"A court ruling shrinking the scope of the Clean Water Act has allowed new data centers to speed through the federal permitting process. Communities are feeling the effects."
"Men’s average testosterone levels have halved over the past 50 years, according to scientists, who say society is facing a male fertility crisis." "Researchers warn of ‘major crisis in male reproductive health’ partly driven by obesity and diabetes"
"Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III issued a defense of the National Museum of American History to staffers on Tuesday, in response to a caustic White House report accusing the museum of pushing “extreme political activism.”
"A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of The Washington Post, throwing out a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed in 2023 by President Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group." "The social media company failed to identify convincing evidence that The Post acted with actual malice, a federal judge in Tampa ruled."
"A homegrown catnip lotion has proven “just as effective as Deet” as a mosquito repellant in trials carried out in Uganda."
"For the first time in history, Deep Tunnel, Chicago’s massive system of underground tunnels and reservoirs designed to hold floodwater, is almost completely full after a weekend of heavy rain."
"Washington DC residents breathed in “unhealthy” air for hours after a 40-minute Independence Day fireworks show over the National Mall on Saturday night, with the country’s capital briefly recording the worst air quality of any major city in the world."
"At Ashawaug Farm in southwest Rhode Island, Dawn and Cassius Spears preserve their Indigenous knowledge of agriculture through the cultivation and keeping of three Narragansett heritage crops: white corn, succotash beans and crookneck squash."
"Alabama officials are seeking federal permission to fill a stretch of wetlands and streams to move forward on the Birmingham Northern Beltline, a decades-long highway project that critics say is unnecessary and will destroy huge swaths of sensitive forests, wetlands and streams."
"As the city recovers from the largest municipal bankruptcy in history, major construction has reshaped it. New concrete businesses have opened in response. A concrete mixing plant has opened in the Cadillac Heights neighborhood, a process aided by the decisions of city officials."
