It’s a sunny summer day, and you’re looking forward to some local shopping in your sleepy Southwestern town. You soon realize, though, that it’s easier said than done—traffic is backed up to the outskirts, and the general store’s been replaced with a hotel bar. You’re outnumbered 500 to 1 by …
Pictured here are two groups of relatively similar cattle who are experiencing drastically different living situations. Briefly imagine life as one of the cows pictured here—where would you rather be living? If you are a beef-consuming individual, which of these sets of cows would you rather eat, or drink milk …
How well do we really know our animal siblings? A year or so ago, I listened to this RadioLab episode on animal intelligence—and it blew me away. Not only was it funny and entertaining, it introduced an idea I had never thought of. Dan Engber, a science writer, argued that the …
While I was sitting at home one night, I decided to watch a new Netflix documentary titled “Seaspiracy.” The name was catchy and seemed interesting as I love learning about the ocean and our waterways. Little did I know that I was in for a rude awakening. While watching …
“Seeds are living things…intimately connected and intertwined with story, and lineage and place and people” – Rowan White, Sierra Seeds Can you remember the last time you held a seed? We all have ancestors who carried seeds, yet today we have little relationship with the food we eat and the …
When your home suddenly becomes too hot to live in, your only options are to move or die. Sounds dramatic, but that’s the situation facing many fish species as ocean temperatures rise in response to climate change. The uneven rate of ocean warming around the world, however, means that there …
On a day like any other, you take your lunch and stroll out to your favorite spot by your local lake to sit and watch the ducks while you eat. When you arrive on this particular summer day, much to your horror, you see that an entire end of the …
It’s a rainy day and you find yourself staring out the window. The rain hits ground and forms a puddle. The next day is sunny and warm and you forget that there was ever a puddle just outside your window. But what happened to the water from that puddle? To …
Do you know what’s in your drinking water? It may be more than you realize. We disinfect our drinking water to protect us from organisms we can’t see. From boiling water to sand filters, water treatment dates back to the 18th century, and treating drinking water has saved countless lives. …
It’s 2011 and we’re in Binghamton, New York. People here are mostly recovered from the massive flood of 2006 that displaced 20,000 people. Foundations have been repaired, carpets replaced, and homes rebuilt. Finally, people are feeling secure again. After all, the flood of 2006 was what’s known as …
