So it turns out... the US air travel system was incredibly, deeply dependent on federal funding to just run day-to-day all this time, to the benefit of private airline shareholders, when everyone thinks that state-run trains are leeching off the government. Weird!

Antarctic glacier's alarming retreat is the fastest ever seen Hektoria glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula retreated 25 kilometres in just 15 months. Its rapid melt could have implications for other glaciers and the rate of sea level rise

Hektoria glacier on the Antarctic Peninsula retreated 25 kilometres in just 15 months. Its rapid melt could have implications for other glaciers and the rate of sea level rise

This comes to mind

Source: Verywell Health

Some people truly do change the world. Dr. Bartlett was one of them ❤️‍🩹

Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking Federica Bocchi, Alisa Bokulich, Leticia Castillo Brache, Gloria Grand-Pierre, and Aja Watkins PDF PDF PLUS Abstract Full Text Abstract In both scientific and popular circles, it is often said that we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. Although the urgency of our present environmental crises is not in doubt, such claims of a present mass extinction are highly controversial scientifically. Our aims are, first, to get to the bottom of this scientific debate by shedding philosophical light on the many conceptual and methodological challenges involved in answering this scientific question and, second, to offer new philosophical perspectives on what the value of asking this question has been—and whether that value persists today. We show that the conceptual challenges in defining ‘mass extinction’, uncertainties in past and present diversity assessments, and data incommensurabilities undermine a straightforward answer to the question of whether we are in, or entering, a sixth mass extinction today. More broadly, we argue that an excessive focus on the mass extinction framing can be misleading for present conservation efforts and may lead us to miss out on the many other valuable insights that Earth’s deep time can offer in guiding our future.

Zoom screenshot of 6 women smiling: Federica, Leticia, Alisa, Aja, Gloria, Matilde

Sections Abstract 1. Introduction 2. A Brief History of the Sixth Mass Extinction Debate 3. What Is a Mass Extinction? 4. Challenges from Palaeodiversity Data 5. Challenges from Biodiversity Data 6. Incommensurabilities of Past and Current Extinctions 7. Making the Comparisons More Compatible 8. Conclusion: Rethinking the Value of Asking Notes References

Excited our paper "Are We in a 6th Mass Extinction?" accepted in 2022 is now out @ BJPS! It began as UROP project w/ undergrad Gloria, expanded to a COVID lockdown project w/ Phi-Geo group, Sect 5 became kernel Federica's dissert & Sect 7 Aja's dissertation. Read ⬇️
doi.org/10.1086/722107
#HPS ⚒️

Nobody has ever been sexier than Tim Curry in Rocky Horror

A prospective analysis of people who had COVID-19 found that 80% of those reporting problems with their ability to smell had measurable olfactory dysfunction at 2 years...

Even among those not reporting any issue after an infection, two-thirds had olfactory dysfunction. 👃⬇️

Umberto Eco with many shelves of his collection of books

He who does not read, at 70 years will have lived only one life, his own! He who reads, will have lived 5000 years: He was there when Cain killed Abel, when Renzo married Lucia, when Leopardi admired infinity... Because “Reading is backward immortality”.
-Umberto Eco
writingforwellbeing.co.uk
#books

CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978, while worker pay is up just 26%.

Why do we always hear "we can't afford to pay our workers more" but never "we can't afford to pay our CEO more"?

One thing I've learned from the Internet is that a lie needs 0% proof to be believed, but the truth requires thousands of pages of proof and still won't be believed.

Dictionary-style definition of "Pulses" on orange background, with pronunciation guide and definition describing them as legume crops harvested for dried grains. Decorative illustrations of various beans and legumes border the right side. FAO logo appears at bottom.

🌱 What are pulses? 🌱

✔️ High in protein & fiber
✔️ Boost soil health & biodiversity
✔️ Key to sustainable agriculture & food security 🌍

Discover @fao.org  definition for #pulses ⤵️

 

#WorldPulsesDay #LovePulses #SaveSoil

Why caring for your microbiome is crucial if you want to live to 100

Our friendly – and not so friendly – gut bacteria lie at the core of healthy ageing. Research is now revealing what it takes to maintain a youthful microbiome

R/BackcountryDrifter narrative constantly explains everything to me and it’s that they’re all in on it together and it’s an international organized crime syndicate that consists of psychopaths and have taken over our government, go to war/commit genocide to cover their crimes, and do not care.

If you are seeing this, look up the community r/BackCountryDrifter on reddit right now. Read every post there, there are 12 long ones, but it's worth the read. It's explains what is happening in the world right now, sources/connects lots of dots and probably (horrifyingly) pretty accurate.

Ukrainian soldiers observe intercepted video feed of Russian FPV drone targeting them, but it falls to due to EW.

Satellites could reveal the secret burial grounds of Mexico’s murder victims Sensors can detect chemical clues invisible to the human eye

My most recent story for @science.org 🧪

www.science.org/content/arti...

🧪A reminder that it took decades to understand the nature of cancer and eventually see a reduction in cancer related mortality. Now we are losing so much that we have built.

Cancer has become treatable because of federal investments in research.

Save #AIDS Research Tomorrow!

24 hours of discussion, presentations, and passion about this disease that has crossed the globe for more than 40 years!

Tune in--even for just a few minutes and learn about the importance of continued HIV/AIDS research!

saveaidsresearch.org

💉🧵PSA 🚨 We don’t know for sure but are very worried RFKJ’s ACIP is about to restrict access to RSV monoclonal immunization for babies (nirsevimab and clesrovimab). If your baby is eligible, get them vaccinated asap. RSV season starts late Oct-early Nov. See below for immunization recommendation info

#ProudBlue

Bravo! 👏

More of this, please.

Opinion | Are You Ready for Measles' Wrath? Going forward, expect the unexpected. Not all patients will be children.

"In the future, due to hobbled public health surveillance and patient self-reporting, we should expect official data to underestimate measles in Americans of all ages."

Read the latest #oped from Claire Panosian Dunavan, MD:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/parasites-and-plagues/117330?trw=no

2003

YouTube video by Disney Channel Animation Now Chipocalypse! | Big City Greens | Disney Channel

Guys! Wait… I’ve seen this playbook before! youtu.be/bH7hjd6HJQM?...

Trump’s Leaked Plan to Deploy the Texas National Guard Against Illinois Will Tear Apart the Union If it goes forward, it will plunge the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis

I know there's a lot going on, but it should be getting more attention that the governor of Illinois just credibly accused Texas of planning to literally invade his state.

I unpack how profoundly alarming this is @theunpopulist.net:

Shocking US Open Incident Reinforces How Idiotic & Uncompassionate Americans/People Can Be - CleanTechnica Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe. It’s funny — I was going to write about this a few days ago, but then didn’t get to it, and then I saw Larry’s article about ...

Shocking US Open Incident Reinforces How Idiotic & Uncompassionate Americans/People Can Be

cleantechnica.com/2025/08/28/s...

Closely following the Mediterranean diet lowered the risk of dementia by at least 35% in people with two copies of the APOE4 gene, a major risk factor for Alzheimer's, according to a new study. https://cnn.it/45UbHPX

YouTube video by Prime Video The Underground Railroad - Official Trailer | Prime Video

No book, song, or museum collection can adequately portray how bad slavery was. But brave works can open a light on our past that is hard to put out.

If you are angry about the Smithsonian whitewash, we recommend watching (or reading!) The Underground Railroad.
#theycanteraseitall

“THIS IS ABOUT RACISM. If you can’t hear it from them, hear it from me.” 🔥

Texas Rep. @voteannjohnson.bsky.social didn’t hold back about the racist Trump/Republican election-stealing maps.