Singapore is celebrated for mixing nature into its dense urban core but a rich 23-acre tropical forest at its heart is now slated for conversion to housing I published a critical take on this to @mongabay.com today by a public health & #urbanecology researcher there & she makes many good points:

Looming loss of Singapore’s Maju Forest to development raises many questions (commentary)

Every city faces difficult choices about how to use its land. As populations grow, governments must provide homes, transport and other essential infrastructure while protecting the natural ecosystems ...

news.mongabay.com

Happy birthday to the legendary mad farmer The contrary poet, agrarian and occasional activist Wendell Berry turns 92 today 🎂

This Thursday, SpaceX insiders will be released from their first post-IPO stock lockup and can cash out early. As I've been saying, this has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.

My editor asked me to write about what happened to summer:

We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit

Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys

theguardian.com

Eight Pulitzer Prize awardees — 5 winners and 3 finalists — acknowledged using AI in their reporting process this year. www.niemanlab.org/2026/08/a-re...

A record-breaking eight Pulitzer awardees disclosed AI use this year

Five winners and three finalists detailed their AI adoption to the judging committee.

niemanlab.org

Uefa pushing for the letters of support for Infantino to be withdrawn Vote of no confidence expected www.independent.co.uk/sport/footba...

Gianni Infantino’s demise isn’t enough – Fifa must fundamentally change

Infantino’s fall after his scandalous World Cup sell-off plan is being compared to that of Margaret Thatcher, writes Miguel Delaney, but football needs to think much bigger than just getting rid of on...

independent.co.uk

My ongoing photo series “Intertidal”documents the messy majesty of the shore via b&w film and color digital, both above and below water, and via drone — See the latest additions to this project from Great Wass Island on Maine’s beautiful bold coast here: www.instagram.com/p/DbQiB8zEbhK/

"We show that this [small slice of SW Amazonia] alone contains as many earthworks as previously estimated for the whole of Amazonia. We also propose that the total human population of the area in 100–300 AD was 1.25–3 million people. If similar results are found elsewhere in Amazonia..."

Over 20,000 precolonial earthworks in the Southwest Amazonia - Nature

Using canopy-penetrating LiDAR data, the northern part of southwestern Amazonia appears to contain as many earthworks as previously estimated for the whole of Amazonia.

nature.com

A legal scholar on eminent domain provides useful background via @theconversation.com on #datacenters as the latest incarnation in a long debate abt the limits of taking private property for public use Some smart states like MI, OH & OK have outlawed this but what qualifies as "public use" is key:

When can a power company take your land for data center infrastructure?

Courts have long let utilities seize private property to build transmission lines. Does that hold if the power flows to a single data center?

theconversation.com

Waaaaay beyond time for astronomers to file suit against this test (and the #spacex plan too) This "would probably mean the end of ground-based astronomy, or optical astronomy, at least,” says the American Astronomical Society Effects on nocturnal animals, migrating birds seems worth a suit, too:

Can giant space mirrors boost green energy on Earth? A start-up aims to find out

Astronomers are deeply worried that a planned array of 50,000 mirror-bearing satellites in orbit will severely compromise telescopes.

nature.com

One of the most cooked fish in the Amazon, the tambaqui was included in Brazil's list of threatened species, triggering fear of losses from Amazon small-scale fishers who depend on the species for their livelihood. @bykarlamendes.bsky.social on @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fish...

Fishers fight for solutions as Brazil lists tambaqui as threatened

Amazon fishers fear a total ban on their most iconic catch could favor industrial farms over local communities.

news.mongabay.com

Edited a new @mongabay.com op-ed by community-based carbon market leader Pati Ruiz Corzo: Why have the markets fallen so short on supporting both forest #conservation AND the communities that protect them, she asks? & she shares how Carbono Biodiverso & Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda succeed @ both:

How carbon markets can succeed & also serve Global South communities (commentary)

Carbon markets were designed around the compelling premise that private finance could flow where forests are most at risk, rewarding the communities and landowners who protect them while helping compa...

news.mongabay.com

Waaaaay beyond time for astronomers to file suit against this test (and the #spacex plan too) This "would probably mean the end of ground-based astronomy, or optical astronomy, at least,” says the American Astronomical Society Effects on nocturnal animals, migrating birds seems worth a suit, too:

Can giant space mirrors boost green energy on Earth? A start-up aims to find out

Astronomers are deeply worried that a planned array of 50,000 mirror-bearing satellites in orbit will severely compromise telescopes.

nature.com

A new study from researchers @climatecentral.org confirms that climate change is responsible for mass, global-scale bleaching of coral reefs And #BigOilKnew about the potential risks of their products on coral reefs decades ago, Oxford researchers say www.oneearthnow.org/p/fossil-fue...

Fossil Fueled Climate Crisis is Driving Mass Coral Bleaching

Widespread bleaching of coral reefs would not have occurred absent human-caused warming, and Big Oil knew about the risks to coral reefs in the 1980s, new research finds.

oneearthnow.org

“You don’t need rare earths, critical raw materials & the beauty is you can also charge up the battery when electricity is cheap.” Sand battery heats this Finnish town for a week in winter or a month in summer 👀 And unlike lithium-ion batteries, energy can be stored for days and maybe even weeks:

Finland’s radical answer to renewable energy’s biggest headache: The world’s largest sand battery

A small Finnish town has turned to the world's largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.

cnbc.com

As the US looks to produce new protein-packed meat alternatives in combat zones #vegan options get a shout (despite Hegseth's phony manly-man rhetoric) @lelanargi.bsky.social reports Still, “The intent of the MRE is to eat the entire thing & if people don’t like what’s in them, they ratfuck them.”

Vegan MREs for the Troops

Starting in 2027, the U.S. military will offer four plant-based Meals Ready-to-Eat. Troops asked for them.

ambrook.com

The Digital Front of Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’ Since end-May, anti-government protests in Albania have evolved into the largest civil mobilisation since the fall of the dictatorial regime in the early 1990s.

The Digital Front of Albania’s ‘Flamingo Revolution’

Since end-May, anti-government protests in Albania have evolved into the largest civil mobilisation since the fall of the dictatorial regime in the early 1990s. With traditional media largely silent, the digital space has become both a refuge for protest and a testing ground for digital authoritarianism.

balkaninsight.com

“The famine is over! The curse be damned!! Hit the nuclear button! Mayo have won the All-Ireland!!” An all-time great sports commentary moment from Stephen Grealis and Martin McHugh on Mayo’s Midwest Radio. #gaa

Earth’s #oceans are rapidly losing #oxygen. It could destabilize the planet, scientists warn> h2oradio.org/this-week-in...

But of course, read the whole thread. Grateful for Cory Doctorow, and grateful he writes about Silicon Valley with a flamethrower....

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w ago

As an economic pathology, AI is *extraordinary*. AI boosters have spent a baffling and terrifying sum of money - over $1.4T, most of that in the past year - on the promise of making as many workers unemployed as possible, while lowering the wages of the meager survivors of this jobspocalypse. 3/

Epic American wildlife is found in the U.S. East too 🦬 Elk are back after successful reintros & #rewilding plus bison & sandhill cranes -- moose, fisher & bear are also rebounding Today at @mongabay.com I interview the author of an inspiring new book "Beasts of the East" that chronicles all this:

‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlife

Thinking of America’s iconic wild creatures and places usually brings images of Yellowstone or Denali National Park to mind, or the many wilderness areas scattered across multiple states, but the coll...

news.mongabay.com

Heard a popular & progressive podcast host talk about taking a "bufo" trip & how his guide said it was "humanely extracted" Incorrect ~ "milking" Sonoran desert toads stresses a wild species in decline, & hurts its habitat People can stop pressuring wild toads & use synthetic 5-MeO instead, please

Cabo Verde, Egypt, and Norway give their teams parades for champions. 🇨🇻 🇪🇬 🇳🇴 As one Norwegian put it: "It's nice to be a country that celebrates how far you've come. Not just where you finish." 🏆⚽️ When it concerns FIFA, that's not just a principle of self-love. It's pragmatic survival. 👀 🙃

"the American Astronomical Society said the endeavor cannot be considered to serve the public interest and would waste taxpayer $ by wrecking the work of federally funded astronomical facilities even as it brought untold risks to people and wildlife" Gift article. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/c...

F.C.C. Approves Test of Space Mirror to Light Night Sky Despite Outcry (Gift Article)

A start-up company has permission to try its plan to bounce solar rays onto the dark side of Earth, turning night to day for a three-mile-wide patch.

nytimes.com

New underwater photo session captured unfurling water lily #flowers & new leaves in states of splendor Water lilies only send green chlorophyll to leaves when they reach the surface, so underwater it’s an autumnal landscape of stunning reds & oranges Full set here: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner

Adorable animal emblem of Western Australia, the numbat (or banded anteater) is recovering after decades of #conservation efforts, @mongabay.com reports “The ‘downlisting’ of the numbat on the IUCN Red List from Endangered to Near Threatened is what we have been working for over the last 40 years!”

Once endangered, Australia's numbat is making a hopeful recovery

The animal emblem of Western Australia, the numbat, is recovering after decades of conservation efforts, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. For decades, the numbat or b...

news.mongabay.com

A rare bacteria found in water has been traced to a new AI #datacenter under construction for Meta in Wyoming “Meta is committed to being a good neighbor in Cheyenne, including through the protection of local water resources…” Public water supplies were contaminated with Cupriavidus gilardii

Rare bacteria in water traced to AI data center construction in Wyoming

The $800 million project is for Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram.

syracuse.com

Grew edible chicken of the woods #mushrooms in 2025 by shoving bits of ones I'd foraged elsewhere into a slowly dying red oak's bark for a couple years Now a new clump appeared this week (pic 2) 🥂 😍 Also works w/ chanterelles, just stuff stem ends & gills into soil under trees they're symbiotic w/

Instagram users with public accounts need to opt out to block AI generations of their content, Reece Rogers reports for @wired.com ~ www.wired.com/story/meta-n... As a photographer & journalist, I see inappropriate uses of my work often enough, but it's extra rude when driven by a platform