"Many scientists fear the Trump administration’s new standard means putting political appointees in charge, which could undercut independent research."
Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.
It’s not just scientists who are being lost to the new administration’s extensive firings of federal workers. A Backgrounder Analysis argues it’s the science itself. It’s happening at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but also across agencies that conduct research to protect health and the environment, whether around toxic chemicals or on the battleground of climate change science. A frank look at the reality and what’s being lost for journalists and the communities they serve.
"Against the black night, the darker-than-night silhouettes of Monument Valley buttes graced the horizon. Overhead, stars were scattered across the sky—a prank by Coyote, according to Navajo legend—and the stripe of Milky Way stars arced brilliantly across the sky from the southwest to the northeast horizon."
"Almost 40% of glaciers in existence today are already doomed to melt due to climate-heating emissions from fossil fuels, a study has found."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday placed new limits on environmental reviews for major federal projects such as pipelines and railways."
"The dwindling flow of the Colorado River has alarmed the American West for years, but the water losses happening underground are even worse, according to a new study that uses satellite data to measure groundwater supplies across the Colorado River Basin."
"HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to stop government scientists from publishing their work in major medical journals on a podcast Tuesday as part of his escalating war on institutions he says are influenced by pharmaceutical companies."
"Community groups are fighting an unusual Louisiana law that restricts how they use data from air-quality monitors, saying it violates free speech."
"Perched above the New York City diner made famous by the TV show Seinfeld, Tom’s Restaurant, a small research laboratory became, improbably, crucial to humanity’s understanding of our changing climate and of the universe itself."
