Silicon powers more than electronics: In tomato plants, it fuels a complex defense system that could help farmers use fewer pesticides. Tomato plants on four continents are currently under attack from the South American tomato pinworm (Tuta absoluta), which destroys billions of dollars of crops each year. The impact can be particularly devastating for small-scale…
Taylor Swift may not be the first person who comes to mind when you think about climate change. But more than once, the singer has found herself in the middle of a media storm over her carbon dioxide emissions. Swift regularly hops aboard her private jet, as she did in 2024 to get from a…
In the United States, the number of deaths that didn’t have to happen has risen over time. From 2009 to 2019, the average rate of avoidable deaths rose by 33 per 100,000 people across the country, researchers report March 24 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Meanwhile, other countries trended down: Members of the European Union experienced…
In this bonus episode of The Deep End, listen to an interview with Jon Nelson. He’ll share how he’s doing these days, now that his depression is gone. You’ll hear about the work still ahead of him, which may be lifelong. And you’ll hear about his plans for the future. Transcript Laura Sanders: This podcast…
One man’s trash is a common coot’s treasure, at least when it comes to plastic. In Amsterdam, the birds have been constructing nests out of plastic food wrappers, masks and other waste for at least 30 years, researchers report in the February Ecology. The revelation shows not only how much plastic now litters the environment…
Memory LaneCiara Greene and Gillian MurphyPrinceton Univ., $29.95 There are countless metaphors for memory. It’s a leaky bucket, a steel trap, a file cabinet, words written in sand. But one of the most evocative — and neuroscientifically descriptive — invokes Lego bricks. A memory is like a Lego tower. It’s built from the ground up,…