by Expand Your Consciousness
Conversations with friends and family about the best places to live to avoid the harsh impacts of climate change are becoming more regular and less abstract in my corner of the world. Even if I may not live to see the worst of what’s likely, it is hard to put aside worries about what kind … Read more
I have a thing about old family cookbooks. They are a kind of time capsule about the women in my family. Stuffed with newspaper clippings of recipes, grocery lists, and even an occasional letter stashed for safekeeping, they are a treasury of hints about grandmothers and aunts. It wasn’t until I was going through … Read more
Amidst growing concerns about future global food security, many people are thinking about sustainable ways to provide adequate protein for the world’s growing population. In their book, Sustainable Protein Sources, a team from the U.S. and Canada warns that the world’s population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, bringing with it a … Read more
Our cats were constantly asking to go outside. We never gave in to their plaintive cries because a) we loved the abundant birdlife in our neighborhood and b) we lived on a busy street. Fortunately, we have a very creative cousin who loves to surprise us with projects around the house. One day, we came … Read more
Who hasn’t cringed after coming home from a grocery shop to find that those expensive avocados we thought were going to be ripe and tasty turn out to be duds? Despite learning to feel for that perfect amount of squish when squeezing for ripeness at the store, I still find myself having to toss too … Read more
This is a wonderful plant to share with small children who delight in seeing flowers that are ‘their size”—at least that is how I saw them as a kid. The New York Botanical Garden highlighted the “kid-friendliness” of Sweet William in a lecture they hosted by Bill Calkins, a manager with the Ball Horticultural Company, … Read more
This isn’t an article about what kind of cooking oil is healthiest for you. This is an article urging you to make sure that if you buy coconut oil, it comes from a humane and sustainable source. Environmentalists and animal rights activists have done a good job of shedding light on the heartbreaking deforestation … Read more
I always remember the day O’Riley broke my spirit. He was the first dog I adopted as an adult. When he was about six or seven months old, he became increasingly destructive when I wasn’t home (this was in the days before we knew that crating a dog when you went out could keep it … Read more
5G (which is short for 5th generation cellular mobile communications technology) is the subject of much controversy. A team from Oregon State University (OSU) has published a paper with their findings on 5G safety as tested with zebrafish. For readers who don’t know, zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a favorite proxy for humans in toxicology … Read more
Artificial outdoor light at night has been the subject of a range of research studies. Within the past few years, it has been “associated with depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors” by a research team at the University of Seoul1; “significantly related to obesity” by a research team from Korea University College of Medicine2; and a … Read more