Almost every week seems to bring a new report that plastic is even worse than had been thought for both human and planetary health. This week, it’s a paper in the Lancet that warns of a “grave, growing” danger from the rising tide of the material, and puts its health-related economic costs at more than $1.5 trillion a...
AI boosts sustainability in vineyards, production, and enotourism
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the future of winemaking, offering solutions that balance environmental stewardship, economic growth, and cultural preservation. A new study outlines how AI tools can transform viticulture, wine production, and enotourism. The research paper titled “Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Wine Industry: AI-Driven Management in Viticulture, Wine Production and Enotourism” highlights the untapped potential of...
High heat is making students underperform globally
A massive report studying nearly 14.5 million students in 61 countries found that long-term heat exposure is interfering with students’ abilities to learn —and prolonged heat streaks are only getting worse. Why it matters: Increasingly high temperatures are worsening disparate educational outcomes, with the potential for long-term impacts on graduation rates and cognitive ability to grow as the globe continues to...
Ed Feulner Was a Conservative Giant
Rarely has there been an entrepreneur who dedicated as much of his life to making the world a better place through principled public policy solutions and had such a lasting, positive impact on the world as Edwin J. Feulner, PhD., founder and longtime president of the Heritage Foundation.
Whole Foods and Mad Agriculture Launch Biodiversity Project
Whole Foods Market and Mad Agriculture have launched a landmark initiative to reconstruct native ecosystems across American farmland, beginning in the Lowery Creek Watershed in Wisconsin. The “biodiversity highway” aims to create connected corridors of climate-resilient habitats that restore biodiversity, strengthen soil and water health, and increase the resilience of the U.S. food system. “Teaming up with...
No Country for Climate Hawks
Once perched atop the climate movement’s moral high ground, the self-anointed “climate hawks” are now watching their influence dwindle, and nowhere is that retreat more visible than in California. Long the epicenter of progressive climate ambition, the Golden State is now backpedaling. Democrats who once championed aggressive environmental mandates are hitting pause, reworking regulations, and distancing themselves...
Scuba diving generates up to $20B annually, with conservation benefits: Study
The global scuba diving industry generates between $8.5 billion and $20.4 billion each year, while also providing widespread marine conservation benefits, a new study has found. The diving sector supports up to 124,000 jobs across 170 countries on an annual basis, contributing to both ocean ecology and local communities, according to the study, published Friday...
Spotted Lanternfly Threatens Pennsylvania Vineyards and Wine Industry
Spotted lanternfly season is back in Pennsylvania. The polka-dotted, gray-and-red-winged adult insects make their appearance each July and tend to hang around until December. It’s an unwelcome summer ritual that started in 2014 when the invasive pests were first detected in the U.S. The Conversation U.S. talked to Flor Acevedo, an assistant professor of entomology at Penn State...
Yellowstone aspen may be recovering thanks to 1990s reintroduction of wolves
The restoration of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park has helped revive an aspen tree population unique to the region, a new study has found. Quaking aspen, one of the few deciduous tree species in the northern Rocky Mountain ecosystem, is once again thriving, after suffering severe decline during the 20th century, according to the...
What is Energy Dominance and How Do We Get More of It?
While most Republican presidents have campaigned on some version of energy independence or an “all-of-the-above” energy approach, President Donald Trump goes further—no longer just independence, but dominance is the goal.









