Over the past week or so, I saw headline after headline reporting on extremes: heat waves in the Arctic, in England, in Japan. Wildfires in California and across Europe, including the Arctic circle. Drought in Australia. Extreme summer weather conditions around the world have suddenly become high-profile news, and none of it is encouraging. It made … Continue reading Climate and weather: Is this the new normal?
nature
The perils of plastic
Did you see the news recently about the whale that died in Thailand because it had a stomach full of plastic bags and other trash—more than 17 pounds' worth? How about about increasingly vocal efforts to remove plastic drinking straws from the list of common dining accessories? Plastic news really caught my eye that past couple … Continue reading The perils of plastic
The under-appreciated lives of plants
Did you hear the news? If you've got romaine lettuce on hand in the United States, and you don't know where it came from (such as a local farm), you are being urged by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to throw it out. A batch of romaine lettuce from Yuma, Arizona has been contaminated … Continue reading The under-appreciated lives of plants
From canals to carp–a book about the Great Lakes
I wanted to share a quick post about a book I finished reading this week, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. In 2017, Milwaukee journalist Dan Egan wrote a compelling "un-natural history" of the Great Lakes, chronicling the shifting relationship modern human society has built with these giant inland seas. Balancing stories of … Continue reading From canals to carp–a book about the Great Lakes
Sparrows in the news (yes, really)
Sparrows in the news? The little brown birds that visit my yard, that I never can confidently conclude are sparrows and not perhaps wrens? Yep. These unassuming neighbors have been featured in a few science headlines over the past couple of weeks, which I thought was curious. So I thought I'd pop in this week … Continue reading Sparrows in the news (yes, really)
The rhythms of life–biological clocks and a new season
We're almost midway through the semester at my university. It's a busy time for students and professors alike: assignments, exams, and projects seem to pile up... and so we all anticipate a few days of welcome respite during the upcoming fall break. Meanwhile, the days shorten, the leaves fall, the insects quiet down, and festive … Continue reading The rhythms of life–biological clocks and a new season
Science news this week: Cassini and cats
Maybe you saw the news: this week, we humans intentionally crashed a space probe into Saturn at the end of the spacecraft's 13-year mission to photograph and gather data about Saturn and its moons. The probe, Cassini, has sent amazing images like this one back to us here on Earth, illuminating our understanding of Saturn … Continue reading Science news this week: Cassini and cats
Nature’s blues
Recently, two science news topics crossed my path about seemingly very different themes: genetically modified flowers and sea creatures that glow. The articles caught my eye for different reasons, but it was thanks to a casual conversation on social media with a friend about a third science news article about a rare genetic disease that … Continue reading Nature’s blues
Connecting with trees (Summer reading, part IV)
I live in a quiet residential neighborhood on the outskirts of a city in Indiana. In similar neighborhoods, often carved out of reclaimed farmland, each lot might feature a couple of trees that were planted relatively recently. Somewhat unusually, my yard contains more than a dozen trees in the backyard, plus a small woodlot behind … Continue reading Connecting with trees (Summer reading, part IV)
Mulled Science 