Subscribe
type here...
Subscribe
Home Blog Page 29

SpaceX and SETI Partner to Protect Alien-Hunting Telescopes—But What About the Rest of the Sky?

Karin Kloosterman
-
0
SpaceX and SETI Partner to Protect Alien-Hunting Telescopes—But What About the Rest of the Sky?
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), operated by the SETI Institute
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), operated by the SETI Institute

New agreement aims to shield radio astronomy from satellite interference, but the night sky faces growing threats.

As Starlink satellites crisscross our skies bringing internet to the most remote corners of Earth, they may also be interfering with humanity’s deepest question: Are we alone in the universe? In a quiet patch of Northern California, tucked away in Shasta County, a group of scientists has been listening.
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), operated by the SETI Institute, is one of the few observatories in the world designed specifically to detect potential extraterrestrial signals—radio whispers from distant civilizations or unexplained cosmic bursts. But lately, it’s not aliens interrupting the feed. It’s us.
spacex starlink from space, satellite
SpaceX has deployed satellites to run Starlink
With over 6,000 Starlink satellites now in low Earth orbit—and more coming from Amazon, OneWeb, China, and others—radio astronomers are sounding the alarm. These satellites emit powerful radio signals, including new “direct-to-cell” transmissions, that can momentarily drown out the sensitive receivers on Earth-based telescopes. One passing satellite in the wrong place at the wrong time can effectively blind a telescope for several seconds—an eternity when hunting rare cosmic phenomena.
To address this, SpaceX and the SETI Institute announced this month a new partnership aimed at reducing interference at the ATA. Through real-time coordination and mitigation software, the system can now predict when a satellite will pass directly overhead and temporarily adjust operations to reduce “signal saturation”—a form of electronic overload that renders astronomical data useless.
“The SETI Institute is at the forefront of developing solutions that allow for the continued exploration of the cosmos while accommodating the rapid evolution of satellite communications,” said Dr. David DeBoer, a researcher at the ATA. “Our collaboration with SpaceX is an important step in demonstrating that scientific discovery and technological progress can go hand in hand with the right coordination.”

The Bigger Picture: Space Junk and a Dimming Night Sky

While this partnership is a positive step, it’s just one piece of a much larger puzzle. The skies above Earth are becoming a crowded, chaotic place. According to the European Space Agency, over 36,000 tracked objects now orbit the Earth, with tens of thousands more fragments too small to monitor. Space junk poses risks not only to telescopes but to functioning satellites, spacecraft, and astronauts aboard the ISS.
space junk debris
Space junk
And then there’s light pollution. The reflectivity of satellite surfaces causes sunlight to bounce back to Earth, creating bright streaks that interfere with optical astronomy—those majestic telescope images of galaxies, nebulae, and supernovae. Night sky advocates argue that the Milky Way, once visible to 99% of humanity, is now obscured for more than a third of the world’s population.
“It’s not just about data—it’s about cultural heritage,” says one astronomer in a 2024 report from the International Astronomical Union. “The night sky belongs to all of us.”
Some solutions are already in motion. Astronomers are exploring “radio dynamic zones,” where frequency use is coordinated in real time between scientific and commercial entities. SETI and others are pushing for international frameworks to designate quiet zones—like nature reserves, but for space.
SpaceX has taken steps to address concerns, including darker satellite coatings and directional signal shielding. But critics argue that without enforceable global standards, voluntary measures may not go far enough. Meanwhile, scientists at SETI and other institutions continue developing tools to protect the last wild frontier: the cosmic spectrum.
At Green Prophet, we celebrate innovation that connects us—especially in underserved regions—but we also believe that connectivity should not come at the cost of curiosity, culture, or the planet. The SETI–SpaceX collaboration is promising, but it raises a deeper question: As we race to digitize every corner of Earth, can we still leave room to listen to the stars?
Support organizations like the SETI Institute, the Dark Sky Association, and open-source astronomy efforts that fight for ethical, sustainable access to the cosmos.

Why Your AC Might Be Struggling—And What You Can Do About It

Julie Steinbeck
-
0
Why Your AC Might Be Struggling—And What You Can Do About It
hvac water
HVAC systems release water in the summer. Not the safest for your pet to drink, but okay if you top it up with mineral-containing water.
As heat waves push temperatures well into the triple digits across much of the U.S., homeowners are flooding HVAC companies with the same urgent question: Why isn’t my AC keeping up?
The answer, more often than not, isn’t a broken unit—it’s everyday issues that are easy to overlook but simple to fix. In most cases, there’s no need to panic or prepare for a major system replacement. With a few quick checks, many cooling issues can be solved without calling in the pros.
Here are five common culprits behind weak AC performance—and what you can do to stay cool during the hottest days of the year.

5 Ways to Help Your AC Beat the Heat

hack home air conditioner

1. Replace the air filter.
A dirty or clogged filter is one of the top reasons for poor airflow. It makes your system work harder and can reduce cooling efficiency dramatically. If it’s been more than a month or two, it’s time for a change.
2. Block out the sun.
Open windows and direct sunlight can quickly turn your living space into an oven. Keep blinds or curtains closed, especially on windows that face south or west, to reduce heat gain during peak hours.
3. Time your appliance use.
Using ovens, dryers, or even dishwashers during the day adds unnecessary heat indoors. Shift cooking and laundry to early morning or evening hours when outside temperatures are cooler.
4. Maximize air movement.
Ceiling and standing fans won’t lower the room temperature, but they can make you feel cooler by improving air circulation. Use fans strategically to create a wind-chill effect and take some pressure off your AC.
5. Inspect the outdoor unit.
Your AC’s condenser sits outside, often exposed to leaves, dust, and debris. If airflow around the unit is blocked, it can’t expel heat effectively, which reduces performance. Clearing away plants or cleaning the coils can help restore function quickly.
If your system is blowing warm air, leaking water, turning on and off frequently, or showing any kind of warning light or code—it’s best to get a technician involved. Ignoring these signs can lead to more serious (and expensive) damage down the line.
A new wave of global HVAC manufacturers is gaining traction in the U.S., offering compact, energy-efficient systems with smart controls and streamlined installation. Still, longtime market leaders like Trane, Mitsubishi Electric, and Daikin remain strong contenders, each offering advanced systems designed to handle extreme heat while keeping energy costs in check.
We’ve seen portable units on sale in hardware stores such as Best Buy; they might be best for renters so you can take your unit between homes. The problem is storing them in the winter.

A Fox Rescuer’s Final Battle: Remembering Mikayla Raines of Save A Fox

Julie Steinbeck
-
0
A Fox Rescuer’s Final Battle: Remembering Mikayla Raines of Save A Fox
Save a Fox, Mikayla Raines
Save a Fox, Mikayla Raines

The animal rescue world is mourning the tragic loss of Mikayla Raines, founder and executive director of Save A Fox Rescue, who died recently after what her friends and colleagues described as a lifelong struggle with mental illness. She committed suicide after experiencing online harassment. Her passing has left a powerful legacy—and painful questions—rippling through the fox rescue and wildlife rehabilitation communities.

Raines was best known for building Save A Fox, a Minnesota-based sanctuary that became a viral beacon for animal lovers, educating millions through social media about the plight of domestic foxes bred in captivity for the fur industry. With her gentle demeanor, deep knowledge of animal behavior, and charismatic interactions with rescued foxes like Dixie, Finnegan, and Vixie, Mikayla had a gift for storytelling that brought attention to one of the fur industry’s darkest corners.

In 2023, Raines was given an extraordinary opportunity: to shut down a fur farm and rehome 500 foxes. The farmer agreed to give her the animals for free if she purchased the cages, allowing him to offload his investment. For Mikayla, whose life mission was to dismantle the fur trade one fox at a time, this was a chance to deliver a knockout blow.

But even the most passionate rescuer cannot conjure up resources overnight. Despite successfully rehoming hundreds of foxes—many to zoos and licensed sanctuaries—Mikayla was left with dozens more in her care, without the funds or space to properly house them all.

The backlash was swift. Critics questioned the ethics of “buying” foxes from fur farms. Some accused her of hoarding. Rumors and harassment followed her online and, tragically, offline too. Yet those close to her insist her intentions were never in doubt.

Save a Fox, Mikayla Raines
Save a Fox, Mikayla Raines

“There isn’t a rescuer on this planet who has never made an impulsive decision in a desperate attempt to save lives,” wrote Juniper Russo, Executive Director, For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue.

Russo wrote. “But I failed Mikayla in my own way… I thought that the criticism and harassment she faced were rolling off her back.”

Like the stresses in veterinary medicine, mental illness, especially in the animal rescue community, remains a quiet epidemic. Emotional burnout, financial stress, and constant exposure to animal suffering are compounded by public scrutiny and, increasingly, online abuse.

“Mikayla passed away in the manner that so many rescuers do,” Russo wrote, “losing a lifelong battle with mental illness.”

One of the people who harassed Mikayla online was a known convicted animal abuser, Russo claims. “When documented animal abusers become your enemy, it’s a sign you’re doing things right,” she wrote, urging the public to verify claims before piling onto people who are already operating on the edge.

Mikayla’s husband Ethan, who worked closely with her at Save A Fox, released a moving video tribute (shared in the comments of Save A Fox’s official page). In it, he celebrates her strength, compassion, and tireless work for the animals she loved. He now faces the challenge of continuing her legacy.

To those who only knew Mikayla through her videos—cuddling a fox, dancing in the snow, bottle-feeding kits—her loss feels deeply personal. Her videos weren’t just adorable distractions: they were calls to conscience.

Donations to Save A Fox can still be made at www.saveafox.org, where Ethan and the team continue to care for the animals Mikayla left behind. And for those in the rescue community or anyone silently struggling with their mental health, Russo offers this reminder:

“Suicidal ideation is a medical symptom and a medical emergency. I am not at all ashamed to say that I have had to be hospitalized for my depression… It saved my life and it can save yours too. Please call 988 or 911 if you are in danger.”

Mikayla Raines dreamed of a world without fur farms and fought every day to get us closer to it. She didn’t just rescue foxes. She taught the world to see them—and maybe, to see each other—with more compassion.

Her legacy will not be defined by her last day, but by the thousands of lives she touched, tails she saved, and hearts she helped awaken. May we honor her by continuing the work, speaking up for the voiceless, and being gentler with the living.

Glass Bottles May Contain More Microplastics Than Plastic or Cans, New French Study Finds

Karin Kloosterman
-
0
Glass Bottles May Contain More Microplastics Than Plastic or Cans, New French Study Finds

More microplastics from glass bottles than plastic ones, in France
And they’re not just in your drinks: microplastics are showing up in your toothbrush, teeth aligners, and even chewing gum

In a surprising twist for consumers aiming to avoid plastic pollution and plastic bottles, a new French study has revealed that drinks stored in glass bottles contain even more microplastics than those in plastic bottles, cartons, or cans. Conducted by the Boulogne-sur-Mer unit of the ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety, the research points to a previously overlooked source of microplastics: the painted caps of glass bottles.

The study, published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, looked at microplastic contamination in drinks such as water, soda, iced tea, wine, and beer, and examined how different packaging materials might influence contamination levels. Across the board, glass bottles were found to contain more microplastics, with popular beverages like cola and beer showing an average of 100 microplastic particles per litre—five to 50 times higher than in plastic bottles or cans.

“We were expecting the opposite result when we compared the level of microplastics in different drinks sold in France,” said Iseline Chaïb, PhD student in the Aquatic Food Safety Unit (SANAQUA, Boulogne-sur-Mer site), ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety.

“We then noticed that in the glass, the particles emerging from the samples were the same shape, colour and polymer composition – so therefore the same plastic – as the paint on the outside of the caps that seal the glass bottles,” she said.

bottles caps rub against each other and create more microplastics in glass bottles

Despite growing concern over microplastic exposure, toxicological reference data is still lacking, making it difficult to assess the exact health risks associated with the levels found. Some early studies find effects in the liver.

Entrepreneurs Solve This: Paint on Bottle Caps

The researchers traced the contamination to painted metal caps which contain a plastic coating on the interior. Microplastics discovered in the drinks matched the color and chemical makeup of the paint coating the caps. Microscopic scratches—likely caused by friction among the caps and their edges during storage—were identified as the mechanism for particle release.

To explore prevention, the scientists tested various cleaning methods: “We studied three scenarios,” explains Chaïb. “We cleaned the bottles and filled them with filtered water so that no microplastics could be detected, then we placed caps on the bottles without treating the caps, after blowing on the caps with an air bomb, or after blowing air and rinsing the caps with filtered water and alcohol.”

Results showed:

  • 287 particles per litre in bottles with uncleaned caps

  • 106 particles per litre after air was blown on the caps

  • 87 particles per litre when blowing was followed by rinsing

The researchers suggest simple steps in cap preparation or redesigning paint compositions could significantly reduce contamination. Until the problems are solved are we back to drinking from springs and filtering our own water at home?

The Hidden Microplastics in Your Mouth

chewing gum pieces, microplastics in gum, synthetic gum, natural gum, saliva with microplastics, plastic particles in saliva, chewing gum research, microplastic contamination, UCLA research on gum, microplastics released from gum, gum base made from plastic, plastic in everyday products, environmental impact of gum, lab research on chewing gum, microplastics from synthetic products, plastic pollution and health risks, people chewing gum with plastic particles

While microplastics in beverages are alarming, the problem goes beyond the bottle. Reports by Green Prophet have highlighted growing evidence that common dental and hygiene products are also sources of daily microplastic exposure:

  • Teeth aligners and retainers made from thermoplastics can shed microplastics through wear, particularly in hot liquids or during overnight use. A 2024 study reviewed by Green Prophet warned that long-term exposure to heated plastics in the mouth may leach hormone-disrupting chemicals.

  • Chewing gum, often made from synthetic rubber (a plastic polymer), can release microscopic plastic particles with every chew. Unlike traditional chicle gum, modern brands contain industrial polymers that may degrade in the mouth, though few regulations require manufacturers to disclose them.

  • Toothbrushes, especially nylon-bristle varieties, can fray and break down over time. According to a Green Prophet special report, worn toothbrushes can shed fibers directly into the mouth, where they may be swallowed or absorbed into oral tissues. Advice? Use a miswak?

These microplastics don’t simply pass through the body. Emerging research shows that particles smaller than 5 microns can cross cellular membranes and may accumulate in the bloodstream, lungs, or even the brain.

Glass Isn’t Always Greener

Even beverages like wine and bottled water—often seen as “cleaner” when packaged in glass—showed measurable microplastic contamination. Water in glass bottles had 4.5 particles per litre, compared to 1.6 in plastic bottles and cartons. Wine sealed with corks contained minimal microplastics.

The findings from ANSES suggest that glass bottle manufacturers can—and should—take swift action, particularly by rethinking the materials and handling of their bottle caps. Some companies such as Tipa and Balena are already leading the way in developing bio-plastics. The problem with plastics is not in dry packaging but in wet ones, such as liquids in bottles. Bio-plastics do and are meant to decompose over time, presenting a challenge in the bottling industry.

For consumers trying to reduce their exposure to microplastics, choosing glass may not be a guaranteed safeguard. And while the health risks are still under study, the evidence is mounting that microplastic exposure is not just a planetary issue—it’s a personal one.

Sustainable Banking: Dame Alison Rose’s Approach to Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility

Bhok Thompson
-
0
Sustainable Banking: Dame Alison Rose’s Approach to Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility

The new Khalladi wind farm, which came into service on Friday, June 29, 2018, is located in Jbel Sendouq, 30 km from the city of Tangier. With a capacity of 120 MW, it should supply energy to 400,000 people in Morocco.

When Dame Alison Rose assumed leadership of NatWest Group in 2019, she recognised that climate change represented not just an environmental challenge but “probably the biggest existential threat that we will face as a society.” Her response was to position the bank at the forefront of sustainable finance, implementing what she describes as “a very clear strategy on climate” that would fundamentally reshape how NatWest operates and lends.

Under her leadership, NatWest became a pioneer in climate lending, achieving net-zero emissions by 2020 and setting ambitious targets for green financing. Her approach demonstrates how traditional banks can become powerful drivers of environmental change while maintaining their commercial objectives.

A Three-Pillar Climate Strategy

Dame Alison’s climate strategy was built on three clear foundations, each addressing different aspects of the bank’s environmental impact:

Getting Their Own House in Order: The first pillar focused on NatWest’s direct environmental footprint. “We said, ‘Get our own house in order,’ so our own emissions. So net-zero by the end of last year, which we were, and net positive by 2025,” Dame Alison Rose explained.

This wasn’t merely about purchasing carbon offsets but implementing genuine operational changes across the organisation to reduce actual emissions.

Addressing Harmful Activities: The second pillar involved identifying and reducing exposure to environmentally harmful sectors. Dame Alison’s team conducted a comprehensive analysis of their lending portfolio, discovering that only 0.8% of NatWest’s balance sheet was lent to oil and gas companies.

“We identified the exposures on our balance sheet to oil and gas and coal. We’ve said we’ll phase out coal by 2030, and then oil and gas,” she outlined. This represented a significant commitment, requiring the bank to make difficult decisions about existing relationships and future lending opportunities.

Funding the Transition: The third and perhaps most ambitious pillar involved actively financing the transition to a low-carbon economy. Rather than simply withdrawing from carbon-intensive sectors, Dame Alison recognised that positive change required capital investment in sustainable alternatives.

Engaging with Existing Clients

Rather than immediately severing ties with companies in carbon-intensive industries, Dame Alison implemented a more nuanced approach that encouraged transition. With existing oil and gas clients, NatWest’s relationship managers delivered a clear message:

“We will continue to lend to you, but we’re focused on transition, so we need to see a credible transition plan by the end of this year aligned to Paris [Agreement targets] for us to continue lending to you.”

This approach balanced commercial relationships with environmental responsibility, giving companies the opportunity to evolve their business models while setting clear expectations. The bank also introduced financial incentives: “We put incentives into our lending, so that as you hit sustainable goals, we reduce the pricing.”

Measuring What Matters

A crucial aspect of Dame Alison’s strategy was making climate impact measurable and trackable. “From a sustainability perspective and climate perspective and emissions perspective, [it’s] much easier to track, because we have credit policies, appetite policies, guidelines of lending that are very clear and then reportable,” she explained.

The bank mapped emissions across their entire financing portfolio, initially focusing on four major sectors representing approximately 46% of their balance sheet. This granular approach allowed them to set a concrete target: halving the emissions from their financing by 2030.

“We have then going to say, ‘How do we half those emissions?’ We’re not going to be able to do that ourselves. It will need collaboration across the sector, the public, private sector, global targets, but starting by being very clear about what we’re doing,” Dame Alison noted.

Ambitious Green Financing Targets

Perhaps the most visible aspect of Dame Alison’s sustainability agenda was NatWest’s commitment to green financing. In 2020, she set what seemed like an ambitious target: securing £20 billion of renewable financing by 2021.

The response exceeded all expectations. “We’re already at £12 billion, so we expect to beat the 20 billion this year,” she reported in May 2021. The demand was so strong that she extended the target to £100 billion, and by her last results, the bank had reached £78 billion.

This success demonstrated that there was significant market appetite for sustainable financing when banks committed to making it available.

Supporting SMEs in the Green Transition

Dame Alison Rose recognised that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) faced particular challenges in addressing their environmental impact. “Many SMEs lack the resources to measure their climate impact or scrutinise their supply chains,” she observed.

To address this, NatWest developed tools and partnerships to help smaller businesses understand and reduce their environmental footprint. The bank partnered with carbon management solution companies like Cogo to provide consumers with information about emissions from their spending via the app.

Similarly, they created tools specifically for SMEs and suppliers to measure their environmental impact and develop solutions to minimise it. “We need to address the whole system, not just at the top level,” Dame Alison emphasised.

The Economic Opportunity of Retrofitting

Dame Alison identified significant economic potential in environmental initiatives, particularly in home retrofitting. With an ageing housing stock and low energy-efficiency ratings in three-fifths of assessed homes in England and Wales, she saw massive opportunity for improvement.

“There is a £175 billion revenue opportunity for SMEs in the UK to be part of that retrofit and transition. This could create 260,000 jobs and 40,000 new businesses,” she calculated.

To unlock this potential, she advocated for upskilling workers, providing clear information, and making financing more accessible. This vision demonstrates how environmental initiatives can drive economic growth while addressing climate challenges.

Government Engagement and Industry Leadership

Dame Alison’s commitment to sustainability extended beyond NatWest’s operations to industry-wide leadership. She served as co-chair of the Government’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce and as a member of the Net Zero Council, working to align public and private sector efforts.

“This is not something one country, one organisation, can do on its own,” she emphasised at the 2023 Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit. “We really need that alignment between public and private… we do need to move faster.”

This collaborative approach recognised that achieving meaningful environmental progress requires coordination across sectors and organisations.

Balancing Environmental and Commercial Objectives

A key aspect of Dame Alison’s approach was demonstrating that environmental responsibility and commercial success could be mutually reinforcing rather than conflicting objectives.

“I think we have to balance between supporting the economy and not being the moral arbiter of the economy, but a clear part of that is what is our ethical policy? What is our culture? What is our sustainability policy?” she explained.

This balance involved setting clear environmental, social, and ethical criteria for lending while continuing to support economic growth and job creation.

Technology and Data in Sustainable Finance

Dame Alison leveraged technology to make sustainable finance more accessible and transparent. The bank’s mobile app provided customers with information about the carbon footprint of their spending, helping individuals make more informed choices.

This use of data and technology exemplified her broader approach to sustainability – making environmental considerations a natural part of everyday banking rather than a separate, specialist activity.

A Sense of Urgency

Throughout her sustainability initiatives, Dame Alison maintained a sense of urgency about climate action. She described the situation not as a “climate transition” but as a “climate emergency,” emphasising the need for immediate and sustained action.

“We really need to move faster,” she insisted, recognising that while progress was being made, the scale and speed of change needed to increase significantly to meet global climate targets.

Long-term Vision

Dame Alison’s approach to sustainable banking was inherently long-term, recognising that environmental challenges require sustained commitment rather than short-term fixes.

Her vision extended beyond immediate emissions reductions to fundamental changes in how the financial sector supports economic development. By positioning NatWest as a leader in green finance, she demonstrated that banks could be powerful drivers of positive environmental change.

Lessons for Sustainable Business Leadership

Dame Alison’s sustainability strategy offers valuable insights for leaders across industries:

  1. Set clear, measurable targets: Make environmental commitments specific and trackable
  2. Engage rather than abandon: Work with existing partners to encourage transition rather than simply cutting ties
  3. Address the whole system: Consider impacts across the entire value chain, including smaller suppliers and partners
  4. Use incentives effectively: Align financial incentives with environmental objectives
  5. Leverage technology: Use data and digital tools to make sustainability more accessible
  6. Collaborate across sectors: Recognise that environmental challenges require coordinated responses
  7. Balance multiple objectives: Demonstrate that environmental responsibility can support rather than undermine commercial success

Dame Alison Rose’s leadership at NatWest shows that traditional financial institutions can be powerful catalysts for environmental change. By combining clear strategy, measurable targets, and collaborative approaches, she transformed how the bank thinks about its environmental responsibilities while maintaining strong commercial performance.

Her work reminds us that addressing climate change requires not just individual action but institutional transformation – and that banks, as providers of capital to the economy, have a particularly important role to play in financing the transition to a sustainable future.

Nutri-Score and the Factory Farm Illusion

Bhok Thompson
-
0
Nutri-Score and the Factory Farm Illusion
No more factory farms
No more factory farms

The recent revelations that more than 24,000 industrial livestock farms now operate across Europe should come as a wake-up call to European policymakers. In the UK alone, the number of megafarms grew by over 200 between 2017 and 2023. France, Germany and Spain are not far behind. Far from being an outlier, the European food system is becoming more intensive, more environmentally damaging, and more consolidated. Yet the EU continues to invest political capital in the wrong tools.

One of those tools is front-of-pack labelling, most notably Nutri-Score, the colour-coded system first developed in France and, at a certain point, promoted by the European Commission as a solution to rising obesity. It is, by now, abundantly clear that it isn’t working. Not only has Nutri-Score failed to produce any measurable reduction in obesity rates, but it has also encouraged producers to prioritise nutrient “tweaks” over meaningful food system change. The result is a rise in industrialised, uniform food that fits perfectly with factory farming conditions.

An outdated model in a collapsing system

The European food model is at a crossroads. On one side, we hear ambitious rhetoric about agroecology, biodiversity, and healthy diets. On the other side, we see the rapid expansion of intensive livestock farms, producing tens of millions of animals under conditions that routinely breach environmental regulations, pollute protected areas, and contribute to collapsing wildlife populations.

This contradiction is not accidental. It is the direct result of a policy approach that prioritises reformulation over reform, and labelling over systemic change. Nutrition labelling, for all its visibility, has not delivered improved health outcomes in any of the countries where it has been implemented. What it has delivered is a new layer of complexity. Traditional producers are disadvantaged, while industrial production systems benefit from standardisation and scalability.

The Nutri-Score illusion

Nutri-Score is emblematic of this failure. Built on a simplistic algorithm that assigns grades based on fats, sugars, and salt per 100 grams, it ignores where food comes from, how it’s produced, or how it fits into real-world diets. This kind of labelling rewards processed uniformity and penalises diversity. It pushes producers toward nutritionally “optimised” products that suit industrial supply chains rather than sustainable food systems.

More importantly, it misleads consumers into thinking that food can be reduced to a single letter or colour. This illusion of simplicity may serve marketing objectives, but it does nothing to support meaningful dietary change. If it did, we would have seen results by now. Yet obesity rates continue to rise, including in France, the birthplace of Nutri-Score.

Even the industry is walking away

Even some of the food industry’s biggest players are now distancing themselves from the system. In May, Nestlé announced it would withdraw Nutri-Score from its products in Switzerland, its home country, even before Nestlé’s decision, Swiss food giants Migros and Emmi had already withdrawn Nutri-Score from their products. Their reasoning was simple: the system is no longer credible.

When Europe’s largest food manufacturer abandons a label it once promoted—and does so in the country where it is headquartered—it sends a clear signal. Industry sees what policymakers are reluctant to admit: that nutrition labelling is a dead end. It does not shift consumer behaviour at scale. It does not support sustainable production, nor does it build public trust.

A distraction from real reform

The continued focus on front-of-pack labelling reflects a broader institutional failure: the preference for symbolic gestures over structural reform. Labels are easy to promote. They’re visually appealing. They create the appearance of action. But in practice, they distract from deeper policy questions about subsidies, trade, and the true cost of food.

Worse, they reinforce the incentives of industrial-scale production. Labelling schemes reward products based on narrow nutrient profiles while ignoring production methods, ecological impact, or cultural value. This encourages the very trends—efficiency, uniformity, and scale—that underpin the factory farm boom.

The evidence isn’t there. It never was.

Proponents of labelling often cite behavioural studies suggesting that front-of-pack systems can influence consumer choices. But these are short-term, tightly controlled experiments. In the real world, the evidence tells a different story. Countries with the most aggressive labelling strategies continue to experience rising obesity, increasing rates of diet-related illness, and ongoing environmental degradation. For example, in Chile—one of the most aggressive countries in Latin America with mandatory black-octagon labels since 2016—obesity prevalence rose from roughly 68% of adults in 2010 to about 79% by 2022, despite the labelling and other health measures.  If labelling worked, the data would reflect that.

The truth is, nutrition cannot be reduced to a traffic light or an algorithm. Eating habits are shaped by culture, price, availability, education, and social norms. The idea that better consumer “information” alone can drive public health outcomes is not just simplistic. It has been repeatedly disproven.

If Europe is serious about fixing its food system, it needs to let go of the illusion that labelling is a shortcut to health. Real solutions lie elsewhere: in supporting sustainable farming, reforming subsidies, regulating marketing to children, improving access to nutritious food, and investing in public health. These are the interventions that work, not stickers on packages.

Lessons from a broken system

The Guardian’s recent reporting on Europe’s megafarms highlights what happens when policy drifts away from reality. The rise of factory farming is not a coincidence. It is the logical outcome of a system built around scale, standardisation, and superficial metrics. Nutri-Score helps prop up those sorts of systems.

The EU must stop pretending that labelling is a public health strategy. It isn’t. It’s a communications tool—and one that has failed to deliver. The sooner Brussels moves past this failed model, the sooner it can begin the serious work of building a food system that serves people, protects animals, and restores the planet.

Costa Rica in Central America has blood on its wires

Karin Kloosterman
-
0
Costa Rica in Central America has blood on its wires
Sloths in costarica, booking an all inclusive holiday in Costa Rica? look out for sloths.
Booking an all inclusive holiday in Costa Rica? look out for sloths falling from power lines

Shocking deaths of howler monkeys and sloths in nature paradise

In Costa Rica, a country globally celebrated for its lush biodiversity and eco-tourism, a darker reality lurks in the canopy: the quiet, gruesome deaths of thousands of wild animals by electrocution. Sloths, howler monkeys, anteaters—icons of the rainforest and the tourism industry alike—are being burned alive on uninsulated power lines.

A new national campaign, bluntly titled “This Is NOT Pura Vida,” is now challenging Costa Rica’s green image and demanding that the government fulfill promises made to protect its wildlife. Launched by International Animal Rescue (IAR) Costa Rica, the campaign is urging the immediate implementation of Executive Decree No. 44329—a legal framework passed in early 2024 but largely ignored since.

Related: Costa Rican all inclusive vacationers taking selfies and damage turtle nesting sites

“In Nosara alone, nearly 100 animals were electrocuted in just one year,” said Gabriela Campos, Director of IAR Costa Rica. “These aren’t rare accidents—they’re evidence of a national crisis in conservation.”

Many of Costa Rica’s arboreal animals, such as sloths and monkeys, use tree canopies to move through the forest. But as development fragments their habitats, they are increasingly forced to use power lines to bridge gaps—lines that are often uninsulated and deadly. The consequences are horrific.

According to the Jaguar Rescue Center, 53 electrocuted animals were brought in during the first part of 2024. Most of them died. Survivors often suffer internal burns, open wounds, and, in the best cases, require amputations or lifelong sanctuary care.

“The injuries are catastrophic and deeply painful,” said Dr. Francisco Sánchez, IAR’s veterinary director. “For many, euthanasia is the only humane option.”

Electrocution is not just an individual tragedy—it’s a blow to entire species. In howler monkey troops, for example, the death of a dominant male can lead to the infanticide of all his offspring by incoming rivals, compounding the toll. Costa Rica has long branded itself as a model of sustainability. But conservationists say this crisis contradicts its international reputation.

Related: want to start a commune like Pacha Mama in Costa Rica?

tourists trample sea turtle nests
Turtle nesting sites over-run by curious tourists

“Allowing animals to burn to death on outdated, unsafe power lines is the opposite of ‘Pura Vida,’” said Gavin Bruce, CEO of IAR. “The government has the tools. What’s missing is political will.”

The campaign points to Executive Decree 44329, which was passed in 2024 to mandate wildlife protection measures in electrical infrastructure. The decree requires coordination between various agencies—MINAE, SINAC, ICE, CNFL, and municipalities—but over a year later, implementation is practically nonexistent.

Key reasons behind the ongoing electrocutions include:

  • Rapid, unregulated development without wildlife corridors
  • Outdated or uninsulated power lines near forests and towns
  • Lack of Environmental Impact Assessments for electrical projects
  • Poor enforcement of existing laws and no accountability
  • Patchy or nonexistent mitigation efforts in known hot-spots

Despite Costa Rica’s silence, international voices are amplifying the alarm. IAR and its supporters are collecting signatures through the This Is NOT Pura Vida campaign website, calling on Costa Rican authorities to fully enforce Decree 44329 and insulate dangerous lines.

“This is not just a Costa Rican problem—it’s a global conservation emergency,” says Bruce. “We can’t let bureaucracy become a death sentence for sloths and monkeys.”

Thousands of signatures are needed to pressure power companies and policymakers. Signing the petition takes less than a minute—and could help save a species. Want to help? Visit https://www.estonoespuravida.org/english and sign the petition today. Because watching wildlife suffer in silence is not Pura Vida.

Would You Live In These 10 Regions of California?

Bhok Thompson
-
0
Would You Live In These 10 Regions of California?
A Binishell rendering. Courtesy of Nicolo Bini.
A Binishell home, a modern eco-home works well in the warm, dry climate of California

California has always been known for big dreams and bold lifestyles. From sunny beaches to scenic mountains, buzzing cities to peaceful suburbs, every corner of the state offers something a little different and a lot to love.

You’ll find cozy coastal towns, tech-savvy hubs, and family-friendly suburbs all in one giant, golden package. If you’ve been browsing homes for sale in Alameda, CA, or daydreaming about a fresh start, this list might help you narrow things down. So, read below and then decide — would you live in one of these 10 regions of California?

1. Alameda, CA

Alameda is a hidden gem on the Bay, blending coastal charm with an easygoing lifestyle. Once a naval base, it has grown into a vibrant, walkable island city with lots of green space, waterfront trails, and stunning views of San Francisco. You’ll find a mix of historic homes and new developments, plus a fun downtown with restaurants, bookstores, and local shops.

Life here feels both laid-back and connected. And bonus, there’s even a beach right in town for spontaneous sunset strolls and weekend picnics.

2. Folsom, CA

Folsom has a great family atmosphere and a tight-knit community. It’s perfect if you want more room but still want easy access to the city and shopping. Parks, great schools, and outdoor fun, such as biking the American River, are all here.

The town is also full of history — yes, the Johnny Cash kind — and you’ll see that mix of old and new everywhere you go. There’s even a zoo sanctuary and a lively historic district that makes downtown feel like a small-town movie set.

3. Palo Alto, CA

solar panels california DIY
California is very friendly to solar energy installations on roofs

In the heart of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto is a magnet for tech professionals and innovation seekers. It’s home to Stanford University and some of the biggest names in the tech world. It’s also full of tree-lined neighborhoods, top-rated schools, and sleek downtown spots for coffee, dining, or weekend strolling.

Living here isn’t cheap, but if you want to be where big ideas happen, Palo Alto leads the pack. You never know when you’ll spot someone coding a billion-dollar startup at the next table.

4. Cupertino, CA

Cupertino blends high-tech and high quality of life. Known as Apple’s hometown, the city is clean, safe, and full of beautiful parks and highly rated schools. You’ll also find tons of cultural diversity, amazing food options, and community events throughout the year.

The neighborhoods are peaceful, the vibe is welcoming, and you’re just a short drive from the Santa Cruz Mountains for weekend hiking and fresh air. And yes, the Apple Visitor Center has a rooftop view that makes even non-techies swoon!

5. San Ramon, CA

San Ramon is all about balance. It’s a place where you can build a career, raise a family, and still enjoy weekend hikes or a quiet evening at a wine bar. The city has been growing fast, with new shopping centers, parks, and business hubs.

Large companies like Chevron and GE have offices here, which means job opportunities are close to home. Add in good schools and community festivals, and you have a strong option for long-term living. You might even catch a free outdoor concert or food truck night in one of the newer town squares.

6. Encinitas, CA

If beach town vibes are your thing, Encinitas might be calling your name. Located just north of San Diego, it’s known for surf culture, coastal cliffs, and a laid-back lifestyle that never tries too hard. Spend your mornings walking the beach, afternoons exploring boutiques, and evenings enjoying live music or sunset views.

It’s the kind of place that makes every day feel like a vacation — only with real neighborhoods and a real sense of community. Locals ride bikes with surfboards attached, and you’ll probably see a dog or two catching waves.

7. Mountain View, CA

Another Silicon Valley hot spot, Mountain View manages to feel both tech-forward and down-to-earth. It’s home to Google and other major companies, but the city itself has a welcoming vibe with great parks, a charming downtown, and friendly neighborhoods.

There are farmers markets, music in the park, and bike paths everywhere. If you want to stay connected to the innovation scene while enjoying a more relaxed pace, Mountain View offers a nice blend of both. Castro Street, the downtown hub, is packed with international eats and some of the best ramen you’ll ever try.

8. Dublin, CA

Dublin is one of the fastest-growing cities in Northern California, and for good reason. It has new schools, modern shopping centers, and plenty of fresh housing options. With easy access to both I-580 and BART, it’s a solid location for commuters heading into Oakland or San Francisco.

It’s also family-friendly, diverse, and full of parks and activities to keep weekends interesting. If you’re looking for a place on the rise, Dublin’s worth a look. And if you’re into celebrations, their annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival is pretty legendary.

9. Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara delivers coastal living with a touch of luxury. With Spanish-style architecture, ocean breezes, and mountain views, this city has a look and feel that’s hard to beat. You’ll find local wineries, world-class dining, and beaches perfect for a morning jog or a lazy afternoon.

It’s calm, elegant, and packed with charm. If you want a peaceful, upscale lifestyle with plenty of sunshine, this is the spot. Oh, and there’s a farmers market nearly every day of the week — because fresh strawberries are a way of life here.

10. Irvine, CA

Safe, clean, and master-planned, Irvine is a favorite among families and professionals alike. It offers some of the best public schools in the state, plus easy access to jobs, shopping, and outdoor recreation. Irvine’s neighborhoods are thoughtfully designed with parks, pools, and walking trails.

The city also takes pride in being green — literally and environmentally. It’s a great pick if you’re looking for structure, stability, and a high quality of life. You can hit the beach, go hiking, and still be home in time for a boba run at one of the city’s many tea spots.

Ready to Pick Your California Dream?

From coastal charm to tech hubs, chill surf towns to family-friendly suburbs, the places on this list show off the best California offers. Now, would you live in one of these 10 regions of California? You just might find that the answer is yes.

Explore, visit, and get to know what each spot brings to the table. Your perfect corner of the Golden State might be closer than you think.

 

Arab agricultural land is on the brink

Karin Kloosterman
-
0
Arab agricultural land is on the brink
Saudi Arabia is home to desert truffles.
Truffle hunting in the deserts of Saudi Arabia

A new study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paints a stark picture of agricultural land degradation, particularly in the Arab region. More than 46 million hectares—nearly two-thirds of all land suffering human-induced damage in the region—are now at risk. The findings, published in Agriculture (MDPI), stress the urgent need to restore degraded land to safeguard food supplies, especially where climate pressures are mounting.

The Arab Spring started because of the price of bread and the lack of water resources to grow food. The civil war in Syria began for the same reasons. As the Arab world gets drier, conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan will only get more intense.

Globally, an estimated 1.66 billion hectares of land have been degraded by human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, mismanaged irrigation, and heavy chemical use. Over 60 percent of that damage falls on croplands and pastures—the soils that feed 95 percent of the world’s population. If allowed to worsen, degradation could undercut entire agrifood systems and the communities that depend on them.

Related: this greenhouse technology grows food on salty aquifers 

Across the Arab world, croplands face a perfect storm of stressors. Excessive fertilizers and pesticides erode soil ecology. Poor drainage and over-irrigation drive salinization, leaving fields crusted with salt. Rising temperatures, dwindling groundwater, and more frequent sand-and-dust storms—all amplified by climate change—compound the crisis. These are unmistakably human-driven pressures, and they are accelerating. Consider that Morocco lost half its wheat last year from drought. How many more migrants and climate refugees from the Middle East and North Africa can Europe accept? The solution is to help.

Less than 4 percent of degraded land in the Arab region is currently earmarked for restoration. FAO analysts calculate that rehabilitating 26 million hectares of worn-out cropland could trim yield gaps by as much as 50 percent for oil crops and lift cereals, roots, and tubers toward their full potential—a direct boost to local food security and rural incomes.

The study urges governments, farmers, investors, and researchers to adopt integrated soil, water, and land-management strategies designed to stop further degradation and rebuild fertility. Rather than relying on one-off projects, it recommends coordinated regional programs that share data, finance, and know-how—tailored to the diverse ecological zones from Morocco’s Atlantic coast to Iraq’s river valleys. Israel has water technologies from water companies such as Netafim to help rip irrigation deliver more drops per crop.

Momentum is growing. Recent ministerial meetings in Riyadh committed to ambitious restoration targets, and the UN’s FAO-backed NENA Regional Investment Framework for Ecosystem Restoration is lining up “champion countries” to pilot scalable projects. Innovative tools such as the Suitability Crop Platform—an open database of soil profiles, climate metrics, and crop requirements—are making it easier for farmers and planners to match the right crops to recovering lands.

See this museum of Middle East soil in the UAE

Soil bank in the UAE
A soil bank in the UAE

Healthy soils do more than grow food. They store carbon, regulate water, and support biodiversity—services that underpin every other climate-adaptation effort. By restoring degraded fields, countries in the Arab region can build jobs, reduce rural poverty, and bolster resilience against heat and drought. The lesson is clear: investing in the ground beneath our feet is the fastest way to secure food sovereignty in a hotter, drier future.

Mars found a way to store carbon. Can we?

Julie Steinbeck
-
0
Mars found a way to store carbon. Can we?
Mars
What we can learn from Mars about climate change

Mars, the dusty red planet that once held our wildest dreams of alien life, is revealing its past—and perhaps a glimpse of Earth’s future. Today it’s a frozen desert, with no breathable atmosphere and no surface water in sight. But new findings from NASA’s Curiosity Rover suggest Mars was once warm, wet, and much more Earth-like—possibly with rivers, rainfall, and lakes.

The key? A humble mineral called siderite, a type of iron carbonate that’s helping scientists piece together how Mars may have once locked away its carbon—and lost its atmosphere in the process.

Related: This Dune suit could keep us alive on Mars

In a recent SETI Live conversation, Dr. Ben Tutolo, a geochemist at the University of Calgary and a science team member on the Curiosity mission, shared the breakthrough. While analyzing rocks inside Gale Crater, Curiosity detected up to 10.5% siderite in some layers of Mount Sharp—far more than expected.

This wasn’t just a geochemical oddity. It was evidence that Mars once had abundant CO₂, likely released by volcanoes, which dissolved in ancient waters and was then mineralized into rock. That’s the same basic carbon capture strategy we’re exploring here on Earth today to combat climate change—except Mars figured it out a few billion years earlier.

Carbon Capture on a Planetary Scale—Then Collapse

On Earth, carbon gets locked up in limestone—made of calcium carbonate. On iron-rich Mars, siderite takes that role. Its presence, alongside evaporite minerals like magnesium sulfate, suggests a long phase of evaporation, meaning Mars had standing water. For that to happen, the atmosphere had to be thick—at least 1,000 times denser than it is today, rich in CO₂.

Related: rogue geo-engineers chased by the EPA for injecting sulphur into the atmosphere

But something happened: the atmosphere thinned, water disappeared, and the climate collapsed. Where did the CO₂ go? Some was lost to space, but this discovery shows that much of it was mineralized into the Martian crust.

The lesson is sobering. On Earth, we’re now injecting carbon into the atmosphere faster than the planet can absorb it. Mars shows us what can happen when a planet’s carbon cycle gets thrown off balance—even slightly—over geological timescales. A world once capable of supporting liquid water became uninhabitable. This is more than a Martian mystery; it’s a cautionary tale. If Mars could lose its habitability after capturing its carbon, what could happen to Earth if we fail to?

Related: dealing with gravity on Mars

The next steps will involve returning samples from these siderite-rich layers to Earth, possibly offering clues not just to climate, but to life. If Mars held onto water for long enough, it might have also given life a fighting chance. And if a “dead” planet like Mars once supported a warm, wet climate, then our definition of what makes a world habitable—whether in our solar system or beyond—may need a radical rethink. Maybe Elon Musk will get there soon with SpaceX and report back to earth before it’s too late. The United Arab Emirates plans on joining Musk on Mars.

Whale watching tours find whales talking to people with strange bubble rings

Isabella Hannah
-
0
Whale watching tours find whales talking to people with strange bubble rings
This bubble ring was captured on video in 1988 in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts. (© Dan Knaub, The Video Company)
This bubble ring was captured on video in 1988 in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts. (© Dan Knaub, The Video Company)

Could bubble rings be the cetacean equivalent of a wave and a smile?

A new study suggests that humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) might be trying to communicate with humans –- or aliens? –– through a behavior that’s both beautiful and baffling: perfectly circular bubble rings, deliberately blown near boats and swimmers. The finding comes from researchers at WhaleSETI, a project inspired by the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), only this time, the “aliens” are right here in our oceans.

In 12 documented encounters across the globe, individual humpbacks were observed creating bubble rings only in the presence of humans—never when monitored by drones or distant cameras. These were not the messy bursts of bubble-net feeding, but rather tight, precise rings—deliberate and controlled.

“We’ve now located a dozen whales from populations around the world, the majority of which have voluntarily approached boats and swimmers blowing bubble rings,” said marine wildlife photographer and study co-author Jodi Frediani.

Composite image of at least one bubble ring from each episode. Photo attributions: (a) D. Knaub, (b) F. Nicklen, (c) D. Perrine, (d) W. Davis, (e) G. Flipse, (f) A. Henry, (g) M. Gaughan, (h) H. Romanchik, (i) D. Patton, (j) D. Perrine, (k) S. Istrup, (l) S. Hilbourne.
Composite image of at least one bubble ring from each episode. Photo attributions: (a) D. Knaub, (b) F. Nicklen, (c) D. Perrine, (d) W. Davis, (e) G. Flipse, (f) A. Henry, (g) M. Gaughan, (h) H. Romanchik, (i) D. Patton, (j) D. Perrine, (k) S. Istrup, (l) S. Hilbourne.

In other words: they saw us, they swam toward us, and they made bubbles—in what can only be described as a strangely charming act of interspecies improv.

The WhaleSETI project, headed by scientists with backgrounds in linguistics, animal behavior, and astrobiology, aims to study non-human intelligence with the same tools we use to prepare for contact with extraterrestrials. If we can’t talk to whales—who evolved on the same planet—how do we ever expect to chat with space-faring civilizations?

And what better place to start than with one of the most acoustically gifted and socially complex animals on Earth? Or consider, maybe aliens are speaking with whales and not us?

“Because of current limitations on technology, an important assumption of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that extraterrestrials will be interested in making contact and so target human receivers. This important assumption is certainly supported by the behavior of humpback whales,” said Dr. Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute, a coauthor on the paper.

Importantly, the whales in these cases were not stressed. They showed no signs of aggression or alarm. Instead, the encounters were marked by calm, curious approaches, often followed by the bubble display and, in some cases, eye contact.

This behavior suggests a kind of social play or signaling, and while it’s not yet clear what bubble rings mean in whale culture (a “hello”? a “back off”? an invitation to dance?), their exclusive appearance in human company has researchers wondering: Is this their way of saying hi?

Bubble ring communication isn’t just cute—it raises questions about how we define intelligence and connection. In the search for life beyond Earth, SETI has long looked for intentional signals. WhaleSETI flips that search around: what if a highly intelligent species has already been trying to talk to us, but we didn’t recognize the signs?

As with all science, caution is warranted. The sample size is small. The interpretations are early. And whales have been sinking boats in the Mediterranean Sea. Maybe we should start listening.

___

The team’s findings were recently published in Marine Mammal Science in a paper titled “Humpback Whales Blow Poloidal Vortex Bubble Rings.” The study analyzes 12 bubble ring–production episodes involving 39 rings made by 11 individual whales.

Similar to studying Antarctica or other terrestrial analogs as a proxy for Mars, the Whale-SETI team is studying intelligent, non-terrestrial (aquatic), nonhuman communication systems to develop filters that aid in parsing cosmic signals for signs of extraterrestrial life. As noted by Karen Pryor, “patterns of bubble production in cetaceans constitute a mode of communication not available to terrestrial mammals” (Pryor 1990).

Other team members and coauthors of the paper are Dr. Josephine Hubbard (Postdoc, U.C. Davis), Doug Perrine (Doug Perrine Photography), Simon Hilbourne (Marine Research Facility, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Dr. Joy Reidenberg (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY) and Dr. Brenda McCowan, ( U.C. Davis, Veterinary Medicine), with specialties in animal intelligences, photography and behavior of humpback whales, whale anatomy, and the use of AI in parsing animal communication, respectively.

An earlier paper by the team was published in the journal, PeerJ, entitled, “Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: “Conversing” with an Alaskan Humpback Whale.” The authors would like to acknowledge the Templeton Foundation Diverse Intelligences Program for financial support of this work.

For more information, visit WhaleSETI.

Poo beats pills? Norway backs poop transplant as safer treatment for gut-wrecking infection

Karin Kloosterman
-
0
Poo beats pills? Norway backs poop transplant as safer treatment for gut-wrecking infection
Poop pills
Poop pills are used for fecal transplants

In a scientific win for poop, a new phase 3 trial out of Norway found that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT)—yes, a literal poop enema—performed slightly better than the go-to antibiotic vancomycin in treating Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI).

Researchers found FMT to be noninferior (that’s doctor-speak for “basically just as good, or a bit better”) and possibly a gentler first-line treatment than antibiotics. This could be a game-changer in how we treat gut chaos—and a step toward embracing the full healing power of… other people’s poop.

Related: Seres and Nestle makes poop pills to replace antibiotics

If this sounds familiar, that’s because Green Prophet has been covering the rise of fecal transplants like a proud microbiome mama. From our early report on how gut bacteria can control your mood (and maybe your destiny) to the Israeli startup making synthetic poop capsules for people who’d rather swallow than squirt, we’ve been watching this digestive revolution unfold. But we prefer before you rush to medicine, to eat what fermentation doc, Sandor Katz recommends –– and that’s eating fermented food.

Now, with Norwegian researchers giving the royal flush to vancomycin, we may soon be saying goodbye to antibiotics and hello to artisanal, farm-to-bum therapies.

Related: Wombats have cube-shaped poop

Let’s not forget the bigger message here: modern medicine is slowly realizing what your grandmother and your compost bin always knew—shit matters. Whether you’re nurturing your gut with probiotic yogurt or contemplating a fresh stool smoothie, the path to health might not be lined with roses, but with microbes.

As the future of medicine continues to smell a little funny, we’ll keep digging into the science of sustainable solutions—one scoop at a time. ?

Rebuilding a life, one hand at a time: a medical first at Penn Medicine

Julie Steinbeck
-
0
Rebuilding a life, one hand at a time: a medical first at Penn Medicine
New hands Luka Krizanac
Luka Krizanac gets a new set of hands

When Luka Krizanac lost all four limbs to sepsis at age 12, he never imagined he’d one day hold a cup, type on his phone—or feel the warmth of human touch again. But in a groundbreaking medical feat, the now 28-year-old Swiss man has received a bilateral hand transplant from doctors at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia. The surgery, performed in fall 2024, is the first of its kind in the US on a patient with surgically integrated leg prosthetics, and it marks a new chapter in the science of healing and regeneration.

Related: Turkey’s first womb transplant is a success

Krizanac is Penn’s fifth hand transplant recipient, and the program’s first since a COVID-era pause on non-vital transplants. The complexity of the procedure—known as vascularized composite allotransplantation—requires a team of over 20 specialists, from plastic and orthopedic surgeons to anesthesiologists and transplant coordinators.

“You do 1,001 things with your hands every day. Prosthetics can’t replace that,” said Dr. L. Scott Levin, a pioneer in the field and Chair Emeritus of Orthopaedic Surgery at Penn. “Our team is very proud of the many things we’ve done as ‘firsts,’” Levin said. “The first child. The first transatlantic vascularized composite allotransplantation. The first in a patient with no lower extremities. The first woman to have hand transplants who later gave birth to a baby.”

Healing Beyond Organs: A Sustainable Vision for Medicine

Luka Krizanac gets a new set of hands
While many sustainability stories focus on climate, the principles of regeneration and mindful resource use are equally vital in healthcare. Hand transplantation offers an alternative to mass-produced, resource-intensive prosthetics, and is built on human tissue reuse—a powerful expression of biological circularity.

Related: First whole eye transplant successful

Indeed, donor compatibility for hands is complex: beyond blood type, doctors must match skin tone, gender, muscle size, and age. “It’s the most human gesture I’ve ever witnessed—that someone would help me beyond their own life,” Krizanac said. “How can you ever find the words for that kind of gratitude?”

The road to surgery took years. Luka’s leg wounds had to heal first, and surgeons even flew to Europe to perform microsurgery on his residual limbs to prevent infection. Once cleared, he underwent a rigorous mental and physical evaluation to ensure he could endure the transplant’s demands: intense rehab, lifelong immunosuppressants, and the emotional weight of recovery.

Related: thinking about a hair transplant?

While the world emerged from lockdowns, Penn’s hand transplant team quietly practiced. In the Human Tissue Lab, they ran hours-long mock surgeries, rehearsing every nerve, vessel, and bone connection down to the stitch.

By fall 2024, the real operation began—10 hours long, performed overnight while most of Philadelphia slept. Four surgical teams, working in sync on Krizanac and the donor, navigated the complex choreography of rebuilding a body.

Six months after surgery, Luka is back home in Switzerland. He can now feel textures and temperatures, pick up food, and even push his glasses up—a movement most take for granted. His nerves continue to regenerate, and so does his confidence.

This story isn’t just a medical marvel. It’s a testament to long-term thinking, international cooperation, and the sustainability of human care—values we champion at Green Prophet. As we seek a regenerative future for the planet, we can’t forget to regenerate ourselves.

 

Werner Lanthaler Reveals Why Wlanholding Avoids Traditional VC Models

Bhok Thompson
-
0
Werner Lanthaler Reveals Why Wlanholding Avoids Traditional VC Models

Impact investing for solar energy

Most life sciences investors follow predictable patterns: raise funds from limited partners, deploy capital across portfolio companies within defined timeframes, and exit investments to generate returns for fund investors. Werner Lanthaler has deliberately constructed Wlanholding GmbH to operate outside these conventional frameworks, creating what amounts to an alternative approach to biotechnology investment.

As founder and CEO of Wlanholding, a family office focused on life sciences and high-tech sustainability investments, Lanthaler has designed his investment platform to prioritize long-term value creation over the rapid return cycles that characterize traditional venture capital. This approach reflects the lessons he learned during his tenure as CEO of Evotec SE, where he experienced firsthand how external investor timelines can sometimes conflict with the lengthy development periods necessary for pioneering biotechnology innovation.

The contrast becomes apparent when examining Wlanholding’s portfolio companies: Proxygen GmbH developing molecular glue degraders, Cerabyte GmbH creating ceramic-based data storage solutions, Solgate GmbH targeting complex protein families, Planet Pure GmbH producing organic consumer products, and Cyment developing sustainable building materials. Each represents ambitious science that benefits from patient capital rather than pressure to achieve rapid milestones for fund reporting purposes.

Family Office Structure Creates Different Investment Dynamics

Wlanholding operates as a family office rather than a traditional venture capital fund, creating fundamentally different relationships between the investment platform and portfolio companies. This structure eliminates many of the tensions between investor reporting requirements and company development needs that can complicate traditional VC relationships.

Family office investment decisions can focus on scientific merit and long-term market potential rather than fund marketing requirements or limited partner expectations. This freedom allows Wlanholding to invest in companies that traditional VC funds might consider too early-stage, too technically complex, or too specialized for their portfolio construction needs.

The family office structure also enables more flexible deal terms and ongoing support arrangements. Without pressure to demonstrate rapid progress to external fund investors, Wlanholding can provide sustained support through the inevitable setbacks and strategic pivots that characterize biotechnology development. This stability often proves crucial for companies developing novel technologies that don’t follow predictable development timelines.

The operational implications extend to board participation and strategic guidance. Rather than managing relationships with dozens of portfolio companies to satisfy fund diversification requirements, the family office structure enables deeper engagement with a more concentrated portfolio of companies where meaningful value creation support is possible.

Extended Investment Timelines Enable Ambitious Science

Traditional venture capital funds typically operate on 7-10 year cycles with pressure to generate returns within predetermined timeframes. Wlanholding operates without these artificial constraints, enabling investment in companies pursuing scientific objectives that may require extended development periods to reach their full potential.

This extended timeline approach proves particularly valuable for companies that are developing platform technologies rather than single-product applications. Solgate’s focus on solute carrier proteins is an example of the kind of ambitious science that benefits from patient capital. These proteins represent a large class of therapeutic targets that have been historically challenging to address, requiring sustained research efforts and iterative development approaches that don’t fit neatly into traditional VC timelines.

The patient capital philosophy extends to supporting companies through multiple development phases and market applications. Rather than pressuring portfolio companies to pursue exits at the first viable opportunity, Wlanholding evaluates whether continued investment and support can create significantly greater long-term value by enabling companies to capture larger market opportunities or develop additional applications for their core technologies.

Concentrated Portfolio Approach Over Diversification Models

Traditional venture capital follows portfolio construction models designed to generate returns through a small number of highly successful investments that compensate for multiple failures or modest successes. This approach requires VCs to make numerous investments with limited resources available for deep engagement with individual companies.

Werner Lanthaler has built Wlanholding around a concentrated portfolio approach that enables deeper engagement with each investment. Rather than spreading capital across dozens of companies with limited attention available for each, the concentrated approach enables meaningful partnership relationships that can significantly influence company development outcomes.

This concentrated investment strategy requires higher conviction in investment decisions but creates opportunities for more substantial support during critical development phases. The approach aligns well with the complex, relationship-intensive nature of biotechnology innovation, where strategic partnerships and deep domain expertise often determine success more than capital availability alone.

The concentrated approach also enables better integration between portfolio companies, facilitating knowledge sharing and collaborative development opportunities that larger, more diversified portfolios cannot easily coordinate. Companies like Proxygen and Cerabyte can benefit from shared insights and complementary expertise that emerge from closer portfolio integration.

Active Partnership Beyond Financial Investment

Traditional venture capital relationships often involve providing capital in exchange for board representation and periodic monitoring, with limited operational involvement beyond major strategic decisions. Wlanholding’s approach emphasizes active partnership and operational support that leverages Lanthaler’s extensive industry experience and professional network.

This active partnership approach draws on his experience building Evotec from approximately 200 employees to over 5,000 while expanding revenue from €40 million to €800 million. Portfolio companies benefit from strategic guidance based on direct experience with scaling biotechnology companies, navigating regulatory processes, and developing strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions.

The active partnership involves hands-on problem-solving during critical development phases. Rather than simply monitoring progress through board meetings and investor updates, Wlanholding engages directly with portfolio companies to overcome technical challenges, navigate regulatory complexities, and develop strategic partnerships. This level of involvement often proves essential for companies developing breakthrough technologies that require specialized expertise and industry relationships.

Long-Term Value Creation Over Rapid Exit Strategies

Traditional VC models prioritize generating returns within fund timelines, creating pressure for portfolio companies to pursue exit opportunities that may not optimize long-term value creation. Wlanholding’s approach emphasizes building sustainable competitive advantages and market positions that create lasting value, even if this requires longer development timelines.

This long-term orientation allows portfolio companies to build robust scientific foundations, develop multiple product applications, and establish market positions that support sustained growth rather than optimizing for quick exits. Cerabyte’s development of revolutionary data storage technology exemplifies this approach, pursuing ambitious technical objectives that may take years to fully commercialize but could create substantial long-term value.

The long-term approach extends to supporting companies through multiple growth phases and market expansions. Rather than exiting when companies achieve initial success, Wlanholding evaluates whether continued investment can enable companies to capture significantly larger opportunities by expanding into adjacent markets or developing additional applications for their core technologies.

Scientific Expertise Drives Investment Decisions

Traditional venture capital often relies on pattern recognition and financial analysis to evaluate investment opportunities, with limited deep scientific expertise in specific technology areas. However, Werner Lanthaler brings extensive domain knowledge from his experience in biotechnology development, enabling more sophisticated technical evaluation of investment opportunities.

This scientific expertise allows Wlanholding to identify promising opportunities that traditional VCs might overlook due to technical complexity or unfamiliarity with specific scientific domains. Companies developing advanced platform technologies, addressing difficult biological targets, or pursuing novel therapeutic approaches benefit from investors who understand the technical merits and development challenges rather than relying primarily on market comparisons.

The scientific expertise also enables more effective ongoing support and strategic guidance. Lanthaler can provide insights based on direct experience with similar technical challenges, regulatory requirements, and commercial development pathways rather than generic business development advice that characterizes many traditional VC relationships.

Risk Management Through Deep Domain Understanding

Rather than managing investment risk through portfolio diversification alone, Wlanholding’s approach emphasizes a deep understanding of the scientific and technical risks associated with each investment. This domain expertise enables more accurate risk assessment and more effective risk mitigation strategies than traditional portfolio construction approaches.

The risk management approach considers the specific technical challenges, regulatory pathways, and market development requirements associated with each company’s approach. Rather than applying generic risk models across diverse investments, the deep domain understanding enables tailored support strategies that address the most critical success factors for each portfolio company.

This sophisticated risk assessment extends to strategic partnership development and competitive analysis. Understanding the technical differentiation and competitive advantages of portfolio companies enables more effective positioning for strategic partnerships, acquisition opportunities, and market development initiatives.

Through his alternative approach to biotechnology investment, Werner Lanthaler has created an investment platform that is uniquely positioned to support the most ambitious scientific innovations while generating sustainable returns for all stakeholders. Wlanholding’s model shows how alternative investment structures can better serve both entrepreneurs and investors in complex, technology-intensive industries that require patient capital and deep domain expertise.

The success of this approach suggests opportunities for evolution in how life sciences innovation is funded and supported, moving beyond standardized VC models towards more flexible structures that align investor capabilities with the specific requirements of breakthrough biotechnology development.

Life-Cycle Thinking Under Fire: Industrial Ecology Mission Amid Geopolitical Conflict

Max Izaks
-
0
Life-Cycle Thinking Under Fire: Industrial Ecology Mission Amid Geopolitical Conflict
ben gurion kniv
Ben-Gurion University Campus

Dr. Tamar Makov is a lecturer at the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management school at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Originally from Israel, she earned a BSc in Nutrition Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before moving to the U.S. to complete an MA and PhD in Environmental Studies at Yale University.  Recruited back to BGU in 2019, she now lectures at the university. Her research focuses on data science, circular economy, and life-cycle analysis.

See Related Article: Hebrew University Recognized as World Leader in Movement Ecology 

At the heart of her work lies industrial ecology. The field of study that industrial ecology encapsulates is the analysis of the relationship between the natural environment and industrial processes to promote sustainable development. The aim of this idea is to minimize environmental impacts and promote efficiency by integrating production and consumption development. Critical characteristics of the field of study are life-cycle assessment, economy, and sustainability. While lifecycle assessment is widely taught throughout the U.S and European universities, Israel only has about five dedicated researchers in the field. Dr. Makov’s efforts, a new curriculum at the university, and other students are looking to change this.

At BGU, Dr. Makov’s research thrusts include:

  • Looking into emerging tech, to model current production systems
  • Identifying current “hotspots” to identify and lessen environmental impacts
  • Digitalization studies, to examine how consumer behavior shifts in response to initiatives
  • Second-hand culture, the study on how reuse is effective only when it replaces new production and use of resources

 

By intersecting research, data, and conclusions, Dr. Makov and her associates aim to bridge theory and real-world impact. To increase efficiency and sustainability while reducing harmful environmental practices and their impacts. 

Lifecycle Analysis Flow Diagram, Credit: Mark Fedkin

Dr. Makov also lies at an interesting intersection herself. Her educational background at Yale University and her current job at BGU highlight some notable differences in the academic mindset between American and Israeli students. In America, it is much easier for students to focus on their education. While there are inconveniences and real, valid life events, students are still given the opportunity to focus entirely on their education. However, this is not the case for all students in Israel. Makov explains that it is more challenging for students to work, especially when focusing on certain school subjects. To many during a time of war, an environmental education can be seen as secondary. It is challenging to focus on sustainability when a war is unfolding in the backyard. Additionally, many of Makov’s students were in attendance at the Nova Festival during the October 7th terrorist attacks conducted by Hamas. These are just some of the challenges and experiences that Israeli students face when they decide to attend school.

See Related Article: Desert University Goes Green With Gusto

Even if students do decide to study the environment, their tough times do not disappear. On one occasion, Dr. Makov had students studying abroad in the Netherlands. During their final presentation, three of their classmates disregarded the instructions and instead targeted the few Israeli students. Instead of displaying their knowledge, they displayed their ignorance by spouting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment at the horror and shock of the other students. 

 

Despite her international pedigree, Dr. Makov faces hurdles stemming from resource constraints and geopolitical tensions. Funding in Israel is much more limited than at major U.S. institutions. This means that research, grants, and funding overall need to be taken seriously and utilized in a careful and targeted way. Additionally, recruiting students with a background in the environmental field can be difficult. To add on, many institutions outside of Israel who used to send students to study at BGU have either pulled out, or the students have not wanted to come due to the war. Partnerships are fragile in general. One example of this came from Dr. Makov’s work on studying bluefish. The study was utilizing a particular software, one that Dr. Makov had used in the past. However, after the October 7th attacks and subsequent public response, the software company will pull its programming. This experience is not unique.

Ariel Image of Ben Gurion univeristy of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Meanwhile, Dr. Makov reflects on her own time studying abroad at Yale, where she once shared an office with a Palestinian man from Gaza. This shows that collaboration and cooperation are possible. Today, along with many others, Dr. Makov observes that many activists in the U.S. and worldwide often conflate climate issues, Israel-Palestine issues, and other social issues. In her view, this distracts from all causes and forms a generalization. She says that we are better off focusing on issues that are urgent to environmental work: low-income and minority communities still face increased environmental risks, and emerging economies like China drive global emission increases. One example of this comes from Greta Thunberg. Thunberg, who is a climate activist, recently attempted to deliver symbolic aid to Gaza. Thus, bringing the two issues close in activist dialogue. 

See Related Article: Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Joins Gaza Flotilla

As the war continues, Dr. Tamar Makov remains committed to expanding Israel’s footprint in industrial ecology and circular economy, even as she navigates a fractured global landscape. Her work demonstrates that rigorous methods, interdisciplinary teaching, and data-driven projects can still, and will continue to, pave the way toward a more sustainable future. 

 

1...282930...783Page 29 of 783

Have news to share? Renewable energy news, architectural, artificial intelligence, biotech, sustainable design ideas, eco-architecture, green travel?
Email us: [email protected]

Company

Headlines

Fresh Fava Bean Soup, A Vegan Springtime Recipe

0
Big, gnarly fava bean pods are in season right...

The future of trucking and freight is electric and hydrogen

0
For years the freight industry tried to force a...

Electric and hydrogen long-haul trucks are finally leaving the prototype era

0
When wars in Iran threaten oil routes, and Saudi...

Tesla Semi, electric road trains and the safer freight future after the Iran war

0
When the US-Israel-Iran war rattles oil routes and sends...

Newsletter

Get important news delivered directly to your inbox and stay connected!

© 2007 to 2026 Green Prophet, All Rights Reserved