Carlyn Zwarenstein

1 week ago | salon.com | Carlyn Zwarenstein

For years, we've known that not all bacteria are enemies — some are actually good for us, and belong inside us. That understanding sparked a boom in probiotics science and a multibillion dollar probiotics industry. But viruses? They still get a bad rap, despite quietly occupying our insides —and sometimes even helping us.  Not that scientists even agree on whether viruses are alive or not. There's so much we don't know, including just what they are doing in our bodies.

1 week ago | salon.com | Carlyn Zwarenstein

Dimethyl sulfide, also known as DMS, sounds like it could be a chemical compound you'd try to avoid on an ingredient label, or the poisonous ingredient in a murder mystery. But some scientists view this simple compound as a biosignature — a key indicator of life. So there was great excitement when DMS was discovered on a "sub-Neptune planet" far from our solar system – 124 light years away, or about 17 trillion miles, in the constellation Leo.

1 week ago | salon.com | Carlyn Zwarenstein

The character of Dr. Dolittle, who "walks with the animals, talks with the animals," was the central figure in an early 20th century written by Hugh Lofting, acting as a kind of personal antidote to his trauma of experiencing the worst of humanity in the trenches of World War I. "A fox has his rights, the same as you and I have," the eponymous physician-turned-animal doctor said in one book. But Dr. Doolittle is eccentric and, of course, fiction.

1 week ago | salon.com | Carlyn Zwarenstein

INTERVIEW Salon sits down with Robert Macfarlane, whose new book asks the titular question, "Is a River Alive?" A view of the famous 'Morant's Curve' offering a beautiful view of the frozen Bow River and the Canadian Pacific Railway at Banff National park near Lake Louise, Canada, late on December 06, 2013. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images) English writer Robert Macfarlane is often described as a nature and travel writer, but that label barely scratches the surface. His work —...

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Carlyn Zwarenstein

8 hours agoThe Aircela acts like a mini direct air capture facility, sucking up carbon dioxide and then synthesizing it into real, usable gasoline for cars. In 2022, transportation was responsible for an estimated 28 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of those emissions came from …