Latest Stories from Jessica
How major oil firms will try to block the world’s first plastic pollution treaty
Global leaders are meeting this week to secure the world’s first global plastic pollution treaty, but big oil companies have major stakes in continuing to produce virgin plastics. There’s sure to be major pushback. The fossil fuel industry is starting to lose its monopoly on the global energy sector. Renewables are being embraced worldwide, electric vehicles are becoming cheaper, and innovation aimed at storing green power continues to find success. Knowing...
Study shows coronavirus can have long-term effects on the brain
Researchers have found differences in the frontal lobe and brainstem of recovered COVID-19 patients when compared to healthy people. These changes are linked to issues such as anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and other cognitive abnormalities. Feeling out of whack despite finally testing negative for COVID? A recent small study may have just discovered why. With millions of people reporting symptoms of long COVID, doctors everywhere are trying to figure out how...
Milan Design Week showcases innovative biofilm breakthrough
At the world’s most important design event, Dutch designer Lionne van Deursen presented an innovative biofilm made from yeast. The eco-material could one day replace pesky plastic films that are notoriously difficult to recycle. Phasing out plastics is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. With 9 billion tons of the stuff produced over the last seventy years, we’ve created a mess so difficult to eradicate that plastic can...
Marine biologists are optimising fishing practices in Europe
Oceanologists are using their knowledge to help fishermen increase their income while improving the sustainability of their catches. If implemented across Europe, it could transform the fishing industry in the Mediterranean. Though there’s been a lot of talk about unsustainable fishing in recent years, it’s important to remember that all fishermen are not created equal. Amongst the most problematic are industrial-sized fishing organisations and large fleets of trawling vessels, which obliterate...
Is egg freezing really a golden ticket to delaying parenthood?
The option for women to freeze their eggs is now regularly recommended by doctors, promoted in popular culture, and marketed to the masses via social media advertisements. But should we be wary of depending on its success? A new world record was broken last month, with two twin babies born from human embryos frozen over 30 years ago. The embryos had been stored inside liquid nitrogen at -128C back in 1992....
Coral reef projects receive a major boost in funding
The forests of the ocean are suffering. Warming waters are causing ocean acidification and coral bleaching. Meanwhile, overfishing practices are causing the subsequent collapse of entire ecosystems. Bolstered funding from COP27 is aiming to slow – and hopefully reverse – the process. When we think about nature's ecosystems, coral reefs are often the last to come to mind. With almost 60 percent of the world’s population living in metropolitan cities,...
Loud listening habits risk hearing loss for 1 billion young people
Take a walk outside and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone not wearing headphones. But could this everyday habit be detrimental to our hearing in the long run? Several recent studies say yes, if we’re not careful. Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over my LOUD taste in music. New studies suggest that over 1 billion young people globally are at risk of hearing loss due to poor music...
Brazil’s Amazon Fund has been revived thanks to new governance
After a decade of success, Brazil’s internationally-funded rainforest protection program was frozen in 2019 by President Jair Bolsonaro. Now, the nation’s Supreme Court has announced the Amazon Fund will continue operations by 2023. Fridays are for good news, and luckily, there have been some great developments happening in regard to the Amazon Rainforest. Following a close win by left-wing presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s Supreme Court has announced...
Exclusive – COP27’s Biodiversity Day with Kasha Slavner
We spoke with award-winning filmmaker and activist Kasha Slavner about what it means to respect and protect our planet on COP’s Biodiversity Day. Yesterday’s theme at COP27 was Biodiversity Day. Leaders gathered to discuss nature and ecosystem-based solutions to climate mitigation and adaptation. They also built strategies to mobilise global action towards halting biodiversity loss by reducing key drivers of climate change. We sat down with Kasha Slavner, an award-winning Gen...
Tuvalu to preserve its culture in the metaverse
Climate change is affecting the Pacific Island of Tuvalu in a serious way. Anticipating its population will be forced into climate migration in the near future, the government is turning to the metaverse to preserve its unique culture. While COP27 isn’t over, betting on actual environmental policy implementation is risky, if previous summits are anything to go by. This is especially true for the Global South. The reality is that business...
