Bankrolling Big Oil

💡 Electrifying Africa

🧑‍⚕ Funding cut consequences

🍎 Food waste fails

💾 DeepSeek hype

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A $3 billion project to save Louisiana’s coastlines by rebuilding tens of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands is facing uncertainty (Floodlight News)

Extreme weather events over the past few years have disproportionately impacted Black communities, a situation that is further complicated by the current administration’s call for a review of FEMA and IRA spending that had supported community resilience projects (Capital B News)

🌎 30 African nations have endorsed an ambitious plan to provide electricity to 300 million people by 2030, an initiative launched by the World Bank and African Development Bank (Mongabay)

Despite the freeze on wind farm approvals, the US could still achieve about 13 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 from pre-approved projects (less than half of Biden’s goal), but some coastal areas like New York and New Jersey lack sufficient land for alternative renewable energy sources that would help them meet climate goals (Heatmap)

🌎 World leaders say they are still committed to the Paris Agreement, despite the US pulling out, although the impacts of continued emissions don’t recognize borders (The New York Times)

A study in mice (always an important caveat) suggests a connection between a mother’s gut microbiome during pregnancy and the long-term health of her offspring (The Scientist)

Even temporary disruptions to health care funding can have long-lasting consequences for vital research programs across areas like aging, heart disease, and cancer (The Contrarian)

Some nuance to the homelessness crisis and its relationship to housing costs: in cities with higher rents, family and friends who could potentially help lack the extra space to take in vulnerable loved ones. Safety nets are everything (Works in Progress)

Research into a potential solution to anti-microbial resistance (antimicrobial peptides) has stalled due to a data shortage, that could be solved by investment into a comprehensive peptide database (Macroscience)

🌎 A shortage of eye doctors in Mozambique has one doctor establishing a comprehensive approach to eye care that includes mobile clinics, community outreach, and training for local health workers (The New York Times)

Vermont is considering cutting it’s recently passed universal school meal program, as federal funds dry up and state budgets tighten (WCAX)

Salmon farms on the West Coast have been closed down, and now environmental advocacy groups are suing salmon farms on the East Coast too under the Clean Water Act (Mongabay)

🌎 A freeze on US foreign aid has caused widespread disruption to humanitarian services worldwide, including the shutdown of soup kitchens feeding people in war-torn Sudan, the closure of refugee hospitals in Thailand, and the suspension of crucial health programs fighting HIV/AIDs, malaria, and TB in multiple countries (The New York Times)

🌏 As reservoirs reach critically low levels in Mauritius, the country has imposed water consumption limits (Bloomberg)

Despite a pledge 10 years ago to reduce food waste by 50 percent, Americans still generate over 300 pounds of food waste annually per person (Gizmodo)

🌎 There’s been a lot of hype around DeepSeek in the tech world over the last week. Here’s an FAQ to get up to speed, because truly, who can keep up? (Stratchery)

And forget TikTok, DeepSeek is explicitly sending US data straight back to China (Wired)

But hackers from places like China and Iran are using US-based AI to enhance their cyberattacks (Wall Street Journal)

🌏 India is prioritizing investment into AI development and adoption over strict oversight (Rest of World)

Over 2000 datasets have been removed from data.gov since the new administration returned to office, and while some deletions may be routine administrative changes, archivists and researchers are worried about climate and DEI research data (404 Media)

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Learn about how you can be a better ally to trans and nonbinary people with this guide from the Trevor Project.

Be heard about having an HHS Secretary that knows wtf they are talking about when it comes to health and science, and tell your Senator to vote “No” on RFJ Jr.’s nomination (the vote is TOMORROW — your input matters!)

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