic-Free Living - Many people want to reduce plastic, but simply don’t have the tools nearby. In larger cities, it’s often easier to find refill stores, farmers’ markets, and shops that sell loose produce, but the access varies widely between wealthier and lower-income city areas. Living in a city doesn’t guarantee sustainable options. here are a variety of factors that determine the amount of plastic used by consumers. These usually include their location, the system of commerce, and the accessibility of plastic products. Understanding how an area shapes shopping decisions will lead to people advocating for a change where it matters the most.

1/22/2026 Yale Environment 360 In Europe, Wind and Solar Power Overtakes Fossil Fuels - Last year, for the first time, wind and solar supplied more power than fossil fuels to the E.U. In parts of Europe, there are signs that increasingly cheap batteries are beginning to displace natural gas in the early evening, when power demand is high, but solar output is waning.

1/23/2025 Smithsonian Magazine United Nations Declares That the World Has Entered an Era of ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’ - Life around the world has been feeling the effects of climate change, land degradation, deforestation, pollution and the overuse of water. Ultimately, most regions are using too much of their renewable “income” of water from rivers and snowmelt and have emptied their “savings” in groundwater and other reservoirs, ushering in an era of “global water bankruptcy.” We cannot rebuild vanished glaciers or reinflate acutely compacted aquifers. But we can prevent further losses and redesign institutions to live within new hydrological limits.

1/21/2026 BBC Future How the nutritional benefits of foods change as you age - The two main nutrients we should focus on in old age are calcium and vitamin D. Eating enough quality protein is also really important as we age.

1/20/2026 ScienceDaily Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis - Scientists at Stanford Medicine have discovered a treatment that can reverse cartilage loss in aging joints and even prevent arthritis after knee injuries. By blocking a protein linked to aging, the therapy restored healthy, shock-absorbing cartilage in old mice and injured joints, dramatically improving movement and joint function. Human cartilage samples from knee replacement surgeries also began regenerating when exposed to the treatment. Human trials will be launched soon.

1/12/2026 The Daily Show Vitamin Plastic Water: Don’t Just Consume Microplastics, Enjoy Them! – Humor in a plastic world.

1/20/2026 NASA Explore North America’s Greenhouse Hub - In the Leamington (Ontario) area, growers cultivate vegetables and other crops within millions of square feet of greenhouse space. Commercial greenhouse operations began to gain a foothold in this area in the 1960s and 1970s as technology advanced and regional demand for fresh vegetables increased. Since then, the industry has continued to grow, securing Leamington’s reputation as the “greenhouse capital of North America.”

1/20/2026 NPR Polyester clothing has been causing a stir online. But how valid are the concerns? - Though polyester has been around for a while, in many cases, manufacturers have begun using polyester for items that natural fibers would be better suited for. For example, polyester is often found in summer clothes, even though the material traps heat. And people eventually dump clothes that are uncomfortable. Mounds of abandoned clothing are showing up on coastlines in countries like Ghana, India and Chile, Palladino said. Ghana, for example, has a large market for upcycling clothes. But many of the clothes it receives from the U.S. are of increasingly lower quality, so some purchasers dump them in lagoons and landfills, which end up in the oceans. Natural fibers clothing have cost you a little more, but you're going to have it longer.

1/19/2026 ArtNet The Forgotten Designer Who Created America’s First National Parks Posters - Dorothy Waugh was a pioneering Modernist designer who created the U.S. government’s first in-house National Parks poster campaign during the Great Depression, is the subject of her first-ever solo exhibition. After leaving the NPS, Waugh got a job at Knopf, founding and leading the publishing house’s Books for Young Adults Division. She also worked for 25 years as the head of public relations at the Montclair Public Library in New Jersey. In addition, Waugh was an educator, offering the first-ever course in typography at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, now the Parsons School of Design. On top of all that, she moonlighted as journalist and poet, and even as a radio personality, with her own regional radio program. She also wrote and illustrated many books for children, as well as two scholarly tomes on the poet Emily Dickinson. The last of those was published when Waugh, who lived to be 99, was 94.

1/18/2026 Our World in Data How have crime rates in the United States changed over the last 50 years? - Several crimes fall within the category of violent crimes. In US statistics, this includes homicide (murder and non-negligent manslaughter), rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crime rates increased during the 1980s, reaching a peak in the early 1990s at around 750 offenses per 100,000. Since then, rates have more than halved. Over the past three decades, rates have fluctuated slightly from year to year, but the overall trend has been downward.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 31, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

12/5/2025 The Scientist The Ice is Alive: Uncovering the Vanishing World of Glacial Microbes - The ice teems with an invisible and thriving biosphere, lush with bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Scientists have estimated that the glaciers and ice sheets around the globe could contain as many as 1029 cells. The most dynamic … is the surface, where windblown dust mixes with microorganisms to form a dark, granular sediment known as cryoconite. Because this aggregate is darker than the surrounding white ice, it absorbs more solar radiation, melting the ice beneath it. This melting creates water-filled depressions called cryoconite holes that pockmark vast areas of the ice sheet. Cryoconite holes are far from simple puddles; they are oases of life in a polar desert.

2023 NASA History Office NACA to NASA to Now – A book about the history of NASA available free online from the NASA website.

1/14/2026 The Conversation Native pollinators need more support than honeybees in Australia – here’s why - Since the 1990s, the global decline of pollinators due to human activities, climate change and diseases has been a serious concern, especially in Europe and North America. The honeybee is so good at invading and proliferating in Australian landscapes, we now have some of the highest reported densities of feral honeybees in the world. Despite the global pollinator decline, honeybees haven’t disappeared anywhere in the world, even in countries with far fewer resources than Australia. Nor has any plant species gone extinct from a lack of honeybees. In contrast, there is overseas evidence of plant population declines due to the presence of honeybees and lack of native pollinators.

1/13/2026 Yale Environment 360 Photos Capture the Breathtaking Scale of China’s Wind and Solar Buildout - Last year China installed more than half of all wind and solar added globally. In May alone, it added enough renewable energy to power Poland, installing solar panels at a rate of roughly 100 every second.

1/12/2026 Compound Interest What are rubber ducks made from? - Scientists discovered polyvinyl chloride, or PVC for short, accidentally in the 1800s on more than one occasion. A hard and brittle plastic, PVC had little commercial use until it was mixed with softening plasticizers to make a much more moldable material. The modern rubber duck is not made from rubber, but from plasticized PVC colored with a bright yellow pigment.

1/13/2026 Clean Technica EPA Cooks the Books on Industrial Pollution Costs – They (EPA) will henceforth consider only the economic cost of the regulations to corporations, and if they are deemed to be too burdensome, those regulations will be softened in order to avoid undue economic harm to the polluters. This includes fine particulates (2.5 microns or less) that include microplastics and fossil fuel combustion products….contributing to many negative health outcomes.

1/13/2026 UPI U.S. greenhouse gas emissions growing faster than economy - For the first time in three years annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased, climbing by 2.4% in 2025 as federal policy shifted back to fossil fuels. For the first time in three years annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased, climbing by 2.4% in 2025 as federal policy shifted back to fossil fuels.

1/11/2026 Science Daily A room full of flu patients and no one got sick - n a striking real-world experiment, flu patients spent days indoors with healthy volunteers, but the virus never spread. Researchers found that limited coughing and well-mixed indoor air kept virus levels low, even with close contact. Age may have helped too, since middle-aged adults are less likely to catch the flu than younger people. The results highlight ventilation, air movement, and masks as key defenses against infection.

1/15/2026 BBC Rare images of Europe's 'ghost cat' - After several decades, this mysterious little beast is returning to our forests.

1/14/2026 NASA Earth Observatory Fires on the Rise in the Far North - In the far north, wildfires are breaking old patterns. Satellite data show that wildland fires once scattered across the Arctic are now surging in numbers—particularly in northern Eurasia—and many are burning more intensely than before. n the 2000s, fires north of 60 degrees latitude appeared across both North America and Eurasia, but starting in the early 2010s, their numbers skyrocketed, most dramatically in Eurasia. Even the icy island of Greenland entered a new fire regime during this period, experiencing more large fires, though still too few to be visible on these maps. Researchers attribute these trends to rising temperatures, which have made northern landscapes more flammable, along with a poleward expansion of lightning—the primary ignition source for these fires.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 27, 2025

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Flamingos reveal their secret to staying young - A decades-long study in France reveals that resident flamingos, which stay put, enjoy early-life advantages but pay later with accelerated aging, while migratory flamingos endure early hardships yet age more slowly. This surprising link between movement and longevity challenges old assumptions and offers new insights into the science of aging.

‘Montana Miracle:’ The State Actually Succeeding at Housing Reform - In 2023, Montana passed a series of state laws aimed at increasing housing construction that included allowing ADUs and legalizing multifamily housing in commercial zones. This year, the legislature doubled down, expanding on the 2023 law and eliminating parking requirements for most units in the state’s 10 largest cities. A new law also eases permitting for manufactured home parks to eliminate the need for a subdivision review when these parks are not subdivided into private lots. Another allows single-staircase buildings up to six stories, making it easier to build denser buildings on smaller lots.

Photographers Capture Underground Pools and Passages of Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico - So far, 150 miles of Lechuguilla Cave have been explored. With every new survey, the cave offers new insights as to how underground chambers like these are formed and the microbial beings found there. Its beauty earned the entire Carlsbad Cavern National Park the title of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. But due to its complexity, entrance is limited, with the NPS restricting explorations to highly trained speleologists with pre-approved plans.

Plastic Free Water Filters: Can We Find Water Purifiers without Plastic? – My daughter and I are looking to upgrade our water filters. I hope the water filter technology improves with emphasis on reducing microplastics in water.

Inside Ukrainian Artist Dmitry Oleyn’s Sculptural Approach to Landscape Painting - Rather than use the traditional approach that embraces the flatness of the canvas, the artist instead builds his pigments so there is an element of bas-relief, leaving the surface rugged and with a marked sense of tactility from the artist’s hand. When they are displayed, the irregular surface casts shadows, which when viewed against the painted shadows, is especially intriguing; it also creates a degree of mutability, as depending on the time of day and where the paintings are hung, the lighting of the space dialogues with the work both physically and compositionally.

Photography In the National Parks: Mesa Verde Revisited – I’ve been to Mesa Verde once….back in the 1970s. This article reminded me that I want to go again.

Map Reveals Toxic Pollution Leaking from U.S. Drilling Sites - Scientists have shown that U.S. oil and gas drilling sites are not just leaking methane but also a host of toxic chemicals that pose an urgent threat to the health of those living nearby. A new interactive map details the impact of hundreds of major leaks. At nearly every oil and gas site, leaks also produced benzene, a known carcinogen, as well as other chemicals that have been shown to harm bone marrow, weaken the immune system, impair the nervous system, as well as cause headaches, dizziness, vomiting, and fatigue. Is the fossil fuel industry so arrogant that they don’t care that they are spewing poison (some of which could be used for fuels and other industrial purposes if captured) that negatively impact the health of people and other life?

World’s Tallest Douglas Fir Tree Damaged in Mysterious, Multi-Day Blaze, but It’s Alive After Firefighters Extinguish Flames – It burned from August 16 to August 21. The tree is estimated to be around 450 years old and has a diameter of 11.5 feet. It no longer holds the title of the tallest Douglas fir in the world. However, officials are hopeful the old tree will rebound from the damage wrought by the fire. It’s possible the fir will even grow a new crown.

Six tips from the Middle Ages on how to beat the summer heat – Save the ideas for next summer: work flexibly, wear the right hat, eat to lower body temperature, try wild swimming, use aftersun, or flee.

8 Hints to Reduce Your Food Footprint - You can make food decisions today that change your food footprint. Eight ways you can reduce your food footprint so it’s more environmentally food-friendly: limit ultra-processed foods, curb waste, eat a primarily plant based diet, buy local, compost your food scraps, avoid plastic food packaging (sometimes difficult to do), lose the gas stove, call out Big Ag for its polluting practices.

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 16, 2025

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Fall 2025 International Student Enrollment Outlook and Economic Impact – The drop in new international student enrollment in the United States this fall could result in a 15 percent drop in overall enrollment. This drop would result in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer jobs.

Woodpeckers thrive where missiles fly. How a bombing range became a wildlife refuge - A U.S. Air Force bombing range in Florida has become a sanctuary for endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker!

Used EV Batteries Get New Life Supporting the Texas Power Grid - In Texas, retired EV batteries are being repurposed to shore up the state’s unstable electric grid. Batteries have made significant capacity contributions within Texas’ electric grid in recent years and have been credited with helping prevent summer blackouts by bolstering grid reliability.

World Cannot Recycle Its Way Out of Plastics Crisis - The world churns out more than 200 times as much plastic today as it did in 1950, and production is only rising. Microscopic bits of plastic waste have been found nearly everywhere. Many of the more than 16,000 chemicals used in plastics — flame retardants, fillers, dyes — can harm human health, and fetuses, infants, and young children are particularly vulnerable. Without efforts to stem the use of plastic, production is on track to nearly triple by 2060.

Gorgeous, Hidden Animal Tattoos Discovered on a More Than 2,000-Year-Old ‘Ice Mummy’ by Using Digital Imaging - Tigers, stags and a leopard twist around each other, the animals’ stylized and intricate details spread in ink across a woman’s forearm. On her hand is the delicate outline of a bird with a fluffy tail. It sounds like something you might see from a tattoo artist today, but these designs appear to be preserved on a more than 2,000-year-old “ice mummy” from Siberia’s Pazyryk culture.

How do the microplastics in our bodies affect our health? - The use of plastics in society first came into being on a large scale in about the 1920s, and we see a big increase from the 1960s onwards. In a study published in 2024, scientists found that consumption of the particles has increased sixfold since 1990, particularly in various global hotspots including the US, China, parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Scandinavia. In February 2025, scientists identified microplastics in the brains of human cadavers. Most notably, those who had been diagnosed with dementia prior to their death had up to 10 times as much plastic in their brains compared to those without the condition. Because humans are consuming so many different types of plastic, it's both unlikely and impractical, without vast sources of funding, for researchers to be able to identify a direct link between ingesting microplastics and one particular disease….but there is mounting evidence that they are impacting health.

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago – Skeletons found in the Czech Republic chert mine.

This diet helped people lose twice as much weight, without eating less - People eating minimally processed foods lost twice as much weight as those on ultra-processed diets, even though both diets were nutritionally balanced and participants could eat freely!

A Promised U.S. Drilling Boom Has Yet to Materialize - The price of oil, the world’s most-traded commodity, is more responsive to global demand and supply dynamics than to domestic policy and politics. The economics of solar and wind are increasingly too attractive to ignore. They are now almost always the least expensive — and the fastest — option for new electricity generation.

Your sleep schedule could be making you sick, says massive new study - A global study of over 88,000 adults reveals that poor sleep habits—like going to bed inconsistently or having disrupted circadian rhythms—are tied to dramatically higher risks for dozens of diseases, including liver cirrhosis and gangrene.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 4, 2025

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Uplift Underway in Finland’s Kvarken Archipelago - Some 20,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Maximum, the Baltic Sea sat under a sheet of ice as thick as 10,000 feet. Since the glaciers receded and the weight was lifted, the land has been bouncing back. The rates of uplift, known as glacial isostatic adjustment or isostatic rebound, in this region are among the highest on Earth. By one estimate, land about twice the size of Central Park in New York City rises from the sea each year along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea’s northern arm.

Silent Threat: America’s Abandoned Oil Wells and the Danger Beneath - Abandoned oil and gas wells across the U.S. pose significant environmental, health, and safety risks, with many leaking hazardous gases and chemicals, highlighting regulatory failures and the immense financial burden of remediation.

Lymphoedema: The 'hidden' cancer side-effect no one talks about - Lymphoedema is a chronic, incurable condition that causes excessive swelling due to a damaged lymphatic system, a network in the body responsible for maintaining fluid balance in tissues. It occurs when lymph fluid is unable to properly drain from the body, due to a dysfunction or injury to the lymphatic system. The condition is a common consequence of certain cancers and the treatments for them. It can also be a genetic condition, which people are born with, or it can be the result of injury, obesity, or infection. There are some clinicians who regard lymphoedema as an overlooked pandemic due to the significant chronic public health problem it poses globally.

Hazelnut DNA Study Challenges Misconceptions About Indigenous Land Use in British Columbia - Starting some 7,000 years ago, Indigenous people actively cultivated hazelnuts across the continent, disproving the settler-colonial notion that Indigenous peoples were simply hunter-gatherers. People were actively transplanting and cultivating hazelnuts hundreds of kilometers from their place of origin. People were moving hazelnut around and selectively managing it to the point that it increased genetic diversity.

Extreme Heat May Cause People to Age Faster - Researchers looked at such aging markers in 3,800 Americans over the age of 55, comparing the data with local weather records. They found that people living in places with more hot days tended to have more genetic markers of age.

An inexpensive fix for California's struggling wildflowers - California's native wildflowers are being smothered by layers of dead, invasive grasses. Simply raking these layers can boost biodiversity and reduce fire danger.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2024 – From Smithsonian Magazine.

Fluorinated “forever chemicals” and where to find them – Infographic and text. Studies have linked PFOA to some health conditions including cancers and hormone disruption. There’s also still plenty we don’t know about their potential effects. PFOAs are human-made compounds which do not occur naturally, so we’re only seeing the effects of their accumulation in the past decades.

Brighten Your Day with These 15 Photos of Beautiful Balloons from Around the World – Mexico, India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Turkey, Spain, and the US (Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, and Wyoming).

How an Extreme Combination of Fog and Air Pollution Brought London to a Standstill and Resulted in Thousands of Fatalities - On December 5, 1952 (a little more than a year before I was born) as cold weather in London prompted residents to burn more cheap coal, a high-pressure wind system known as an anticyclone settled over the city, trapping cold air beneath warm air. Pollution from coal fires, diesel buses and factories could not travel up in the atmosphere, instead hovering in a deadly, stagnant smog. When the Great Smog of 1952 finally lifted on December 9, 4,000 people were dead from the effects of the extreme pollution. Retrospective assessments estimate that the number of fatalities could be almost triple that. While the government’s response was sluggish at first, the Clean Air Act of 1956, passed in response to the Great Smog, heavily regulated the burning of coal and established smoke-free urban areas throughout England. In the years that followed, a host of other industrial nations were inspired to follow suit.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 27, 2024

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Archaeologists Find a Cache of Ancient Murano Glass Off Bulgarian Coast - Underwater archaeologists in Burgas, Bulgaria have discovered over 100 glass objects dating back to the days of the Ottoman empire in the nation’s Chengene Skele bay. It is speculated that the glass artifacts fell from the cargo of a ship battered by a storm in the shallow, rocky area of the sea. Experts attribute the glass objects to Murano, a Venetian island still renowned today for its fine glassware, likely made in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Want the health benefits of strength training but not keen on the gym? Try ‘exercise snacking’ – Great idea!

Timing is everything: Study finds link between bowel movement frequency and overall health – The research showed that if stool sticks around too long in the gut, microbes use up all the available dietary fiber, which they ferment into beneficial short-chain fatty acids. After that, the ecosystem switches to fermentation of proteins, which produces several toxins that can make their way into the bloodstream. They showed that the microbial composition of study participants' gut microbiomes was a telltale sign of bowel movement frequency. Fiber-fermenting gut bacteria, often associated with health, appeared to thrive in a "Goldilocks zone" of bowel movement frequency, where people pooped between 1-2 times per day. However, bacteria associated with protein fermentation, or the upper gastrointestinal tract tended to be enriched in those with constipation or diarrhea, respectively.

Replacing Fuel Tax A Government Quandary - As the proportion of electric cars on the roads rise, what will fill the funding gap left by the loss of gasoline and diesel tax? One possibility is a road user charge (RUC).

Scientists Find an Underground Cave on the Moon That Could Shelter Future Explorers - Radar data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) points to the presence of a cave beneath the moon’s surface. Such caves could serve as shelters for future human explorers, since they could protect astronauts from the moon’s hazardous surface environment. (Note – LRO was launched in 2009. My daughter, as an undergraduate, did some of the initial image calibration work!)

With CO2 Levels Rising, World’s Drylands Are Turning Green - Southeast Australia has been getting hotter and drier. Droughts have lengthened, and temperatures regularly soar above 95 degrees F (35 degrees C). Bush fires abound. But somehow, its woodlands keep growing. One of the more extreme and volatile ecosystems on the planet is defying meteorology and becoming greener. Long-term studies by University of California, Riverside in the Sonoran Desert show that shorter shrubs better adapted to less rainfall and higher temperatures are moving in at the expense of native plants, creating an impression of greening that marks an ecological breakdown.

Why Are Amphibians the Most Endangered Class of Animals? - Amphibians are the most endangered class of animals in the world, with 41% facing extinction. Climate change on its own would not be such an incredible threat if it weren’t for the toll it takes when combined with habitat loss, fragmentation and disease.

New solutions to keep drinking water safe as pesticide use skyrockets worldwide - A 62% rise in global pesticide use in the past 20 years has escalated fears that many of these chemicals could end up in our waterways, causing cancer. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is currently used to remove organic pesticides from drinking water, but the process is costly, time consuming and not 100% effective. The researchers found that reducing the PAC particles from the existing commercial size of 38 μm (one millionth of a metre) to 6 μm, up to 75% less powder was needed to remove six common pesticides, achieving significant water treatment savings.

Huge! The Massive and Mystical Jordanian Monument to an Enigmatic People - The ancient city of Petra. Known as the “Rose City” for the warm pink blush of the sandstone cliffs it is carved out of, Petra was built by the enigmatic Nabateans. Built over two millennia ago, it was long lost to the shifting sands of Jordan’s desert until it was rediscovered by European travelers in the early 1800s.

Melting Sea Ice Is Making the Northwest Passage More Dangerous - Old, thick chunks of sea ice that tend to cluster near the North Pole are increasingly drifting southward toward Canada and into the path of ships. The younger, thinner ice that once held older ice in place is becoming scarcer as the region warms. For the cargo vessels, fishing boats, and cruise ships crossing the northwest passage, drifting chunks of old, thick sea ice pose a significant threat.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 2, 2024

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Apples, Walnuts… and Toast? A New Study Reveals the Flavors of Ancient Roman Wine - Georgian vintners still employ a rustic approach. Grapes are crushed by hand or foot, placed in egg-shaped vessels known as qvevri, and buried for up to six months. It’s a UNESCO-recognized tradition dating back 8,000 years and researchers believe can help reveal the sight and scent of ancient Roman wine.

Mexico is suing US gun-makers for arming its gangs − and a US court could award billions in damages - In January, a federal appeals court in Boston decided that the industry’s immunity shield, which so far has protected gun-makers from civil liability, does not apply to Mexico’s lawsuit. Mexico’s lawsuit alleges that U.S. gun-makers aided and abetted illegal weapons sales to gun traffickers in violation of federal law. According to the lawsuit, feeding demand for illegal weapons is central to the industry’s business model.

Climate change reversing gains in air quality across the U.S.: study - The study finds that climate change is increasing the prevalence of two of the air pollutants most harmful to human health: particulate matter, commonly referred to as PM2.5, and tropospheric ozone. Whereas pollutants from cars and factories could be targeted by regulations over the past few decades, climate-related deterioration in air quality is a much tougher problem to solve.

Avar Grave Offers Clues to 7th-Century Heavy Cavalry - Thought to be a complete set of lamellar armor, which was made from hundreds of small iron plates, was spread out over the warrior.

What Does a Solar Eclipse on Mars Look Like? New, Breathtaking Images, Caught by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, Give Us an Idea – Images of Phobos passing across the sun’s surface…back on February 8.

Benefits of heat pumps - Nationally, heat pumps would cut residential sector greenhouse gas emissions by 36%-64%!

How millennials could give the suburbs a much-needed makeover – The trend is to move to the suburbs and not feel like you need to go to the city to have a great dinner or to see a show or live music or the arts.

The far-reaching impacts of wildfire smoke – and how to protect yourself - One study found that a quarter of the US's PM2.5 pollution was caused by wildfire smoke. In western regions, as much as half was caused by smoke. If there is a wildfire nearby, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise taking steps to limit your exposure where possible:

Choose a room to close off from outside air

Wear a tightly fitting respirator, if it is safe for you to do so

Keep track of fires nearby using services such as AirNow's fire and smoke map

Pay attention to health symptoms and seek medical care if needed

Ancient Lipstick Dating Back More Than Three Millennia Is Found in Iran – Analysis of the loose, dark purple fine powder revealed minerals (hematite, quartz, braunite, anglesite, and rare tiny crystals of galena) and vegetal fibers.

In Scotland, Renewable Power Has Outstripped Demand – A milestone for Scotland. The volume of electricity produced by renewables in Scotland was equal to 113 percent of demand in 2022. Fossil fuels still supply some electricity, helping to smooth over gaps in renewable power. Across the U.K., fossil fuel power is at its lowest level in nearly seven decades. Impressive.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 27, 2024

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Can autoimmune diseases be cured? - After decades of frustration and failed attempts, scientists might finally be on the cusp of developing therapies to restore immune ‘tolerance’ in conditions such as diabetes, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

Good and bad news for people with low back pain - The good news is that most episodes of back pain recover, and this is the case even if you have already had back pain for a couple of months. The bad news is that once you have had back pain for more than a few months, the chance of recovery is much lower. This reminds us that although nearly everyone experiences back pain, some people do better than others, but we don't completely understand why.

Why diphtheria is making a comeback - While this present surge of diphtheria cases is indeed unprecedented for West Africa, it is really a symptom of larger issues in global health, including insufficient infectious disease surveillance, poor vaccination rates and scarcity of public health resources.

The Prairie Ecologists Photos of the Week – January 22 2024 – Photographs from out in the cold.

The chemistry of meat alternatives – It’s complicated…..in the end are meat alternative ultra-processed food?

The strange reasons medieval people slept in cupboards – I can see how they might have been warmer….but also rather claustrophobic. And wouldn’t they be hard to keep clean?

In the time of the copper kings - Some 3,500 years ago, prosperous merchants on Cyprus controlled the world’s most valuable commodity. Beginning in the third millennium B.C., and especially during the second millennium B.C., copper was king and could make those who possessed it extremely wealthy and powerful. There was enough copper and tin on board the Uluburun ship (wrecked off the coast of Turkey) to produce 11 tons of bronze, which experts estimate could have been turned into 33,000 swords. Researchers have analyzed the Uluburun wreck’s copper and found that it all came from Cyprus. There is evidence of the surprisingly diverse nature of the community thriving there and that those Cypriots who controlled the production and distribution of copper, such as the shipment found off Uluburun, could become exceptionally rich.

Cicadas Are Coming: Rare ‘Dual Emergence’ Could Bring One Trillion of the Bugs This Year – We don’t live in the overlap area…but where we live in Missouri will see Brood XIX this summer….a great opportunity for cicada photography!

Incredible Winners of the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Contest – So many beautiful images. My favorite is ‘Spirit of Yucatan’ (drifting stems of lily pads in a Mexican freshwater cenote…the sky above).

Deepwater Horizon oil spill study could lead to overhaul of cleanup processes worldwide – Chemical oil dispersants combined with sunlight…made oil more toxic. Observations from after Deepwater Horizon, and being confirmed experimentally, to improve responses to oil spills.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 16, 2023

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Kitchen chemistry hacks explained – How many of these did you know before this article? I knew about lemon juice slowing browning of fruit…I’m going to try the ‘brown onions more quickly’ and ‘chop onions more comfortably.’

Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Distributed Wind Power – Interesting update….and map of annual average wind speed at 30 m. There is so much potential in the center of the country. It would be interesting to see the map extended offshore…but maybe that kind of wind power is only used for wholesale generation rather than distributed wind power.

Dust: how the pursuit of power and profit has turned the world to powder – A review of the book about ‘tiny particles doing terrible things’ created by detonation of nuclear weapons, burning coal, and drying of lakes via irrigation. These tiny particles influence our environment, our health, and our relationship with the world around us. They move around the planet through the air…no one is ‘safe’ from them.

More small airports are being cut off from the air travel network. This is why - A shortage of pilots is partially to blame for major airlines' departure from smaller airports. But changing airline economics means the challenge facing regional airports could become insurmountable. Williamsport PA is the example used in the article.

Health evidence against gas and oil is piling up, as governments turn a blind eye – An Australian perspective…but seems to be applicable to many developed countries, including the US. The methane leaks, water contamination, air pollution…why do we continue to push for gas and oil development rather that pivoting to cleaner (and renewable) sources?

Wyoming and Utah Borderlands – A picture from the International Space Station. I remembered a trip to Utah in 2008 where we drove in the area with a Roadside Geology of Utah book explaining the surface geologic features!

New research explains 'Atlantification' of the Arctic Ocean – Changes coming in the Arctic as a 15-year cycle is ending….and the next phase could result in a faster pace of sea-ice loss.

Stone Case Holding Precious Items Found at Templo Mayor – 15 stone figures found at the temple complex of Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire. The figures may have already been 1,000 years old when the Aztecs conquered the Mezcala people that carved them. Also in the case: two rattlesnake-shaped earrings, more than 180 green stone beads, snails, shells, and marine corals.

Workers like it when their employers talk about diversity and inclusion - Research has shown that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives improve creativity, innovation, productivity and organizational performance. One of the reasons DEI initiatives have a positive impact is because workers appreciate them. It’s about making sure everyone feels valued and included.

What Does It Take to Photograph a Bat Cave? – Photographer Stephen Alvarez….lots of specialized photographs.