"You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it" | My commentary on Bill Gates' flawed new climate missive for @thebulletin.org: thebulletin.org/2025/10/you-...

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Charlie Kirk and the pundits and politicians sanitizing his legacy.

Parasitic plants help build lignin deposits in host tissues

Their unknown function in developing hausteria remains to be uncovered.

botany.one/2025/09/para...

#Botany #PlantScience

A wonderful success story of citizen science and environmental responsibility.

The Brazilian government blocked 545 rural properties in the state of Pará from selling crops and livestock both domestically and internationally, citing illegal deforestation.

This marks one of Brazil’s largest uses of remote sensing to sanction agriculture activity associated with deforestation.

Richest nations ‘exporting extinction’ with demand for beef, palm oil and timber

the truth eventually emerges through the fog.

This time, I deeply fear the for public understanding of science, the lives and livelihoods at research institutions that will be affected, and all the time we will lose in responding to pressing challenges like climate change.

That manuscript is now among the most-cited work on the subject.

Unfortunately, the Trump Administration’s attempts to suppress certain areas of research are far more organized, draconian and vindictive than the ham-handed crackdowns of the past. Science will find a way to survive...

A story:

During GW Bush admin, I had to pitch a collaborative project to NOAA’s internal climate board. Right before presenting, I was advised not to mention the words “climate change”. The project and the presentation were titled “Climate Change and Coral Reefs”. I ignored the advice...

Levels of #microplastics in human brains may be rapidly rising, study suggests

- Tiny plastic pollution also found in livers and kidneys, but the potentially worrying health impacts remain unknown

Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

To commemorate World Wetlands Day, which is today, here is an image of a seasonal wetland on the Jaffna Peninsula featuring two pairs of ducks, belonging to two species: the Northern Pintail, a wintering migrant from the Palearctic, and the Indian Spot-billed Duck, a breeding resident.

We found a few of these snazzy day-flying moths in Colombia. They look like they are outfitted for moth racing circuit. 🏎️🏁

(Erateina sp.) Tatama National Park, Colombia

Sagan was a prophet.

Another year has passed where I couldn't spend much time in the field, although I did observe some interesting fauna and flora. I'm expecting 2025 to be much more productive, and I hope to upload the remaining observations from this year to iNat soon.
www.inaturalist.org/stats/2024/a...

Eucorydia ornata is quite unlike most people’s impression of a cockroach based on domestic kinds, like Periplaneta americana & Blatella germanica. Here's a super @inaturalist.bsky.social observation by @aravinth6.bsky.social from the north of Sri Lanka.
www.inaturalist.org/observations...