Now, That’s What I Call Green

I’m an environmentalist and I’m also pro-nuclear energy (in some situations). 
Because no, those terms aren’t mutually exclusive.

Sources: doi.org/10.1016/j.en...
doi.org/10.1136/bmj-...

#nuclearenergy

Their taste receptors do detect umami (savoury), which helps them seek out protein-rich foods.

Lions, tigers and dolphins all suffer with this too - imagine not being able to enjoy sugar?! Hideous.

Dogs can, which again, says something about dog people 🤭 (Calm down I’m only joking.)

#science

So in more bad news, cats can’t taste delicious sweet stuff. They literally can’t taste sugar.
They lack the TAS1R2 gene, one of the two required for detecting sugar. As obligate carnivores (they must eat meat), their diet is protein-based, so they evolved without the need for sweet taste receptors.

Unlike the bearded, brooding craft distillers who worship glass bottles (you know how I feel about that), Jo and Helen bring a science-and-ethics-first approach to making something delicious for an underserved, often invisible group of consumers. Oh - and they’re incredibly fun.
#womeninbusiness

What do marine biology, menopause, and gin have in common? More than you’d think.
Dr. Jo Davy and Dr. Helen Gower met in a university lab, spent decades in science communication and public health, and then did what any logical scientist would do… launched a gin company. But not just any gin company.

Is this the best thing you learned today?

It’s definitely the cutest. 🐝

(I checked, she was alive. She waggled her legs at me then went back to sleep.)

#wildflowers

Love chocolate? Same. Love exploitation? Didn’t think so. This Valentine’s Day: Check where your chocolate comes from. Choose ethical, fair trade brands. Enjoy it without the guilt or the corporate greed.
#valentinesday

Yes, if you are already one of those absolute ballers on our newsletter list, you will have seen this. (It looked very different because in between then and now I got bored with it. All the designers in the room are currently rolling their eyes.)

And if you need more convincing, this week on the podcast, Dr. Leilani Walker explains why bugs deserve more acceptance (and less bug spray). Swipe through, pick your favourite, then go and vote because they might be watching…
Beaut photo of the snail: Rob Suisted.

Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/07iL... for Bug of the Year: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz Voting closes midnight, 17 Feb 2025.

🐛 It’s Bug of the Year time! 🐛 Aotearoa’s Bug of the Year voting is live, and these tiny legends need our support. From slugs that look like gherkins to worms that turn prey into soup, the competition is fierce.
#biodiversity

to talk about the weird and wonderful world of invertebrates. Why they matter, why they’re misunderstood, and what actually happens if we lose them. As she says, we don’t need everyone to love them, but we do need to accept that they’re important. Join me wherever you get your pods. #spiders

Because there are loads of people out there like me and whether we like them or not, we need our invertebrate friends that many are so quick to squash. This week, Dr. Leilani Walker - entomologist, behavioural ecologist, and curator at Auckland Museum - joins me

Objectively, I like spiders. Up close, their paws are cute. Jumping spiders are cute. But, I am also wildly phobic of them. Which is exactly I wanted to dedicate an entire episode to them!

Yet, we're still told it's on us. Individual actions matter, but it’s not your fault the climate crisis is happening.

The whole "carbon footprint" idea wasn’t made to save the planet. BP (yeah, that BP) came up with it to shift the blame to us while they keep polluting. Genius. Since 1988, 100 companies have been behind 71% of global emissions.

So, I'll be talking more about Incrediballs (the biz I started after leaving Ethique to go after an even bigger environmental problem…) and we'll talk about other genuinely sustainable businesses too. Because as overwhelming as things can feel, you are not alone in caring.

Welcome back, the podcast is here for 2025, and I'm calling it my villain era. We can only change the world if we change business, and I'm sick of tiptoeing around corporations who couldn't care less.

We’ve known for a while that teabags release a butt load of microplastics and this latest study shows it’s actually 1.2B particles per ml of water. Whilst we definitely need more research, the study showed that the MPs made their way into human intestinal cells and even as far as the cell nuclei. 🙃

*There are three different creatures people call daddy long-legs. Harvestmen (chunky wandering ones) aren’t spiders, so have no fangs nor venom, cellar spiders (glass spiders hiding in your wardrobe) are spiders and do have venom, and crane flies, which also… aren’t spiders. Hence the name.

Also some other goodies; the moon isn’t made of cheese, the earth isn’t flat and polar bears aren’t left handed.

Don’t come at me about the wet thing either. I don’t make the rules.

Go forth and spread the facts! Being as meta isn’t going to anymore 🙃

#mythbusting #science #sciencefacts