u/The_Conversation

Greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies have nearly doubled globally since the 1960s, but reduced use of chemical fertilizers, managing irrigation and reducing tillage could cut emissions by about 10%
▲ 89 r/environment+1 crossposts

Greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies have nearly doubled globally since the 1960s, but reduced use of chemical fertilizers, managing irrigation and reducing tillage could cut emissions by about 10%

theconversation.com
u/The_Conversation — 16 hours ago
▲ 197 r/LegalNews

Supreme Court considers how much states can protect consumers when federal agencies won’t

Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer is back at the center of a major Supreme Court case that could make it much harder for consumers to sue companies over allegedly dangerous products.

The fight is over whether federal law protects Monsanto from state lawsuits because the EPA approved Roundup’s label without requiring a cancer warning.

Monsanto says that once the EPA signs off on a label, states can’t second-guess it in court.

But people who sued the company argue Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, has been linked to cancer in multiple studies and should have carried stronger warnings. (And just in the last decade, Monsanto, now owned by German chemical giant Bayer, has paid out over $10 billion to settle about 100,000 claims from people who said their health was harmed after they were exposed to Roundup.)

The case started after a Missouri man claimed years of using Roundup during neighborhood cleanup work caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A jury sided with him and awarded $1.25 million, and lower courts upheld the verdict.

Now the Supreme Court is weighing whether those kinds of lawsuits should even be allowed.

The decision could affect thousands of pending Roundup cases — and potentially give other industries a roadmap for avoiding state-level lawsuits when federal regulators have approved their products.

(Article written by a scholar of environmental and food law).

theconversation.com
u/The_Conversation — 5 days ago

We tested the new World Cup ball – this is what you need to know about how it will fly, dip and swerve

The new World Cup ball was designed to fly differently.

This year’s soccer ball hits its “drag crisis” at lower speeds than past models, meaning some long balls could fall a few meters short – while grooves and texture may help avoid the chaotic swerves of past models.

"Will the grooves on Trionda help players generate more backspin on the ball, generating more lift and possibly offsetting Trionda’s somewhat larger high-speed drag coefficient?"

More analysis from a physicist who studies every World Cup ball both in the lab and through their behavior in play ⬆️

theconversation.com
u/The_Conversation — 7 days ago

Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn language

The sing-song voice many adults instinctively use with infants, sometimes called “baby talk” but more accurately known as “parentese” or infant-directed speech, actually helps children learn language.

Far from confusing babies, exaggerating phrases like “Loooook at the doggie!” capture their attention, help them detect patterns in speech and strengthen social bonding.

theconversation.com
u/The_Conversation — 8 days ago

How much is a bat worth? Protecting these tiny insect-eaters is good for the economy

Protecting bats isn’t just about biodiversity — it’s about protecting ecosystems, farms and rural communities.

When bats disappear, pesticide use rises, rural counties lose millions in revenue and local governments face higher borrowing costs.

Just one colony of 150 big brown bats can eat 600,000 crop-damaging beetles in a single year.

theconversation.com
u/The_Conversation — 8 days ago