Troy Farah

1 week ago | salon.com | Troy Farah

Plants are vastly intelligent in ways many people may not understand or appreciate. They have to be, since most of them move very little (if at all), so they require complex chemistry to communicate and protect themselves, often adorning themselves in bizarre garments. Some plants actually mimic animals, such as the South African beetle daisy, for example, which evolved petals that imitate dark flies resting on their flowers, thereby fooling bugs into "mating" with them.

1 month ago | salon.com | Troy Farah

The greatest invention of the Industrial Age isn’t the iPhone or lithium-ion batteries or even the internal combustion engine — it’s public health. Unfortunately for our “see it to believe it” culture, public health works best when it’s practically invisible, just humming along in the background. Thus, there are few things Westerners take for granted more than reduced child mortality, reduced death in child birth and the eradication of history’s most brutal diseases like polio and smallpox.

1 month ago | salon.com | Troy Farah

President Donald Trump sent a memorandum to four federal department heads yesterday with instructions to allow the military to take control of federal lands along the U.S.-Mexico border. The move is part of a broader effort to crack down on undocumented immigration. “Our southern border is under attack from a variety of threats,” a presidential memorandum posted Friday night claims.

1 month ago | salon.com | Troy Farah

Mahmoud Khalil, the student activist who led pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, can be deported by the Trump administration, a judge ruled on Friday. Khalil was arrested at his New York City apartment on March 8, the first arrest under President Donald Trump’s agenda to crack down on protestors who joined campus demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza. Khalil is a green card holder and permanent legal resident who is married to Noor Abdalla, an American citizen.

2 months ago | yahoo.com | Troy Farah

A surge of infections from a tropical virus is raising alarm among public health officials because it appears to be causing birth defects similar to those associated with Zika virus. Known as Oropouche virus, it can trigger a fever that may cause pregnant people to miscarry or their babies to have birth defects known as microcephaly, or smaller than usual heads.