This semester I’m teaching a course called Biosphere in Translation. It’s about how we think of ourselves as part of or apart from the natural world. Here in the US, we are steeped in what we call the “Western” worldview. This worldview sees humans as apart from Nature. Nature has things that we humans...
The winter solstice is today, when the northern hemisphere marks its shortest day length and longest night length. (It’s the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere.) Of course, the Earth doesn’t actually tilt on its axis, it’s just reached that part of its annual journey around the sun where the northern hemisphere is tilted...
Strap in…..this newsletter will make your blood boil…. On Nov. 3, 2025, during the recent US Government Shutdown, the US EPA registered a new pesticide, epyrifenacil, for use as a “pre-plant burndown herbicide for use in canola, field corn, soybean, wheat and fallow fields,” AND, “for non-agricultural use on non-crop areas such as around...
Last week, I talked a little bit about several times during our lifespan, called critical periods, where we are particularly sensitive to input from our environment. Input like light and eye muscle input to the eyes when we are developing our depth perception in early childhood. Input like hormones and other signal chemicals coming...
For most of us, if you’re exposed to more than one language as a young child, it’s much easier to become fluent in those multiple languages, and the language skills stick with you much better than if you try to learn another language in adulthood. We often think of this feat in childhood as...
