For centuries, humans have marveled at birds’ ability to soar and dive. The gannet’s abilities seem almost engineered for an aquatic hunter: a streamlined form, precision vision, and special internal “airbags” all perfectly coordinated. As we explore the gannet’s high-speed dive and the science behind it, a profound question arises: could such a combination of traits have arisen by chance, or do they point to an intelligence that makes it all possible?

To catch its dinner, the Northern Gannet climbs high above the waves – sometimes 30 meters (100 feet) or more in the air – searching for fish shoals. Once a target is spotted, the gannet snaps its wings tight to its body and plummets in a steep nose-dive, accelerating due to gravity. In just a couple of seconds it can hit speeds of 60–75 mph (about 100–120 km/h) before impact. At those velocities, hitting water is essentially like hitting concrete. A misjudgment in angle or a strong gust of wind could send the bird tumbling out of control. Yet gannets execute dive after dive with astounding precision.

One secret to the gannet’s controlled dive is that it turns itself into a spinning projectile. High-speed footage has revealed that as it nears the water, the gannet often initiates a rapid spin, twisting its body like a drill bit. By tucking in its wings and tail just so – much like a figure skater pulling in her arms – the bird can rotate one or two full turns around its body axis during the dive. This spin confers gyroscopic stability, keeping the gannet perfectly on course despite wind or waves, thanks to the physics of angular momentum conservation (the same principle that keeps a rifle bullet or a spiraling football stable in flight). As a result, the gannet spears the water cleanly without veering off-track.

At the final split second before impact, the gannet performs another critical maneuver. It extends and aligns its body into a pointed, streamline shape – essentially transforming into a living javelin. The bird slightly draws back its head and neck so that its dagger-like beak, head, and body form one continuous tapered cone. Any small protrusions or uneven surfaces are smoothed out in this instant. The result is an almost ideal hydrodynamic profile that slices into the water with minimal resistance. The entry is so clean that there is often almost no splash, just a quick spray of water, as the gannet disappears under the surface in pursuit of its prey.

Once underwater, the gannet doesn’t stop its hunt. It can penetrate to depths of 5–10 meters on momentum alone (around 16–30 feet) and then continue swimming downward by flapping its half-folded wings and kicking with its webbed feet. Like a penguin or a dolphin, the gannet “flies” through water in short bursts, chasing fish even several meters below the initial dive depth. It has been recorded diving as deep as 20+ meters (70 ft) and staying submerged for up to 30 seconds as it actively pursues prey. After a successful catch, the bird uses its buoyancy to rocket back up to the surface, pops out of the water, and immediately resumes flying. Remarkably, studies show that a gannet’s success rate in its hunt is about 72%, which is exceptionally high among marine predators. Clearly, everything about this diving strategy – from the initial aerial survey to the final underwater chase – is executed with astounding efficiency and accuracy.

Plunging headlong into water at highway speeds would be suicidal for most creatures, but gannets are built to survive these collisions. Every part of the bird’s anatomy is optimized to absorb shocks, protect vital organs, and prevent injury. Consider the challenges: the head and neck must withstand huge deceleration forces; the bird must avoid drowning or eye damage on impact; and it needs to rebound for the next dive almost immediately. The gannet meets all of these challenges with a combination of unique impact-proof structural features.

Shock-absorbing skull – The gannet’s skull is reinforced and extra-thick in front, with a spongy bone plate at the base of the bill that acts like a built-in crash helmet. This bony padding, together with the overall sturdiness of the skull, helps dissipate the force when the beak hits the water at full speed. Rather than shattering or concussing the brain, the skull’s design absorbs and spreads out the impact.

Powerful, flexible neck – A gannet’s neck is unusually strong and muscular, yet flexible. Specialized neck muscles and 15 elongated cervical vertebrae enable the neck to resist bending or buckling under sudden pressure. Think of a shock absorber or a spring – the neck can tense to keep the head aligned with the body during impact, preventing whiplash, and then relax to cushion the jolt. This adaptation ensures the head (and the precious eyes and brain it contains) isn’t thrown back violently upon entering the water.

Air-sac “airbags” – Under the skin of a gannet, especially in the face, chest, and along the flanks, lies a network of subcutaneous air sacs connected to the lungs. Before a dive, the bird inflates these little air pockets. Upon impact, they compress and absorb the shock like natural airbags, protecting internal organs and bones. The air sacs also make the gannet buoyant, so after the dive it bobs back to the surface with ease. These air sacs are an extension of the bird’s respiratory system – essentially an extra set of air-filled cushions provided for high-speed diving.

Sealed airways (no external nostrils) – One obvious problem with diving face-first into water is the risk of water rushing up the nose. A simple but crucial solution has been given to gannets: they lack external nostrils entirely. Instead, their nasal openings are located inside the mouth and can be tightly closed off. A hard, keratinized covering shields the nasal cavity entrance. Thus, when the gannet hits the water, no spray is forced into its sinuses or lungs. They essentially hold their breath at the moment of impact and while underwater (much like a freediver), and start breathing again only after resurfacing. This prevents the fatal aspiration of water during high-speed plunges.

Protective eye coverings – Hitting water at 100 km/h is also like slamming into a wall from the perspective of the eyes. To prevent injury, gannets (like many diving birds) have nictitating membranes – transparent third eyelids that rapidly flick over the eyes as the bird dives. These membranes act like a pair of built-in goggles, shielding the eyes from saltwater and debris at the exact moment of impact while still allowing the bird to see. The gannet essentially never closes its eyes during a dive; it merely covers them with a protective film. This way, it maintains visual contact with its target all the way through the strike.

Each of these features is remarkable on its own. Together, they make the gannet virtually indestructible during its high-speed dive. Engineers designing a high-velocity projectile or a diver’s gear would recognize many of these same solutions: a reinforced “nose cone,” shock absorbers, streamlined shape, pressure-resistant breathing apparatus, and eye protection. It’s as if the gannet comes equipped from birth with a whole suite of safety technology – an integrated design that allows it to dive again and again without harm.

Vision in both air and water

Catching a fish from high in the air is not just about impact protection – it’s also an incredible sensory challenge. A gannet must spot a moving fish from perhaps 30 meters up, account for refraction at the water’s surface, judge the dive angle and timing, and then, once underwater, instantly refocus its eyes to track the prey. The bird basically has to hit a dime-sized moving target, in a different medium, at lightning speed. Amazingly, the gannet’s vision system is up to the task, thanks to special features that allow it to operate in both air and water.

First, gannets have binocular vision due to their forward-facing eyes. Unlike many birds whose eyes are on the sides of the head, a gannet’s eyes are set somewhat forward, giving overlapping fields of view. This binocular overlap lets the gannet accurately gauge distance and depth – a crucial ability when timing a dive. From high above, it can triangulate the position of a fish shoal far below the surface. Researchers note that the gannet’s depth perception is excellent, allowing it to account for the distortion of looking through water and to know exactly when to fold its wings and strike. In essence, the bird is conducting complex geometry on the fly, converting what it sees into an attack plan within a split second.

Even more astonishing is what happens when the gannet hits the water. The environment around the eyes suddenly changes, light behaves differently in water, and the focal requirements of the eyes shift. The gannet, however, switches to underwater vision almost instantly. A team of biologists in New Zealand discovered that as soon as a gannet’s head goes underwater, the shape of the bird’s lens changes from an oval (a shape that focuses light in air) to a rounder, more spherical shape ideal for water. This refocusing occurs in as little as 80 milliseconds (0.08 seconds) – literally the blink of an eye. To put that in perspective, 80 ms is faster than a human can consciously blink. In that fleeting moment of immersion, the gannet’s eyes adjust so that the fish it saw from above remains in sharp focus underwater.

Such rapid accommodation (focusing) is nearly unheard of in vertebrate eyes. While diving ducks, seals, and penguins can see in both air and water, the speed of the gannet’s visual adjustment is unique. The instant its eyes are underwater, the bird effectively has fish-eye vision, allowing it to pursue evasive prey with deadly accuracy. Combined with the nictitating membrane protection and a high density of retinal cells for sharp acuity, the gannet’s eyes are akin to sophisticated cameras that auto-adjust settings in a fraction of a second. Little wonder that the gannet seldom misses its mark – the world appears in focus to it whether it’s in the sky or under the sea. This extraordinary optical talent has earned the gannet distinction as one of the most efficient predators in the animal kingdom.

A master of the skies

Outside of the dramatic dive itself, the gannet is also a master of the skies. When not hunting, it spends hours soaring over the ocean, riding air currents with minimal effort. Its form is highly adapted for efficient long-distance flight: long, narrow wings and a streamlined, cigar-shaped body that together minimize drag. With a wingspan of around 1.7 meters, the Northern Gannet resembles a smaller cousin of the albatross – built to cover large areas of ocean in search of food. These birds can travel hundreds of kilometers over the sea, seldom flapping except to adjust course or gain a bit of altitude. The wing shape (high-aspect-ratio wings) gives excellent lift with little drag, allowing gannets to glide for long distances and dynamically soar on updrafts above the waves.

When gannets do flap their wings – for example, during takeoff or to cruise between feeding spots – they do so in a surprisingly optimized, efficient manner. In fact, gannets (and many flying animals) obey an intriguing aerodynamic rule known as the Strouhal number. The Strouhal number (St) is a dimensionless parameter that relates an animal’s wing-flapping frequency and amplitude to its forward speed. Essentially, it’s a ratio: St=f×A/U ​, where f is wingbeat frequency, A is the wing stroke amplitude, and U is forward velocity. Through both observation and theory, scientists have found that propulsive efficiency in flapping flight peaks when St is in a narrow range between about 0.2 and 0.4. Amazingly, a huge variety of animals – from insects to bats, small songbirds to large seabirds, and even swimming fish and dolphins – all cruise with Strouhal numbers in this same optimal window. This means that despite differences in size, wing shape, and flight style, nature’s fliers and swimmers have converged on a particular rhythm that maximizes thrust for minimal energy. It’s a beautiful example of mathematical harmony in biology.

The gannet is no exception. When gliding and flapping over the ocean, its wingbeats fall well within that efficient range (typically on the lower end, around St ≈ 0.25–0.3). In practice, you can observe that gannets seldom flap rapidly like small birds (which would increase St); instead, they combine occasional strong wingbeats with extended glides, a pattern that keeps their Strouhal number near the sweet spot for efficiency. In simpler terms, gannets are “tuned” to cruise efficiently, expending minimal energy as they scan vast stretches of sea. Just as the dive showcases the bird’s power and precision, its cruising flight showcases an endurance and efficiency that allows gannets to thrive over the open ocean.

This ubiquity of the Strouhal optimal range is a unifying principle many creatures seem to follow. It is wondrous that the gannet’s wing motions adhere to a universal constant that also governs the fluke beats of whales and the wingbeats of dragonflies. This consistency hints that there is an underlying order in the natural world – a “code” that living things follow to achieve optimum performance. The gannet, with its perfect diving form and efficient flight, beautifully exemplifies this order.

When we consider all these characteristics of the gannet – the split-second refocusing eyes, the reinforced skull and inbuilt airbag system, the precise wing dynamics – a pattern emerges. These traits are integrated and complementary, all serving one overarching purpose: to allow a bird to plunge into the ocean at tremendous speed, catch a fish, and live to do it again and again. Each feature by itself is impressive, but it’s the combination that truly astonishes. If any one part were missing or even slightly subpar, the whole system could fail. Imagine a gannet without sealed nostrils, or without the air sacs, or without the ability to refocus its eyes quickly – it would likely be injured, drown, go blind, or starve. Instead, we find nothing out of place in this animal’s design. It is a seamless whole, every element working in concert with the others.

References

• American Bird Conservancy. (n.d.). Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus). Retrieved August 26, 2025, from https://abcbirds.org/bird/northern-gannet/ abcbirds.orgabcbirds.org.

• AskNature Team. (2016). Spinning Makes Safe Dive — Biological Strategy (Northern Gannet). The Biomimicry Institute. Retrieved August 26, 2025, from https://asknature.org/strategy/spinning-makes-safe-dive/ asknature.orgasknature.org.

• Hawkes Bay Today. (2012, September 24). Gannets have extraordinary optical powers: Study. NZ Herald. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/gannets-have-extraordinary-optical-powers-study/B7P6VVG5LWMKIA7ZTQSLCN6MHI/ nzherald.co.nznzherald.co.nz.

• Oztunc, H. (2022, September 1). Mathematical harmony in the bird’s body structure. The Fountain Magazine. https://fountainmagazine.com/2022/issue-149-sep-oct-2022/mathematical-harmony-in-the-birds-body-structure  

• Taylor, G. K., Nudds, R. L., & Thomas, A. L. (2003). Flying and swimming animals cruise at a Strouhal number tuned for high power efficiency. Nature, 425(6959), 707–711. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02000 en.wikipedia.org.

• Wikipedia. (2023, August 20). Northern gannet. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_gannet en.wikipedia.org.

• Wikipedia. (2023, July 10). Strouhal number. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strouhal_number en.wikipedia.org.

The Forgotten History of Sleeping in Two Shifts

Zaria Gorvett. The forgotten medieval habit of ‘two sleeps’. BBC, January 2022

For much of human history, people didn’t sleep through the night in one long stretch. Instead, they slept in two parts: an early “first sleep,” followed by a quiet period of wakefulness around midnight, and then a second sleep until morning. This pattern was so common that people once referred to it casually in court records, letters, and literature.

Historian Roger Ekirch uncovered this forgotten habit while studying life before the Industrial Revolution. He found that the time between sleeps, often called “the watch,” was used for prayer, conversation, chores, or simply reflection. People didn’t see this midnight waking as a problem; it was a normal part of nightly life.

The two-sleep pattern likely existed because nights were long and dark before artificial lighting. People went to bed earlier and woke naturally in the middle of the night. Modern experiments show that when people live without electric light, their sleep often returns to this older rhythm on its own.

Biphasic sleep began to disappear in the 19th century as gas lamps, electric lights, and factory schedules pushed bedtimes later while mornings stayed the same. Sleep became compressed into a single block, and the old pattern faded from memory. Understanding this history may help explain why waking up at night doesn’t always mean something is wrong. For most of human history, it was simply how people slept.

How Our Neighborhoods Shape Our Health

Noaeen, M., Rostami, A., Ghanem, I. et al. Mapping neighbourhood-level drivers of type 2 diabetes for precision public health using predictive and causal machine learning. Sci Rep, January 2026.

Type 2 diabetes is often discussed as a disease of individual lifestyle (diet, exercise, and genetics). But a new study from the University of Toronto reveals a deeper truth: where you live may be just as important as how you live.

Using artificial intelligence and advanced causal modeling, researchers analyzed data from over 1,100 neighborhoods across the Greater Toronto Area. Instead of focusing on individuals, they examined neighborhood-level features such as obesity rates, physical activity, income, age structure, mental health, and work stress. Their goal was not only to predict where diabetes is most common, but also to understand which factors actually drive that risk.

The results were striking. The AI models were able to identify high-diabetes neighborhoods with more than 95% accuracy. The strongest predictors were familiar – high obesity, physical inactivity, and older populations, but the causal analysis uncovered something more surprising: mental health was one of the most powerful protective factors. Neighborhoods with better average mental well-being had substantially lower diabetes rates, even after accounting for income, age, and lifestyle.

Work stress and smoking, on the other hand, were found to raise diabetes risk, highlighting the biological toll of chronic psychological strain. Interestingly, neighborhoods with higher proportions of recent immigrants and visible minorities tended to have lower diabetes prevalence, reflecting the well-known “healthy immigrant effect” and the protective role of social cohesion and cultural practices.

The study suggests a new vision for public health: instead of treating diabetes only in clinics, we should also treat it in communities, through mental-health support, stress reduction, walkable streets, and social infrastructure. In the age of data science, healing may begin not just with the patient, but with the neighborhood.

The Hidden Effects of Living in Space

Wijdan Al-Ahmadi et al., Spaceflight alters molecular networks linked to diverse human diseases in a single cellular model. Sci Adv, January 2026.

When astronauts return from space, many report strange changes. Their hearts beat differently. Their sleep is disturbed. Their vision becomes blurry. Their muscles weaken. For years, scientists have known about these effects, but not fully understood why they happen. A new study gives us a powerful clue by showing what happens inside human cells when they are exposed to space.

In this study, researchers sent human immune cells to the International Space Station and compared them with the same cells grown on Earth. They then examined how thousands of genes behaved in each environment. Nearly one third of all active genes changed their activity in space. This shows that spaceflight does not just cause small damage. It reshapes the way cells function.

Some of the biggest changes were seen in genes linked to the heart and muscles. These genes help control the electrical signals that keep the heart beating normally. In space, they became much more active. On Earth, the same genes are linked to irregular heartbeats, which may help explain why astronauts sometimes develop heart problems during long missions.

The study also found changes in genes that control sleep and the body clock, including those linked to melatonin. This matches the sleep problems many astronauts experience. Genes involved in vision and other senses were also affected, especially those connected to vitamin A and eyesight, helping explain vision changes in space. At the same time, genes that repair damaged DNA were reduced, likely because of cosmic radiation, making cells more vulnerable to long term damage.

These findings suggest that space activates the same biological pathways that cause heart disease, nerve problems, and aging on Earth, but in a much shorter time. By studying life in orbit, scientists may learn not only how to protect astronauts, but also how to better understand illness here on Earth.

At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, countries signed an agreement on a series of measures to address climate change. The agreement includes key decisions such as a commitment to phase out coal, regular reviews of emission reduction plans and more financial support for developing countries. Climate change, which can be defined as “changes in the average state and variability of the climate over decades or longer, regardless of cause,” is in fact the scream that resonates off the walls of the ecosystem. Unless addressed in tandem with population growth, migration, rapid and unplanned urbanization, surging scarcity in resources and food, extreme poverty, socioeconomic inequality, infectious diseases, and pandemics, climate change will cause erratic and insurmountable problems facing humanity and, as during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, it can upset established social behavior patterns.

The greatest danger knocking at our door

In 2021, the World Health Organization declared climate change “the greatest health threat facing humanity.” Climate change and increasing carbon dioxide emissions cause extreme heat, environmental destruction, and difficulties in the water and food supplies. Using fossil fuels, the main source of greenhouse gases, leads to air pollution and associated premature deaths. Increases in carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, and respirable particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns are the main drivers of air pollution. The vicious cycle between climate change and air pollution is associated with reproductive, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as public health problems such as diabetes, cancer, premature aging, and psychiatric diseases. Climate change causes an increase in air pollution through extreme temperature and weather events (hurricanes, floods, droughts), natural (wildfire smoke, dust storms), and human and animal factors (air conditioning, litter). It also contributes to infectious diseases through expanded habitats for disease vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks, and to non-communicable diseases through increasing food shortages, malnutrition, and longer and more intense pollen seasons.

Temperatures and Drought

Although humankind is not fully aware of the impending catastrophe, the gravity of the situation is highlighted by reports on Europe experiencing its driest spell in 500 years, with more than half of the continent facing the threat of drought. Drought threatens not only Europe but the whole world, leading to water and food shortages as well as an increase in forest fires. It is noted that around 2.3 billion people live in areas at risk of drought, that drought has directly caused the deaths of 650,000 people in the last 50 years, and that millions of children are still affected by severe and prolonged drought. It is also estimated that as many as 3.5 billion people could face “unlivable” temperatures in the next 50 years because of human-induced climate change. As more people are impacted by drought, chronic poverty, war, or chaos, they will continue to migrate to “milder” locales.

Impact on marine ecosystems and ocean pollution

The quality of marine environments is also essential for protecting public health. Environmental pollution, contamination by chemicals, and pathogenic microbes hurt marine ecosystems; marine pollution also threatens marine animals and human health. Ocean pollution, exacerbated by global climate change, also negatively affects these ecosystems, with petroleum-based pollutants causing a decrease in photosynthesis in oxygen-producing organisms. Increased carbon dioxide absorption in the seas causes acidification, negatively affecting coral reefs, disrupting shellfish growth, dissolving calcium-containing microorganisms at the base of the marine food web, and increasing toxic effects from pollutants. Meanwhile, plastic pollution, which accumulates in large mid-ocean gyres and threatens marine mammals, fish, and seabirds, decomposes into chemical micro- and nano-plastic particles that enter the tissues of many marine organisms, including those consumed by humans. Industrial sewage increases the frequency and impact of harmful algal blooms, bacterial pollution, and anti-microbial resistance, while dangerous pathogens such as Vibrio species and other factors result in global declines in fish stocks.

Effects of air pollution

Climate change puts the three pillars of health—nutrition, shelter, and access to water—at risk. For instance, natural disasters destroy crops and people’s homes and contaminate safe water sources. This leads to malnutrition and water-borne diseases and contributes to 12.6 million preventable deaths in the world each year due to climate change. Since more than half of these deaths are caused by exposure to air pollution, it is clear that there is an association between climate change and air pollution and other environmental exposures. Longer wildfire seasons lead to more smoke exposure; climate change affects ozone and particulate matter formation by increasing the rate of chemical reactions in the atmosphere and increases the amount of pollen by extending the pollen season. The direct effect of each event is airway inflammation and lung damage due to the production of reactive oxidants. Ambient ozone and chronic accumulation of particulate matter in alveolar macrophages, impaired phagocytosis, oxidative stress, and poor mucociliary clearance jointly trigger airway inflammation. In addition to weakened antioxidant defenses, immunological and epigenetic (environmentally induced) changes play a role in the pathogenesis of lung diseases such as asthma and chronic bronchitis. Toxic effects in the respiratory tract and lungs eventually impact the cardiovascular system, causing autonomic disorders and increased inflammation. Ultimately, climate change-induced air pollution affects nearly every organ system (including the lungs, heart, kidneys, brain, and nervous system) through a complex interplay of increased oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and immune dysregulation.

What can be done?

Climate change negatively affects several social determinants, such as equity, livelihoods, and access to health and social support services. Its impacts are felt disproportionately by the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, including women, children, ethnic minorities and impoverished communities, migrants or the elderly, and those with disabilities. Due to climate change, health services are in greater demand, while infrastructure is negatively affected. Faced with these challenges, experts recommend climate change adaptation and mitigation actions. Climate change adaptation means preparing society for actions and is known as the ‘secondary prevention.’ This is about improving people’s ability to cope with changes—such as increased cases of asthma and malaria or mental illness caused by forced migration—and giving them ease of access to health services. More importantly, it is also about tackling the causes and putting in place the “primary preventions.”

The earth is a trust on the shoulders of humanity. We humans should act as stewards of God on earth, to respect this trust and protect it meticulously. Measures like afforestation and preventing waste should be emphasized. Since the estimated (2.5 billion) tons of food waste ending up in landfills annually contribute to about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, we must avoid waste and sort our garbage for recycling.

As a requirement of social responsibility, we should support efforts in finding solutions to problems like the global change. Since this social responsibility imposes on us the mission of “leaving our world and its entire eco-systems clean and problem-free for future generations,” we should contribute to the formation of a more livable world by prioritizing the protection of the environment. Climate change and the deterioration of the ecological balance remind us of this fundamental duty, and we must not hesitate to take responsibility for combating climate change for both individual and public health.

References

• Churruca-Muguruza C. The Changing Context of Humanitarian Action: Key Challenges and Issues. In: International Humanitarian Action, Springer, 2018, pp. 3–18.
• World Health Organization. COP26 special report on climate change and health: the health argument for climate change. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2021.
• Keswani A, Akselrod H, Anenberg SC. Health and clinical impacts of air pollution and linkages with climate change. NEJM Evid, 2022;1(7).
• Toreti A, et al. Drought in Europe August 2022, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2022, doi:10.2760/264241, JRC130493. https://edo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/news/GDO-EDODroughtNews202208_Europe.pdf
• Xu C, Kohler TA, Lenton TM, Svenning JC, Scheffer M. Future of the human climate niche. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020;117(21):11350-11355.
• Landrigan PJ, et al. Human Health and Ocean Pollution. Ann Glob Health 2020;86(1):151.

“Man-made chemical” sounds dangerous if we imagined it in relation to what we eat, put on as clothes, or use with our hands. We should not be obsessed with it, but it is important to be aware that there are a lot of things around us which might be contaminated with what is called “forever chemicals.”

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are highly hazardous man-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s. Some well-known examples of PFAS are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, C8HF15O2), heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid potassium salt (PFOSK, CF3(CF2)7SO3K), and GenX (HFPO-DA, C6H4F11NO3). Although these substances are very useful in the chemical industry, the dispersion, low biodegradability, and high stability of the molecules have led to many environmental and health issues. PFAS molecules are very difficult to remove, let alone break down, and these molecules can accumulate over time. This is the reason why PFAS molecules are referred to as “forever chemicals.” They are extremely hard to break down due to the high strength of the carbon-fluorine (C-F) bond found in these compounds. This bond can have a bond dissociation energy of up to 546 kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol). Bond dissociation energy is the energy required to break a bond, and a high bond dissociation energy, as exhibited in a C-F bond, corresponds with a bond that has low energy and is very stable.

Applications of PFAS in industry

Why are these chemicals so extensively used in the chemical industry? PFAS molecules have been found to be very stable, and they exhibit properties that allow them to repel both oil and water. As a result of these properties, these chemicals have been successfully employed to act as a repellent for almost anything. Some examples of the various applicants of PFAS are surface coatings, surfactants, and flame retardants. With so many uses, these harmful toxins can be found in everyday items such as clothing, furniture, food packaging, adhesives, and much more.

PFAS contamination

How exactly are we exposed to PFAS chemicals? Besides the exposure from PFAS containing materials, the answer lies primarily in our water systems and environment. The majority of our drinking water contains these “forever chemicals.” As a result of their widespread manufacturing, usage, and improper disposal, these chemicals can enter our water systems and air through different sites. Another way PFAS has become so widely dispersed is through groundwater and soil receiving rainwater runoff. Since these chemicals are not easily broken down, they can remain in our waters for a great number of years. It is reported that about 110 million people could have PFAS contaminated water at levels of 2.5 parts per trillion (ppt) or even higher. This value is way above the safe level of exposure to PFAS, and this is not where it even ends. Approximately 60 million people have water utilities that are contaminated with PFAS exceeding   5 ppt, and 16 million people with water utilities exceeding 10-90 ppt of the chemical. It is estimated that 242 water utilities throughout the United States are contaminated with PFAS chemicals. These statistics show just how prevalent these harmful chemicals are in the United States. There is currently no federal limitation as to the concentration of these chemicals in our waters which is a huge problem. Most people have shown signs of these chemicals in their bloodstream, which truly indicates the widespread exposure to these harmful chemicals.

Health effects from PFAS exposure

This increased exposure to PFAS can cause and lead to many adverse health concerns. If the chemicals are ingested, they can actually accumulate in the body and remain there for long periods of time. Scientists are still conducting studies about the effects of PFAS, but the existing research has shown that these chemicals may cause developmental effects in infants, lead to decreased fertility in women, interfere with the body’s natural hormones and enzymes, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system, and increase the risk of particular cancers. The extensiveness of the health effects in a person depends on how long, how often, and how much PFAS they were exposed to. Due to all of these negative effects, PFAS are environmental pollutants that are included in the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Contaminant Candidate List.

Removal and breakdown of PFAS

The health concerns surrounding PFAS exposure make finding a solution to the problem a very urgent matter. There have been many past attempts to remove PFAS from the environment. However, not all of these attempts have resulted in the development of environmentally friendly methods. It is extremely important to find a way to remove PFAS in a manner that does not cause further harm to the environment. The current goal for PFAS removal is to formulate and implement an efficient, green, and cost-effective process – a goal that is especially challenging when considering the high strength of the carbon-fluorine bond in PFAS molecules.

Incineration

One technique that is being explored is incineration or destruction of PFAS through the use of heat. This is done by directing heat at objects contaminated by PFAS, such as soil, waste, and water. Incineration is a method that has been used for the destruction of many other chemicals. Even though incineration can destroy PFAS, there are many other risk factors that need to be taken into consideration. For example, incomplete combustion of PFAS could lead to problems with the resulting products of the reaction. The process of incineration leaves behind waste residues that need to be properly disposed of, which needs a solution of its own. Incineration also requires an extensive amount of energy and fuel. In addition, incineration can result in PFAS emissions entering the air, the effects of which have not been researched in depth.

Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration

Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are other methods that are being investigated for the removal of PFAS. They have been shown to be effective in removing PFAS. In simple terms, this is a pressure-driven process in which water is filtered by pushing the water through a semipermeable membrane. This process is useful for removing PFAS from water sources, and recent advances in manufacturing have made it possible to use this process more efficiently. The methods involved with reverse osmosis and nanofiltration have previously been used with removing many other chemicals from water. The process is commonly used in water purification systems and industrial applications, and it is most often employed for desalination purposes. Despite the wide usage of the process, there are some operating considerations that must be looked at for reverse osmosis and nanofiltration systems. Membrane technology comes with the challenge of fouling, where the accumulation of matter from the filtration process can result in a reduction in the flux performance of the membranes. To avoid fouling, the membranes must be constantly modified, and the operating conditions need to be continuously changed. Additionally, replacing the membranes results in waste products that contain PFAS residue, and cleaning the membranes requires there to be a way to dispose of the used cleaning solution. The “reject stream” or stream of water post-filtration will contain concentrated amounts of PFAS and will need to be disposed of or treated. Thus, waste management is a big issue that needs to be addressed if the processes of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are to be used for PFAS removal.

What’s next?

It is clear that a method for removing and destroying perfluoroalkyl substances urgently needs to be found. These molecules have harmed the environment and our lives in countless ways. Many past attempts have come with drawbacks and failed to be cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Until we have found a way to successfully eliminate PFAS from the environment without causing further damage, these “forever chemicals” will continue to affect us detrimentally. So, what can you do? Fortunately, there are ways to be aware of these harmful chemicals in our water. If you are living in the United States, you can have your water checked for PFAS by contacting your state for a list of certified laboratories that are using the EPA Method 537. You can visit EPA’s website to search online for EPA certified labs for drinking water testing (https://www.epa.gov/dwlabcert/contact-information-certification-programs-and-certified-laboratories-drinking-water).

References

• “Basic ” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas.
• “Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 18 Feb. 2021,
• epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/drinking-water-health-advisories-pfoa-an d-pfos
• John Hahladakis, Costas A. Velis, Roland Weber, Eleni Iacovidou, Phil Purnell, An   overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact during their use, disposal and recycling, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 344, 2018, Pages 179-199, ISSN 0304-3894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.014.
• “Pfas – per- and Polyfluoroalkyl ” PFAS Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, https://pfas-1.itrcweb.org/12-treatment-technologies/#12_2_2.
• “Report: Up to 110 Million Americans Could Have Pfas-Contaminated Drinking ”
• Environmental Working Group,
• https://www.ewg.org/research/report-110-million-americans-could-have-pfas-contaminat ed-drinking-water.
• Yao Y, Volchek K, Brown CE, Robinson A, Obal T. Comparative study on adsorption of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) by different adsorbents in water. Water Sci Technol. 2014;70(12):1983-91. doi: 10.2166/wst.2014.445. PMID:
• “Potential Health Effects of Pfas ” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 June 2020, https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/index.html.

Environment

Articles

Violence. It surrounds us. It is all over the media. It is so common in our society today that violence has become the norm rather than the exception. Perhaps one out of every ten people in the United States have experienced or witnessed a violent crime. Psychology Today states that homicide is the 5^th most common cause of death in the United States in all age brackets between 1 and 44 years. Violence to one’s self, in the form of suicide, is ranked second only to death by accidental causes. As violence is a behavior, it is common to lay the blame for violence to a psychological abnormality. Unfortunately, that is not the cut and dried case.

The potential for violence exists in all of us. It is part of our biology. Especially in males. Men are far more predisposed to violence than women, and this has been the case since the dawn of time. We were violent to hunt for food, protect ourselves and our families and to maintain order in society. As we can see, violence is still required today to do much the same thing.

Everywhere, we see the potential for violence. In how the police keep the peace, in how the military defends politics and diplomacy across the globe. In how one group seizes property, or food, or people against their will through the use of violence.

While we are predisposed to violence as a species, let us not forget that we haven’t brought ourselves to the point of extinction yet. This is because for all of our violent tendencies, society has developed a moral structure. Whether it’s because of a common belief in a spiritual concept, a religion, or just some inner moral compass, society has evolved with laws. These laws guide us through what is right and what is wrong. Such an evolution has brought some structure to societies, and has maintained some control over humanity’s violent aspects.

While yes, psychology is part of the equation of violence, there are other determining factors that make a person more predisposed to violence. For instance, it has often been discussed that environment, and external influence play a large part in violent behavior. A person who grows up in a violent environment, or around violent people may be more apt to be violent themselves. This can be seen across the United States where people grow up, and live in rough neighborhoods. Young impressionable people tend to go with the flow in order to be accepted by the elder violent natured individuals in their society. Observing aggressive behavior makes children learn new aggressive behaviors, for we tend to imitate the specific behaviors that we see, and start to believe that it is OK to do the same (Bandura 1973).

Influences in that environment could be a constant state of war such as we see in developing countries. It could be gang members who recruit younger people through coercion, or exposure to violence. It could be any number of hate groups who are able to influence people, imparting to them at a young age that one race or another is inferior, or to blame for something. In doing so, such groups are able to convince people that an ethnic group is deserving violence. So it can successfully be debated that environment, and external influence, are definitely keys to violent behavior.

There are others who argue that it is only biology that is the defining factor regarding violent behavior. In an article for Medical News Today, the author writes that the Hypothalamus, the ventrolateral part of the ventromedial hypothalamus, and the Lateral Septum areas of the brain are specifically to blame for violent behavior. Biology can be a factor to understand violent behavior in relation to build-up of electrical impulses that finally get released in a physical expression. But it surely does not help to explain exactly why these impulses get built-up.

In my opinion, I believe it is a combination of factors. I am United States Air Force veteran who has deployed to numerous locations where violence is common, and then spent time as a contractor there. From my exposure to these other cultures, I can say that I believe that environment plays a large part in violent behavior along with external influence. The more people are fed the idea that violence is acceptable, the more they are inclined to exhibit violent behavior.

It is true though that biology is really the tie that binds all of us into a predisposition for violence. Studies have shown that any person placed under enough negative mental stress will react violently to the situation they are in. In effect the Fight or Flight response is triggered. This is because regardless of environment, influence, or predisposition, we are all human and are all hardwired in the same way. Violence is a product of the Fight or Flight response. When presented with a given situation imbued with enough negative mental stress, we will either fight or run. Factors such as environment and influence will either mitigate or exacerbate our response.

To make matters worse, the ingestion of certain drugs such as amphetamines can produce states where the individual is more prone to be violent. The same can be said for alcohol, which is notorious for lowering impulse control. If the condition is chronic, then the individual will become violent over and over again. Again this is a matter of an external influence.

Now having said that, there are certain people who argue that psychology is the only defining factor. According many health professionals, mental illness is widely considered the principal cause for violent behavior.

People with psychotic tendencies who have no real sense of right or wrong are certainly more predisposed to violence. This is especially so in Paranoid Schizophrenics, where people come to believe they are being persecuted. They may then attack the person they believe is persecuting them. The same can be said of people who are sexually deviant. Often they will perform violent acts against other people to satisfy a psychological need. However, there is a standing argument that sexual deviance is a product of both environment, and the individual being a victim of sexual violence themselves. Therefore, potentially, sexual deviance is a result of environment and negative external influence.

The trend of violence in today’s society has reached epidemic proportions. In violent riots, people may act out violently because people around him or her are acting violently. It is perceived as normal to do so in such situations in which peer pressure, an external influence, lowers an individual’s self-control, thus allowing for violent behavior.

A child with a history of parental abuse kills small animals for the sheer enjoyment of doing so. The child has experienced violent behavior and is looking for an outlet to express his or her own violent tendencies. Once the child knows he or she has an outlet, they will continue to find ways to express their violent tendencies. The concern here is that as this person gets older, the need for release will need to be satisfied to a greater degree. Much in the way a drug addict needs larger and larger doses to maintain a high.

A soldier acts out violently on numerous occasions. He has a string of prior violent actions before joining the Army. Because of his violent tendencies, he is more accepted as a soldier. In such a situation, where violence is considered the norm, a person with a predisposition to violence could function for years before anyone caught on that they were actually emotionally disturbed.

A man with an automatic rifle walks in to a church and opens fire, killing dozens of people. Perhaps he has a deep seated hatred for an ethnic group. Or perhaps he has an issue with the religion being preached in the church. What is disturbing is that he has convinced himself over time that his actions are acceptable. He has decided that it is right to render violence to other people.

We see so much violence now that we have become jaded to it. Oversaturation of the topic by the media has made us numb to the violence in our society. We have in fact come to expect it. This is because the media knows that bad news sells better than good news. This is another example of external influence.

It is therefore my opinion that yes psychology does play a part. So does environment and external influence. When these three factors are combined with the fact that we are by nature, and biology violent creatures, the predisposition for violence increases exponentially. A word of caution however in stereotyping people who, based on these factors, are predisposed to violent behavior. We are all capable of violence. It merely depends on the situation we find ourselves in at a given moment in time.

References

• Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

·       Fields. R. Douglas. 2016. “The Science of Violence,” Psychology Today.

• https://psychweb.chbs.jmu.edu/Graysojh/pdfs/Volume101-ChildrenWhoAbuseAnimals.pdf
• https://www.traversebaycac.org/2018/06/15/animal-abuse-child-abuse-link/

The slight drizzle hitting the dry ground and dead grass was the highlight of my day. It’s been over three months since the last glimpse of rainfall, the drizzle dropped and filled the cracks and crevices of the tarnished ground. I could see the amazement and feel the excitement of the grass, as it was enveloped in water. But all good things have to come to an end, and the slight drizzle stopped as quickly as it started.

(Camera Clicks) “We’re recording in, 3…2…1… Hello, my name is Joseph and I am a 15-year-old in the year 2060. To many, this year has no significance, but to me, I see it as the 40-year anniversary of the last normal year on Earth. I woke up this morning and looked outside through my glass window to see the barren wasteland that I live in, the sun’s destructive rays continue to deplete the ground of any moisture left. But like a miracle, a cloud covered the sun and it began to rain. The sight was astonishing. I ran out of my motion detecting doors as they quickly swung open to grab my camera and record. But when I came back it was all over. I put the camera down, and here I am talking to you about the rather unpleasant world that I live in.”

“Joseph! I’ve made your breakfast. Come on, or you’ll be late for school.”

“Ugh, Grandpa! I was in the middle of something very important.”

Joseph forgets to turn off the camera and takes it with him to the kitchen, where he sees his food resting on the automatic stove top. The camera catches a glimpse of his Grandpa with his robotic replacement arm. Joseph places the camera on a book, facing towards him, and takes a seat at the table.

“Thanks for the food, but I am not that hungry.”

“What’s wrong, Joe, are you okay? I made your favorite, bacon and eggs. I know it is severely outdated but I tried my best.”

“Gramps… did you know it rained this morning?” Joseph looks up from his plate, and his eyes meet with his Grandpa’s. The old man’s eyes widen.

“Really? That’s the first time this year.” He walks towards the one way, sun protective glass window and looks outside at the slightly damp ground. “You know… back in my day, during this time of year it always rained, and not just a slight drizzle. Some days there were the normal routine rainfalls, and other times there were worries of too much rain and homes would flood…”

Joseph cannot help but interrupt his grandfather out of astonishment. “Floods? Grandpa, that sounds way better than what we are living through right now. What caused everything to change?”  he blurts out.

“… however,” Grandpa continues, “as I grew older and older, nature as I once knew it began to change into what it is today.” Joseph gets up abruptly, and quickly turnes the camera so that it directly faces his Grandpa, and continues recording the conversation. He walks towards his Grandpa.

“Can you tell me more about how life was when you were a kid?”

“Well, as you know, we live in New Jersey. Back then, it was known as the Garden State, which is ironic since there aren’t any plants or grass in a 10-mile radius of the state as of now. But I remember going to parks and playing football in the grass with my friends. Smelling the fresh air in the spring mornings and feeling the cold splashes of rain in the afternoon were some of the best moments of nature during those spring months. But as time progressed and America continued to modernize, changes began to occur in nature, Joseph.”

Joseph’s gaze is so fixated on his Grandpa that he doesn’t notice the notification from his school on his phone stating that school is going to start in 30 minutes. “Keep going Grandpa.”

“Technology began to advance, the government and even some people in the public began to stop caring for the environment. Gasoline and oil began to run out quickly, and thankfully, scientists were able to find more forms of energy, but that didn’t solve the problems that had already begun. The hole in the ozone layer began to increase, which is the reason for these reinforced windows, and the temperature began to gradually increase. It’s almost as if as the need for improved technology and futuristic things got greater, the environment of our world got destroyed more and more.”

Grandpa looks down at his right robotic replacement arm and strokes it. His voice is strained. “I wonder if people would’ve still disregarded the health of nature if they knew that it would lead to the environment that we have today…” Joseph’s Grandpa clears his throat. “Joe, it is getting late. Go get your jacket so that you won’t be late for school. We will talk later kiddo.” His Grandpa walks into the room and the sliding doors close.

Joseph runs to his room and comes back with his jacket, which is visible in the camera frame. The logo stated “UV Ray Protective Suit.” He gazes at the image for a moment, then clicks the red button once more.

“Hello guys, I didn’t realize that I had left the camera on… I learned a lot this morning, the world has changed a lot, and it looks like it’s too late for a change. I can’t believe that there was a time where nature was beautiful.” Joseph takes time to stare out the window, and his slightly happy expression fades into dread. He looks back into the camera.

“Well, I have to head to school. I’ll talk to you guys later. This is Joseph signing out.” 

Beginning in July of 2019, the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has been up in flames, burning up the lush foliage and engulfing much of the wildlife, along with many Indigenous groups, in its fiery wake. Yet, it’s receiving little to no media coverage due to the global community’s seemingly unconcerned liability to take action. Greenpeace, the international environmental organization, is holding Brazil’s current government under President Jair Bolsonaro responsible as the primary cause of the fires due to negligence. They claim that mass deforestation has been taking place at an increasingly alarming rate, especially following Bolsonaro’s election, and farming and ranching that have also been taking place in surrounding areas have been contributing to the rise in destruction as well (Greenpeace 2019) [1]. These problems have not been addressed in a timely manner.

Various ideologies, such as Dualism, have been heavily promoted within the past few centuries have also shifted humanity’s conscious to one that is less ecologically friendly and more materially greedy. Without help from the international community and the government of Brazil, the Amazon will continue to be subjected to destruction [1].

The Amazon is a massive area, covering roughly 2,300,000 square miles of South American land. It is one of the most important and critical components of the Earth’s delicate ecological balance and to date 2,240,000 acres have been burned due to the 2019 wildfires (in addition to the great amount of damage that has already been done). It is responsible for atmospheric oxygen composition and cleanliness, maintaining the atmosphere’s water cycle, and for the preservation of many rare animal and plant species. Much of the vegetation in the Amazon also includes important medicinal plant species that can be used to cure a multitude of illnesses and diseases [7].

Deforestation, which has plagued the Brazilian Amazon for decades now, is utilized for the establishment of farms and ranches, which has tripled the number of cattle present in this area and surrounding regions (Dwyer 2019) [2]. Farming and ranching have caused more pollution and the poisoning of, not only the lands in these areas, but the entire well-being of our Earth and atmosphere as a whole. Production of methane from cattle and other pollutants are consequential of farming and ranching, and contribute greatly to fire susceptibility of the Amazon. The fires have spiked in these areas where deforestation and pollution are at their peaks (Dwyer 2019) [2]. When it comes down to it, the Brazilian government, in general, expresses lesser concern, even though they make it apparent that they “may look into measures to combat these fires” (Greenpeace 2019) [1], it seems politics is snaking its way into crisis affairs and impeding them once again instead of acting upon them with optimism. [2]

In the past, Brazil was much more involved in helping to prevent deforestation in both public and private lands of the forests. In 2006, the government passed the Public Forest Management law. This law established concessions and funding for forest conservation and regulations involving deforestation in public areas of the forest. Other organizations and institutions that were established following this law being passed included CONAFLOR (a civil society forestry board), IMAZON (an NGO that monitors deforestation), FUNBIO (an environmental fund that budgets financing towards protected lands and biodiversity), INPE (a Brazilian space observation company that also monitors deforestation), and lastly IPAM, a governmental research institution that focuses on deforestation, climate change, and natural resources in respect to the Brazilian environment (Yale 2019) [10]. Indigenous individuals and tribes within the Amazon, along with private property owners, have also gone to great lengths to prevent deforestation and have made the most difference and impact in doing so (Yale 2019) [10]. It was ultimately a grassroots movement of people standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and not a specific government agency, that was able to make the most progress to preserve much of the Amazon’s beauty and help stave off deforestation [5].

Despite the efforts that have been exerted into the establishment of laws, policies, and government organizations in order to protect the Amazon, protection of the Amazon has been much neglected for now and for future generations. Other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, also believe that Brazil is not doing enough. But, President Bolsonaro seems to have many political reasons to continue to resist international help to halt the fires and stop deforestation. His outspokenness of his pro-deforestation views has ignited a wave of eager ranchers and farmers to continue, and even escalate, their destruction of the Amazon (Specht, 2019) [9].

Religion and environment

As for religious and spiritual views of the environment, some people have manipulated various religious teachings to promote negative ideologies and views of the environment rather than positive ones. These ideologies argue that all animal and natural life was created to serve mankind, and that humanity has no responsibility to take care of our planet or maintain a balance of life in the natural world. The Indigenous people of the Amazon, such as the Xingu tribe, view these perspectives as “predatory” and are in fear that everything they know and love will be taken away from them due to the utter destruction, negligence and lack of aide provided by the government. Many leaders of these tribes call these events the “destruction of Mother Earth” and the fires that have been set ablaze are Mother Nature’s calls for help (Johnson 2019) [5]. To provide more of a visual, there are roughly 817,000 individuals in Brazil who self-report themselves as indigenous, and there are 67 known tribes within Brazil that do not have contact with the outside world as of now. The Amazon serves as these tribes’ livelihood. Many individuals who are a part of these tribes were born in the rainforest, grew up in the rainforest, hunt in these forests, and make their living in these forests; Amazon is all they know and love [5].

In an article titled “Dualisms – Environmental Humanities”, Dualism is outlined as one entity being viewed as “genuine and superior” while all other life is categorized as “other”. This concept has had major impacts on the way we as humans view the products of our environment. Dualism fuels the idea that the environment, and all non-human living beings within it, are put on this Earth specifically to serve us as humans and us alone. This ideology allows people to infer that there is a distinct separation between humans and every other living being on the planet, and that these distinctions make it possible for humans to justify destructive actions towards the environment. In addition to these ideas, the concept of “ecological consciousness” is found to play an important role in the relationship between religion and in being mindful of our consumption of our environmental resources, as we continue to consume them faster than they can regenerate themselves (Andrew 2019) [3].

Christianity and Islam are two religions that promote ecological consciousness and believe that the Earth’s resources should be treasured and treated with respect. This places a strong emphasis on environmental protection and environmental rights, which thus encourages followers and believers of the religion to do the same. Religion provides us with morals and values that can be adopted when it comes to our views of all other living things whom also share this Earth with us; not only our views of these beings, but how we treat these beings as well. Finally, Christianity and Islam argue that “being a servant of God” also encompasses the idea that Man must protect what God has entrusted him with, the environment included (Pahl 2018). Specifically in regards to Islamic views, Tawhid, meaning the “oneness of God”, is a critical component that Islam bases itself upon. The religion of Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a monotheistic religion, meaning that these religions base their values and morals on the belief that there is only one God. All existence, including the human beings, are His creation, and in that sense they are part of the one same whole and exist interdependently [4][9].

Despite the disregard of public outcries, there are ways that everyday individuals, such as ourselves, may combat this issue head on and on our own without aide from government agencies. Our first mission should be to make this issue as public as possible. Share as much reliable news coverage as you possibly can and spread the word as far as it will go. If you are able, donate to wildlife conservation and forestation projects held locally or online. Spread knowledge and education. Call attention to higher powers. Other ways in which the everyday community can make a difference include supporting Indigenous groups and tribes residing in the Amazon; begin developing an allyship by using less paper and wood products, by consuming more ethically sourced foods, by voting, and by challenging large corporations who are impeding on the health improvement of the Amazon [8].

Let’s take action! The Amazon, its people, and its wildlife need the world’s cooperation, or they do not stand a chance against the ravenous gluttony that is deforestation. We can save the lungs of our Earth together.

References

1. Amazon Rainforest. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2019, from https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/forests/amazon-rainforest/
2. Dwyer, C. (2019, August 21). Tens of Thousands of Fires Ravage Brazilian Amazon, Where Deforestation Has Spiked. Retrieved August 22, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/753140642/tens-of-thousands-of-fires-ravage-brazilian-amazon-where-deforestation-has-spikeA.
3. UNSW Australia 2016. “Dualisms – Environmental Humanities.” FutureLearn, www.futurelearn.com/courses/remaking-nature/0/steps/57394.
4. Pahl, Justin. 2019. “Nature and Environment in Contemporary Religious Contexts.” The Fountain. Retrieved August 29, 2019 (https://fountainmagazine.com/2018/issue-126-november-december-2018/nature-and-environment-in-contemporary-religious-contexts).
5. Johnson, Jake. 2019. “Indigenous Tribes on Front Line of Amazon Rainforest Fires Vow To Resist Bolsonaro’s ‘Destruction of Mother Nature.’” Common Dreams. Retrieved (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/27/indigenous-tribes-front-line-amazon-rainforest-fires-vow-resist-bolsonaros).
6. Saving the Rainforests. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2019, from http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/preserve.html.
7. Kessler, Robert. 2019. “The Amazon Is Burning.” EcoHealth Alliance. Retrieved October 18, 2019 (https://www.ecohealthalliance.org/2019/08/the-amazon-is-burning?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI59uAtoKm5QIVCNRkCh0_eAvsEAAYASAAEgI_q_D_BwE).
8. Specht, Doug. n.d. “Amazon Fires: 8 Ways You Can Help Stop the Rainforest Burning.” Public Radio International. Retrieved October 18, 2019 (https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-08-29/amazon-fires-8-ways-you-can-help-stop-rainforest-burning)
9. “Quick Links.” IslamiCity. Retrieved October 18, 2019 (https://www.islamicity.org/topics/tawhid-oneness-of-god/).
10. Yale University. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2019, from https://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/forest-governance/brazil.

It’s no secret – or at least it shouldn’t be – that climate change is one of the most important issues of our time. Very recently, a report came out saying that the planet could be facing serious consequences of climate change by 2040 – a mere 22 years from now (“Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040,” New York Times, Oct. 7, 2018). At a time when many political leaders seem unable to offer meaningful solutions, hamstrung by partisanship or economics, many people have turned to faith leaders for solutions. In 2015, for instance, Pope Francis issued Laudato Si’, a Catholic encyclical devoted entirely to ecological ethics and theology.

Two scholars explore Francis’ encyclical in Nature and Environment in Contemporary Religious Contexts edited by Muhammad Shafiq and Thomas Donlin-Smith. And though Francis might be the most quoted religious figure in the collection, Shafiq and Donlin-Smith have gathered 17 peer-reviewed essays submitted to a conference on nature and the environment in religions, hosted by the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue at Nazareth College. Taken together, they offer an inspiring and hopeful look at how religions and faith leaders are approaching humanity’s biggest challenge.

Although Francis has been one of the loudest and most prominent religious voices urging a new ecological theology, I want to look at some of the lesser known voices who are advocating for interdisciplinary and interfaith solutions to climate change. For example, Hussam S. Timani writes compellingly about how secularism and modernity – and the so-called advances of contemporary science – have actually led to the on-going ecological disaster. As he lays out in his paper “Modernity, Secularism, and the Exclusion of Nature: Why Religion Matters,” he believes that answers might be found in the ecological consciousness commanded by religion, and looks specifically at Christianity and Islam.

Timani is not just concerned with the environment, though. He believes that Western modernity has estranged man from nature – and from meaning. It is this lack that has led humanity to so voraciously consume the planet’s resources, searching for a higher purpose that has been lost as more and more people have moved away from faith.

He sees potential solutions in both Islam and Christianity. Of Islam he writes, “Being a servant of God, man must preserve and protect what God has entrusted him with and restrain from exercising dominion and power over nature” (p. 41). And, like many scholars of a more compassionate, thoughtful Christianity, Timani finds hope in the words of Richard Niebuhr, who “spoke of ‘loyalty to the community of life’” (p. 49).

Timani also engages with critics of religion – namely, Todd Jared LaVasseur’s critique that all major religions are anthropocentric, or the belief that humans are the most important creature. While true, Timani believes that religions call for a conscientious anthropocentrism, as opposed to the reckless consumption of resources espoused by Western materialism.

In his essay, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer as an Ecological Theologian,” Jamison Stallman also places the blame for our current ecological crisis on Western materialism. He examines climate change and a possible way forward through the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the early 20^th century Lutheran theologian, and the writings of environmental ethicist Larry Rasmussen.

In Sanctorum Communio (literally “a congregation of saints” and also the title of Bonhoeffer’s doctoral dissertation), Bonhoeffer asserts that, in Stallman’s words, “I become an individual when I recognize that there is a self-conscious You” (p. 90). It is only through a person’s relation to other humans that they can have any identity at all. Community is necessary for there to be an individual.

Of course, as we all know, any time two self-conscious “I”s come into contact, there will be an ethical tension. But this, Bonhoeffer asserts, is how person-hood and community are constantly being shaped and re-defined: by managing such ethical barriers.

Larry Rasmussen’s view of humans as “biosocial” is similar to Bonhoeffer’s insistence on community. But he extends the idea further, beyond just a community of Christ, to include the entire ecosystem. Western materialism, Rasmussen believes, has detached humanity from its ecological “niches” – that is, the systems and communities within which humans live (this is referred to as “niche theory”). Western materialism has moved humanity to a place above these systems, not of them. It is only by conceiving of ourselves as of the ecosystem – and in relationship with it – can we begin to repair the damage we’ve done. We cannot exist but in relation to other creatures and systems. 

Though most of the scholars are writing from the perspectives of the three Abrahamic faiths, three authors (one from each section of the book) explore other faiths and their relationships to the environment.

In section one – titled “Our Human Contexts within Nature” – Tatjana Myoko V. Prittwitz writes about “A Vast Net of Interconnected Diamonds: Buddhist Views of Nature.” Prittwitz begins with a fascinating (and humbling) thought experiment, asking the reader to think about everything in their life – their clothes and food, the chair they sit on and the car they drive, the roads and planes that make transit possible – and to consider how these objects and systems were made and how many people played in role in making them. “…our existence is dependent upon billions upon billions of people, actions, and things. What we call a separate self is in fact a vast net of … interconnection” (p. 68). Despite approaching the issue from a Buddhist perspective, Prittwitz concludes something similar, albeit slightly different, to the Muslim perspective of Timani and the Christian perspective of Stallman: “Out of the realization of interdependence comes the imperative of global responsibility …” (p. 70). Prittwitz alludes to this same universality in Native American spirituality, shamanistic rituals, and Tibetan animism, suggesting that most religions, no matter how seemingly disparate, are motivated and inspired by interconnectedness.

Appropriately for section two – “Imperatives from Sacred Texts and Tradition” – Nawaraj Chaulagain provides a close reading of the Sanskrit text Devi Mahatmya (literally “The Glorification of the Goddess”). Chaulagain writes that “The cosmic order is sustained through a continuously dynamic process of creation, preservation, and destruction for re-creating…” (p. 185). Considering the current crisis, this “dynamic process” can only be seen as hopeful!

Similar to Bonhoeffer’s grappling with original sin in Sanctorum Communio, the Devi Mahatmya contends with “the eternal battle … between the good and the evil …” And from an ecological perspective, it is grappling with “the perpetual conflict between those who are part of … the ecosystem and natural order … versus those who are against it…” (p. 186). Lastly, the Hindu festival of Navaratri pays homage to the natural world (rivers and mountains are particularly sacred in Hinduism). Chaulagain calls this “ecological worship”: “The Navaratri calls for the preservation of the earth” and involves the planting of barley seeds and the use of water from sacred rivers (194-95).

Throughout the essays, two dominant approaches to humanity and the environment tend to take shape (albeit with exceptions). Whereas Islam, Judaism, and Christianity tend to situate man as “stewards” of the world, Hinduism and Buddhism often view humanity as being “interconnected” with the world.

Leocadie Lushombo explores one of the exceptions: Central African Christianity, which tends towards interconnectedness. In her piece “Mitigating Deforestation in the Congo Basin and Climate Change: The Ethic of Environmental Responsibility Based on African Spirituality,” Lushombo ties micro environmental damage to macro climate catastrophe. She cites studies showing that deforestation in the Congo Basin “causes a decrease of precipitation of about 5%-15% in the Great Lakes region [in the US]…” (p. 275). Deforestation of the Amazon and Central Africa are causing droughts in the breadbasket of America. Meanwhile, it is leading to deluges in the Arabian peninsula. Such deforestation can be directly tied to the ills of colonialism and globalization. It’s also exacerbated by an influx of refugees – and as climate change worsens, it will lead to even more refugees.

Resistance to the dominant ideologies of Western exploitation and capitalism can be found in African spirituality, including African Christianity. Lushombo quotes Magesa, who wrote “What the African religious world view emphasizes, therefore, are relationships …” (p. 281). In traditional African practices, she finds hints of the “humanity as caretaker” worldview mostly associated with the Abrahamic faiths. She writes, “In order to maintain harmony with nature, it is a moral obligation to function as God’s stewards … and not as rulers” (p. 286). Lushombo sees solutions to over-logging and resource exploitation in the ideologies of both interconnectedness and stewardship.

The other essays in the book support this conclusion. Whether a faith views humanity as a steward of nature or interconnected with nature, is immaterial. All faiths believe that taking care with the natural world is critical to humanity’s future – in this world and the next. As our species grapples with climate change triggered by capitalism run amok, all people of faith – regardless of ideology – must come together to begin healing our planet through a new theology of ecology. This essay collection, with its focus on peacebuilding and interreligious dialogue, would be a good starting point.

Popcorn crowding all around,
Hot air blows them round and round,
Yellow corn kernels poppity pop,
One after another, when will they stop?
Whirling, swirling the popcorn pops,
In a bowl they quickly drop,
Fluffy popcorn, grab a bunch,
Light and tasty, eat them crunch.”
James Hörner

Popcorn is one of the most nutritious and economical foods available. You can see people enjoying huge buckets of popcorn at movie theaters, amusement parks, festivals, games… basically, anywhere associated with fun. How all this popcorn craziness started in the first place is uncertain and the exact birthplace of corn (Zea mays ssp. mays, maize) is not very clear either. According to Lance Gibson and Garren Benson of Iowa State University, Department of Agronomy archeological evidence shows corn has been in the Western Hemisphere for at least 80,000 years. Corn pollen samples were obtained from drill cores 200 feet below Mexico City. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the corncobs found in the bat caves in New Mexico were 5,600 years old [3].
Scholars agree that, thousands of years ago, maize was domesticated from a Mexican grass called teosinte (Zea mays spp. parviglumis). They know this mostly due to 1958 Nobel Prize winner George W. Beadle’s extensive genetic studies. It was not easy for him to convince others that teosinte, a wild grass with just a dozen dark kernels in a seed coat that was hard as a stone, was domesticated and turned into juicy and soft corn by early cultivators, who worked like agriculturalists and geneticists thousands of years ago [4]. Their extraordinary selective breeding effort, talent, and patience generated today’s corn, which has more than 500 different uses, including industrial ones [3].

Most of the world’s popcorn is grown in the United States’ corn belt of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, and Ohio. Each spring, farmers use a corn planter to place the seeds about 1½ inches deep and 6 inches apart in the soil. That’s nearly 28,000 seeds per acre [5].

According to DuPont Pioneer, a large U.S. producer of hybrid seeds for agriculture, maize is a warm-season crop, so germination and emergence are optimal when soil temperatures are approximately 85 to 90 degrees F; cool conditions during planting impose significant stress on corn emergence and seedling health. Elwynn Taylor and Roger Elmore, from the Department of Agronomy of Iowa State University, say that “Corn typically requires 90 to 120 Growing Degree Days (GDD) from planting to emergence.”

Anatomy and reproduction of corn

A typical corn plant is often 2.5 m (8 ft.) in height, though some natural strains can grow 12 m (40 ft.) high [6]. Corn produces individual male (tassel) and female (ear) flowering parts on the same plant, unlike all other major grain crops. The immature ear consists of a cob, eggs that develop into kernels after pollination, and silks. From each egg, a hair-like structure called a silk grows and eventually emerges from the tip of the husk, which is a group of leaves attached to the shank that encloses the entire ear [7]. Approximately 1,000 individual spikelets form on each tassel and each one holds two florets (small flowers making up a composite flower head) encased in two large glumes (husks of grain), and each floret has three anthers hanging from the tassel during pollination (pollen bearing parts) [8]. Each tassel contains from 2 to 25 million pollen grains, and pollen grains released from tassels can travel as far as 1⁄2 mile (800 m) in 2 minutes with only a 15 mph wind [7]. When pollen falls on the silk’s fine, sticky hairs, which serve to catch and anchor pollen grains, it hydrates and a pollen tube, including two male gametes (mature sexual reproductive cells) from a single pollen grain emerges and grows down to the egg, with a growth rate of some 0.5 cm/h. Male gametes fertilize two female gametes, the egg and central cells, resulting in the formation of the embryo and endosperm, together called a kernel. The average ear of corn has approximately 400 to 600 kernels. Approximately 83% of the mature kernel is endosperm composed of about 88% starch and 8% protein [9], and functions as a key carbon and nutrient source during germination and early seedling growth. Other than endosperm and embryo (germ), a corn kernel also includes pericarp (bran) and the tip. During the industrial processing of corn, the endosperm is separated from the other parts, and the germ and pericarp are generally used for oil extraction and animal feed, due to the high density of nutrients, particularly lipids, proteins, and fibers [10].

We’ve learned corn’s anatomy, but now the really important question: How does corn pop when it is exposed to heat? How does the yellow, hard kernel turn into a puffy, delicious, white, tender flake?

When the kernel is heated, the moisture inside it turns to steam, and because the pericarp is hard, pressure builds up within the kernel, so each kernel becomes like a pressure cooker. The starch in the endosperm becomes soft like gelatin and the moisture vaporizes until the pressure in the kernel reaches 135 pounds per square inch. The pressure increases until the pericarp breaks and the gelatinized starch granules puff out, thus the kernel turns inside out. Consequently, the starch or endosperm forms the white part of the popped kernel, while the pericarp is the darker, flaky bit at the center of the kernel [5].

Because corn is not only a staple crop but also important for many industrial uses, including biofuel or biodegradable plastic production, it is of great interest to scientists, mainly plant geneticists. Corn has a large genome of about 2.4 gigabases, with 10 chromosomes (n=10). The total genetic length of these chromosomes is roughly 1500cM (centimorgan, distance between chromosome positions). The complete genome sequence of Zea mays cv. B73 was published in 2009 by the Maize Genome Sequencing Project which was funded by the National Science Foundation [11]. This was very exciting for maize researchers and breeders. However, it has also reignited the debate over food safety and scientific responsibility. In the summer of 2012, large quantities of Monsanto’s genetically modified organism (GMO) sweet corn appeared on grocery store shelves and roadside produce stands. GMO sweet corn is genetically engineered to be herbicide resistant (Roundup Ready) and to produce its own insecticide (Bt Toxin). Furthermore, in 2013, Monsanto launched the first transgenic drought tolerance trait in a line of corn hybrids, called DroughtGard. The developers of GMO foods claim that they help combat the world’s malnutrition and starvation problems, whereas antiGMO groups battle against them, thinking they are dangerous, since their effects are not well studied. Many studies show genetically modified foods are safe for human consumption; however, it is broadly accepted that the long-term health effects are unknown. The Food and Drug Administration generally recognizes these foods as safe, and the World Health Organization has said no ill health effects have resulted on the international market [12].

Genetically modified or not, corn is the most-produced grain worldwide and provides about 21 percent of human nutrition across the globe. It is involved in just about every aspect of our lives [13], including our movie nights, holidays, or other fun social activities.

References

1. http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems94.html
2. http://www.popcorn.org/EncyclopediaPopcornica/WelcometoPopcornica/IndustryFacts/tabid/108/Default.aspx
3. http://agron-www.agron.iastate.edu/Courses/agron212/readings/corn_history.htm
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25creature.html?_r=0
5. http://www.popcorn.org/ForTeachers/TeachingGuide/FromSeedtoSnack/tabid/87/Default.aspx
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize
7. http://passel.unl.edu/pages/informationmodule.php?idinformationmodule=1075412493&topicorder=3&maxto=12&minto=1
8. http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/Tassels.html
9. Glover DV, Mertz ET (1987) Corn. In RA Olson, KJ Frey, eds, Nutritional Quality of Cereal Grains: Genetic and Agronomic Improvement. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, pp 183-336
10. Naves MMV, Castro MVL, Mendonca AL, Santos GG, Silva MS (2011) Corn germ with pericarp in relation to whole corn: nutrient contents, food and protein efficiency, and protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score. Ciênc. Tecnol. Aliment., Campinas, 31(1): 264-269