science
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Mining Aluminium for the Ford F-150 Lightning Is Allegedly Making Thousands in the Amazon Rainforest Sick
A class-action lawsuit against the owner of a refinery that produces aluminium ore used to make cars and EVs, including the Ford F-150 Lightning, argues that the refinery is polluting nearby rivers and streams, and endangering thousands of Brazilians in the process. The lawsuit represents 11,000 residents who live in communities close to the Hydro…
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AI Can Track Bees on Camera and It’s Going to Help Farmers
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way to track the insect pollinators essential to farming. In a new study, we installed miniature digital cameras and computers inside a greenhouse at a strawberry farm in Victoria, Australia, to track bees and other insects as they flew from plant to plant pollinating flowers. Using custom AI software,…
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The Threat of Killer Fungi Infections Is Growing, Researchers Find
Fungal infections have received a frenzy of attention thanks to the popularity of HBO’s The Last of Us. The show depicts a fungal pandemic caused by the real-life zombie-ant fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. It imagines the outcome of society’s collapse and a brutal approach to maintaining public health. But in (real-life) laboratories, hospitals and public health…
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Solar Farms Can Actually Double as Havens for Wildlife
Australia’s renewable energy transition has prompted the construction of dozens of large-scale solar farms. The boom helps reduce Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels, but requires large areas of land to be converted to host solar infrastructure. Solar farms are mostly built in rural areas. This has raised concerns about a potential decline in both agricultural…