Here, Kitty, Kitty!

Apparently, certain types of cat litter can be used to assist with containing radioactive products. NPR identifies how “cat litter has been used for years to dispose of nuclear waste.”

Training Germs to Eat Up That Greenhouse Gas

Israeli scientists have produced a genetically engineered bacteria that can live on carbon dioxide rather than sugar.

We Almost Wiped out Measles. (Next: Covid-19?)

Between 2000 and 2017, it was estimated that global deaths from measles had reduced by about 80% due to vaccination. Success in the fight against measles is down to the delivery of at least two doses...

Here’s a Ticket for Your Messy Backyard!
County fire departments in Southern California are checking homes for fire hazards at higher rates…and sending homeowners multiple reminders to make their houses safer.

Another good reason to eat cherries
A study from South Korea’s Forest Research Institute indicated that each 25-year-old cherry tree can absorb about 20 pounds of emissions each.

Try a 17th Century Technology for Fruit-Growing
Fruit walls were a pre-greenhouse technology that was used for several centuries (beginning in the 1600s) to grow food in areas where the climate would not otherwise support it.

Who Pays Attention to the Arms Trade Treaty? (Anyone?)
The Arms Trade Treaty limits what weapons a country can sell to other countries, especially if the weapons are likely to be used to attack others.... (continued)

Arms Trade, continued
... So is there any evidence so far that it is working? Has any country actually changed its plans and refrained from selling weapons just because it signed the treaty?

Can Trump Fool the Farmers?
Agriculture is among the hardest hit sectors by the climate crisis, and yet U.S. farm policy is largely devoid of climate considerations.

Robotic Vehicle-Killers?
U.S. Army has a missile system that, without humans, can pick out vehicles to attack. So what do we think of such things? And what can we do about it?

Is Cannabis better than concrete?
“I’ve seen videos lately about hemp bricks instead of concrete. How realistic is that option?”

Can a Fern Save Us?
A species of fern (Azolla) has potential as a biofuel and major carbon sink. Millions of years ago, this fern sequestered so much carbon that it switched the globe out of ‘hothouse’ conditions into the relatively cooler conditions that we experience now.

How dangerous are a cow’s burps and farts?
Although manure is a source of methane, . And it is actually much less than from ruminant digestion (“cow burps”); the biggest source of methane from ruminant digestion is cows grazing on pasture.

Catch your zoonotic disease right at home — by drinking milk or playing with your dog
“In 2018, we saw an outbreak of psittacosis in poultry plant workers, drug-resistant brucellosis ..." (continued)

Zoonotics, continued
"... linked to drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk, dog lick–related Capnocytophaga infections, and Salmonella infectionslinked to pet guinea pigs, hedgehogs, and backyard poultry.”