Welcome to the week!
Don’t miss our pod episode with the co-founders of The Sick Times. Long Covid is impacting millions of people, and ongoing coverage of it is so, so important. More details below!
And now to the news.
This week:
🏭Power plant regulations
🐔The bird flu virus in milk
🚰Water system cyberattacks
💻 Spotting deepfakes
And more
Have a great week,
— Willow
This is science for people who give a shit.
Every week, we help 28,000+ humans understand and unfuck the rapidly changing world around us. It feels great, and we’d love for you to join us.
🙋♀️ Vote!
Last week, we asked if you feel prepared or knowledgeable enough to recognize greenwashing.
You said:
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 Yes (35%)
“Most greenwashing relies on very superficial claims while making no deal changes.”
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ No (29%)
“I want to get better at recognizing it though.”
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 It depends (36%)
“I think for the most part I can recognize when brands are greenwashing but I’m human and I live in a late stage capitalist society where it’s all too easy to fall prey to greedy corporations. ”
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All the essentials! Let’s do it.
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⚡️ Climate change:
New EPA regulations state that coal plants must reduce 90% of their greenhouse pollution by 2039, as well as limits on mercury emissions and wastewater discharge
What US counties will see the biggest changes in the job market due to the clean energy transition? Probably unsurprisingly areas that currently have a lot of drilling and mining operations will see the biggest change, but also areas that rely on manufacturing
🌍 The intensity of climate change related disasters are pushing past our current measurement scales — from extreme heat to hurricanes
🌏 Over 70% of the world’s workforce (about 2.4 billion people) are exposed to health hazards linked to climate change
The first American Climate Corps jobs are up on the job board, with job titles ranging from Invasive Plant Manager to Fisheries Intern, the program is supposed to give early career opportunities in clean energy and climate resilience
🦠 Health & Bio:
A “State of the Air” report from the American Lung Association found that over a third of Americans live in communities with unhealthy levels of air pollution
H5N1 Bird flu virus particles have been found in pasteurized milk (the FDA says it’s safe). If there’s a bird flu pandemic (there’s no evidence that it can spread between people yet), we don’t currently have the production capacity to make enough vaccines
🌍 Vaccines have played a huge role in reducing the number of babies that die — responsible for 40% of the worldwide decline in infant mortality since 1974
🌎 Countries are negotiating an agreement to reduce plastic pollution (and industry is of course fighting back, citing how essential plastics are in today’s world)
💦 Food & Water:
New nutrition standards for school meals limit added sugars and sodium for the first time
🌎 A series of cyberattacks on water systems (risking drinking water and wastewater management) in the US, Poland, and France are believed to be connected to Russia
Providing farmworkers with a living wage is better for everyone, including growers if they want to expand and diversify the industry in the long run
The taxpayer-funded Wildlife Services killed 1.45 million wild animals last year (including endangered gray wolves) as part of a pest control service for the meat industry
👩💻 Beep Boop:
🌍 With audio and video deepfakes on the rise, the best defense is common sense, and being proactive about your news consumption
Microsoft is suggesting that bigger isn’t always better when it comes to generative AI with the release of small AI models
Apple removed generative AI image apps from the App Store following reporting that found the apps advertising the ability to create nonconsensual nude images
The bill to force the sale of TikTok — or ban it in the US — has been signed, but it’s not going to be easy to enforce. This is just the beginning.
🌎 = Global news
Last week’s most popular Action Step was volunteering with your local YIMBY group to solve housing issues in your community.
Donate to the Long Covid Action Project to help keep governments accountable for providing support, research, and treatment.
Volunteer with the People’s CDC to help build collective power and fight for robust public health infrastructure.
🌏 Get educated about where you can find your closest Mask Bloc that provides access to high-quality PPE and resources for free.
Be heard about funding research for Long Covid and call Congress for a Long Covid Moonshot.
🌏 Invest in global health by partnering with the Gavi Matching Fund.
🌎 = Global Action Step
Who is still covering Long COVID, and how much is the audience actually growing?
That's today's big question, and my guests are Betsy Ladygetz and Miles Griffis, editors and co-founders of The Sick Times, a journalist-founded website chronicling the Long COVID crisis.
The Sick Times investigates injustices, challenges powerful institutions, wades through the latest research, assesses COVID-19 data, and offers an essential platform for those most affected by the crisis.
So many people are struggling directly or indirectly with Long COVID.
Sometimes they don't even know themselves.
But with journalism crumbling around us, new publications like The Sick Times operated by people with very particular essential skills and lived experiences can help make sure that these massive all all-encompassing issues of our lifetimes stay in the news, giving everyone else a way to stay in touch, and of course, to act.
📖 Prefer to read? Get the transcript here.
▶ Or watch the full episode on YouTube
Generative AI 🤝 CRISPR. Researchers hope that this tech will produce gene editors more powerful than those that evolved in bacteria over billions of years.
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