Latest Stories from Agatha
How SeaForester is reforesting our oceans
SeaForester’s simple new technology could bring a valuable carbon sink back from the brink. When we talk deforestation, it’s normally about trees and animals on dry land. But it’s a problem that goes much further – all the way into the deep blue sea. Each year we lose three million hectares of marine vegetation. Over the past fifty years the world's kelp forests have declined by 50%. This is in part due...
Opinion – dApps could eventually topple big tech
By democratizing our data, dApps could be the internet’s saving grace. Decentralized applications (dApps) are apps that run on block-chain or peer-to-peer technology, meaning that users interact directly with each other, not a central authority. This is not the case with most applications. Photos posted to Instagram, for example, are sent to Meta’s servers and redistributed to followers. Throughout this process, Meta has the power to censor content or decide...
New York Times contributors protest biased trans coverage
In the last eight months, it's estimated that The New York Times has published over 13,945 words of front-page coverage debating medical care for trans children.
Big media loves a moral panic, but it’s a little embarrassing to see it from the Times, as was echoed by an open letter from over 1,200 contributors to the paper last month - among them Cynthia Nixon, Chelsea Manning and Roxanne Gay.
How will London look in 2050?
As the climate is thrown into flux, London could be an adaptive utopia. Or, it could be a site of catastrophe. In 2050, London winters will be wetter, summers will be drier, and everything will be hotter. The city’s population is set to grow to 11 million. There will be enormous pressure to adapt infrastructure, health, and housing systems to a larger city with new needs. As cities tend to...
Online eBook platform Z-Library makes comeback
Z-library, an illegal online collection of eBooks, is beloved by both college students and romance novel fans. It is back after being seized last November by the FBI. The ‘shadow library’ has hosted free (and illegal) downloads from a selection of over 11 million eBooks since 2009. However, its surging popularity on TikTok in 2022 turned the site from open-secret to open-target, as groups like the Authors Guild began to...
How Batgirl’s failure poorly impacted Glasgow’s community
Months after the movie was infamously pulled, business owners in Glasgow are still getting the short end of the stick from film sets. After sinking £75 million and countless hours into the blockbuster Batgirl movie, Warner Bros shocked many by pulling the plug last summer. Not only had the movie already been filmed (a massive endeavor that saw Glasgow’s streets transformed into Gotham for almost half a year), it...
Why are wildflower lawns experiencing a surge in popularity?
Wildflower lawns are changing what we consider to be a traditional ‘garden’, and could have long term effects on our approach to personal nature projects. Ever heard of a ‘wildflower lawn’? Those familiar with the ins and outs of gardening may already be in the know, but wildflower lawns could soon become a mainstream staple of the gardening industry. What exactly are they, though? Grown with mixes of native species, instead...
Opinion – why we should invest in travel by train
If you’re not choosy about the time of day, you can often catch a one hour flight from, say, Edinburgh to London for around £20. In comparison, the same journey via train will normally take around 6 hours, and cost £60 or more. We need to change how we fund our trains. It’s no surprise then that cheap, fast flights have become incredibly popular. But why the huge price...
