On 5 October, Nicole Mann became the first Native American woman in space. As a Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and member of the Wailacki tribe of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, Mann was aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as a part of the Crew-5 mission, a six-month endeavor at the International Space Station to conduct 200+ experiments and spacewalks. Mann, who commanded the spacecraft, represents …
Scientists have found that wax worms (which are the caterpillar larvae of wax moths) have saliva with two enzymes that break down durable polyethylene—a widely produced plastic. The discovery was made when “one scientist, an amateur beekeeper, cleaned out an infested hive and found the larvae started eating holes in a plastic refuse bag.” As Dr Federica Bertocchini of the Biological Research Centre in Madrid …
In Vermont, small artisanal cheesemakers are working to make cheese regeneratively and renewably in order to help combat climate change. For these turophiles, cheese is more than a delectable provision and could be a solution to the warming climate—one that harkens back 11,000 years. As University of Vermont’s professor of nutrition and food science Paul Kindstedt explains, that was “the beginning of an extraordinarily moist, …
