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 Italy Protect Its Cultural Heritage from Naughty Tourists? - Each summer, as millions of tourists swarm into historic towns full of monuments and museums, a predictable kind of headline is sure to follow about badly behaved tourists putting cultural heritage at risk.

Bans on highly toxic pesticides could be a simple way to save lives from suicide - Pesticide poisoning is a common method of suicide in many low- to middle-income countries. Substituting highly toxic pesticides for less fatal ones can save lives. A cast study from Sri Lanka.

Federal Hurricane Forecasting Saves Lives & Money - A 5-day forecast in 2025 is roughly equivalent to a 2-day forecast in 2005, meaning lead times and path estimates have significantly improved, to the tune of 50% in the past 20 years. This helps save lives and has also led to an estimated 2 billion dollars in savings per storm. NOAA’s research arm, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), houses not only the laboratories that help improve predictions, but much of the monitoring and observation infrastructure — like ocean buoys and gliders — that feed real time data into hurricane models, improving their accuracy and saving lives. The U.S. fully relies upon NOAA for our hurricane forecasts, including sea level rise and flooding. There is no other body ready or funded to pick up that work. The President’s budget proposed completely eliminating the research arm of NOAA.

Bison Benefits - A new study out this past week explains why bison are more beneficial for grasslands than traditional livestock, and the benefits increase as herd size does. A podcast from National Parks Traveler.

4 Reasons to Choose Plastic Free, All Natural Fibers Over Synthetic Fibers - Manufacturers give our fabrics trade names, so even when we look at the fiber content label inside our clothing, it isn’t clear that it is made from plastic. Buying clothing that is made from natural fibers is the fastest and safest way to save our planet.

An Explosive Beginning for Lake Bosumtwi - Bosumtwi’s exotic geology has drawn attention to the crater for economic reasons as well. When the asteroid struck, the shockwave fractured the crust around the crater, creating an extensive network of faults and cracks that allowed hot fluids to circulate. The event helped concentrate gold and other minerals from a gold-bearing rock layer called the Birimian Supergroup near the surface and primed the area around the crater to become a target of small-scale gold mining.

Common painkillers like Advil and Tylenol supercharge antibiotic resistance - Researchers discovered that these drugs not only fuel bacterial resistance on their own but make it far worse when combined with antibiotics. The findings are especially troubling for aged care settings, where residents commonly take multiple medications, creating perfect conditions for resistant bacteria to thrive.

See the Rare ‘Electric Blue’ Lobster Found Off the Coast of Massachusetts – A video showing a vibrantly colored shell that results from a genetic mutation affecting pigmentation.

New Jersey Cats Caught on Camera – Bobcats caught on camera traps…and other animals in the wilds of New Jersey.

Traveling Photographer Spends 17 Years (And Counting) Documenting Indigenous Cultures – Faces and clothes from around the world.

The surprising foods that lead to better sleep - It seems that a plant-rich diet is the most beneficial for sleep, for numerous reasons – and that eating at consistent times throughout the day – for those who can – may also help.

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.

No need to overload your cranberry sauce with sugar this holiday season − a food scientist explains how to cook with fewer added sweeteners – Cranberries are one of my favorite seasonal foods. I like them so much that I buy enough to freeze and use well into spring – even summer. During the cold months I use them for relishes, adding to stir fry veggies, and in muffins. I’ll make the relishes more savory than sweet from now on!

Researchers Investigate Sustainable Ancient Construction Techniques – Studying the best-preserved earthen building in the Mediterranean. It was built between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE.

Floating Wetlands Bring Nature Back to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor – Built as part of the National Aquarium. The article interested me since we lived near Baltimore for so many years.

Check Out the Highest-Resolution Images Ever Captured of the Sun’s Entire Surface – Images from European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter.

Climate change and air pollution could risk 30 million lives annually by 2100 - Under the most probable projection, annual mortality rates linked to air pollution and extreme temperatures could reach 30 million/year by the end of the century. In 2000, around 1.6 million people died each year due to extreme temperatures, both cold and heat. By the end of the century, in the most probable scenario, this figure climbs to 10.8 million, roughly a seven-fold increase. For air pollution, annual deaths in 2000 were about 4.1 million. By the century's close, this number rises to 19.5 million, a five-fold increase. And yet – there is not the political will to change the scenario.

Vincent van Gogh’s Brilliant Blue ‘Irises’ Were Originally Purple – The paint faded since the painting was created in 1889. It’s still beautiful – either way.

Bee alert: Pesticides pose a real threat to over 70% of wild bees - Alarming risks that pesticides pose to ground-nesting bees (i.e. bumblebees, squash bees), which are crucial for pollination and food production.

The Chilling Sound of the Aztec Death Whistle - Creating 3D digital reconstructions of original Aztec death whistles…then recording sounds from originals and the reconstructions. Both produced sounds like a human voice or scream. There is a link to recording samples at the bottom of the post.

Overwhelmed by ever more clothing donations, charities are exporting the problem. Local governments must step up - There are more and more clothes in circulation, and they are getting cheaper and lower quality. That means the clothes you give away are worth less and less. Worldwide, we now dump 92 million tons of clothes and textiles a year, double the figure of 20 years earlier. Local governments usually handle other waste streams. But on clothes and textiles, they often leave it to charitable organizations and commercial resellers. This system is inherited from a time when used clothing was a more valuable resource, but the rising quantity of clothing has pushed this system towards collapse.

Oysters as large as cheese plates: How New Yorkers are reclaiming their harbor’s heritage – Perhaps the main accomplishment of the project, even more than increasing oyster population, is reminding New Yorkers that they are islanders. It's hard to care about something that is only abstract, something you don't have experience with. Ultimately, people have a much greater ability to improve water quality than the oysters ever will.