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Meet the weird, wonderful creatures that live in Australia’s desert water holes. They might not be there much longer

From water fleas to seed shrimp, Australia’s desert rock holes shelter unique animals found nowhere else. But as the climate warms, their homes are at risk.

The Conversation , CC BY-NDYou might think of Australia’s arid centre as a dry desert landscape devoid of aquatic life. But it’s actually dotted with thousands of rock holes – natural rainwater reservoirs that act as little oases for tiny freshwater animals and plants when they hold water. They aren’t teeming with fish, but are home to all sorts of weird and wonderful invertebrates, important to both First Nations peoples and desert animals. Predatory damselflies patrol the water in search of prey, while alien-like water fleas and seed shrimp float about feeding on algae. Often overlooked in favour of more photogenic creatures, invertebrates make up more than 97% of all animal species, and are immensely important to the environment. Our new research reveals 60 unique species live in Australia’s arid rock holes. We will need more knowledge to protect them in a warming climate. Arid land rock holes play host to a surprisingly diverse range of invertebrates. Author provided, CC BY-ND Overlooked, but extraordinary Invertebrates are animals without backbones. They include many different and beautiful organisms, such as butterflies, beetles, worms and spiders (though perhaps beauty is in the eye of the beholder!). These creatures provide many benefits to Australian ecosystems (and people): pollinating plants, recycling nutrients in the soil, and acting as a food source for other animals. Yet despite their significance, invertebrates are usually forgotten in public discussions about climate change. Freshwater invertebrates in arid Australia are rarely the focus of research, let alone media coverage. This is due to a combination of taxonomic bias, where better-known “charismatic” species are over-represented in scientific studies, and the commonly held misconception that dry deserts are less affected by climate change. Invertebrates in desert oases include insects and crustaceans, often smaller than 5 cm in length. Invertebrates in this picture include three seed shrimp, one pea shrimp, a water flea, a water boatman and a non-biting midge larvae. Author provided, CC BY-ND Oases of life Arid rock-holes are small depressions that have been eroded into rock over time. They completely dry out during certain times of year, making them difficult environments to live in. But when rain fills them up, many animals rely on them for water. When it is hot, water presence is brief, sometimes for only a few days. But during cooler months, they can remain wet for a few months. Eggs that have been lying dormant in the sediments hatch. Other invertebrates (particularly those with wings) seek them out, sometimes across very long distances. In the past, this variability has made ecological research extremely difficult. Our new research explored the biodiversity in seven freshwater rock holes in South Australia’s Gawler Ranges. For the first time, we used environmental DNA techniques on water samples from these pools. Similar to forensic DNA, environmental DNA refers to the traces of DNA left behind by animals in the environment. By sweeping an area for eDNA, we minimise disturbance to species, avoid having to collect the animals themselves, and get a clear snapshot of what is – or was – in an ecosystem. We assume that the capture window for eDNA goes back roughly two weeks. These samples showed that not only were these isolated rock holes full of invertebrate life, but each individual rock hole had a unique combination of animals in it. These include tiny animals such as seed shrimp, water fleas, water boatman and midge larvae. Due to how dry the surrounding landscape is, these oases are often the only habitats where creatures like these can be seen. Culturally significant These arid rock holes are of great cultural significance to several Australian First Nations groups, including the Barngarla, Kokatha and Wirangu peoples. These are the three people and language groups in the Gawler Ranges Aboriginal Corporation, who hold native title in the region and actively manage the rock holes using traditional practices. As reliable sources of freshwater in otherwise very dry landscapes, these locations provided valuable drinking water and resting places to many cultural groups. Some of the managed rock holes hold up to 500 litres of water, but elsewhere they are even deeper. Diverse practices were traditionally developed to actively manage rock holes and reliably locate them. Some of these practices — such as regular cleaning and limiting access by animals — are still maintained today. Freshwater granite rock-holes are still managed using traditional practices in the Gawler Ranges region. Author provided, CC BY-ND Threatened by climate change Last year, Earth reached 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels for the first time. Australia has seen the dramatic consequences of global climate change firsthand: increasingly deadly, costly and devastating bushfires, heatwaves, droughts and floods. Climate change means less frequent and more unpredictable rainfall for Australia. There has been considerable discussion of what this means for Australia’s rivers, lakes and people. But smaller water sources, including rock holes in Australia’s deserts, don’t get much attention. Australia is already seeing a shift: winter rainfall is becoming less reliable, and summer storms are more unpredictable. Water dries out quickly in the summer heat, so wildlife adapted to using rock holes will increasingly have to go without. Storm clouds roll in over the South Australian desert. Author provided, CC BY-ND Drying out? Climate change threatens the precious diversity supported by rock holes. Less rainfall and higher temperatures in southern and central Australia mean we expect they will fill less, dry more quickly, and might be empty during months when they were historically full. This compounds the ongoing environmental change throughout arid Australia. Compared with iconic invasive species such as feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park, invasive species in arid Australia are overlooked. These include feral goats, camels and agricultural animal species that affect water quality. Foreign plants can invade freshwater systems. Deeper understanding Many gaps in our knowledge remain, despite the clear need to protect these unique invertebrates as their homes get drier. Without a deeper understanding of rock-hole biodiversity, governments and land managers are left without the right information to prevent further species loss. Studies like this one are an important first step because they establish a baseline on freshwater biodiversity in desert rock holes. With a greater understanding of the unique animals that live in these remote habitats, we will be better equipped to conserve them. The freshwater damselfly visit granite rock-holes after rain and lay their eggs directly into the water. Author provided, CC BY-ND Brock A. Hedges received funding from Nature Foundation, The Ecological Society of Australia and the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. Brock A. Hedges currently receives funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.James B. Dorey receives funding from the University of Wollongong. Perry G. Beasley-Hall receives funding from the Australian Biological Resources Study.

Water
Animals
Climate

Kennedy's Vaccine Advisory Committee Meets to Discuss Hepatitis B Shots for Newborns

A federal vaccine advisory committee is meeting in Atlanta to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born

A federal vaccine advisory committee convened Thursday in Atlanta to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they're born.For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses.But U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s committee is considering whether to recommend the birth dose only for babies whose mothers test positive, which would mark a return to a public health strategy that was abandoned more than three decades ago. For other babies, it will be up to the parents and their doctors to decide if a birth dose is appropriate.Committee member Vicky Pebsworth said a work group was tasked in September with evaluating whether a birth dose is necessary when mothers tested negative for hepatitis B.“We need to address stakeholder and parent dissatisfaction" with the current recommendation, she said.The committee makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how already approved vaccines should be used. CDC directors almost always adopted the committee’s recommendations, which were widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs. But the agency currently has no director, leaving acting director Jim O'Neill to decide.The panel has made several decisions that angered major medical groups.At a June meeting, it recommended that a preservative called thimerosal be removed from doses of flu vaccine even though some members acknowledged there was no proof it was causing harm. In September, it recommended new restrictions on a combination shot that protects against chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella. The panel also took the unprecedented step of not recommending COVID-19 vaccinations, even for high-risk populations such as seniors, and instead making it a matter of personal choice.Several doctors groups said the changes were not based on good evidence, and advised doctors and patients to follow guidance that was previously in place.Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection that, for most people, lasts less than six months. But for some, especially infants and children, it can become a long-lasting problem that can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and scarring called cirrhosis.In adults, the virus is spread through sex or through sharing needles during injection drug use.But it can also be passed from an infected mother to a baby. As many as 90% of infants who contract hepatitis B go on to have chronic infections, meaning their immune systems don’t completely clear the virus.In 1991, the committee recommended an initial dose of hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Over about 30 years, cases among children fell from about 18,000 per year to about 2,200.But members of Kennedy's committee have voiced discomfort with vaccinating all newborns.Cynthia Nevison, an autism and environmental researcher, presented at the meeting. Nevison has written opinion pieces published by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy organization Kennedy previously led. She also co-authored a 2021 article in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders that the publication retracted after concerns were raised about the paper’s methodology and about nondisclosed ties between the authors and anti-vaccine groups.Another presenter was Mark Blaxill, a co-author of the retracted paper, who spoke about vaccine safety.In the past, committee meetings have relied on presentations by the CDC scientists involved in tracking vaccine-preventable diseases and assessing vaccine safety. The agenda for this meeting listed no CDC scientists, but rather featured a prolonged public airing of anti-vaccine theories that most scientists have deemed as discredited. Kennedy is a lawyer by training. Aaron Siri, a lawyer who worked with Kennedy to sue vaccine makers, is listed as a presenter on Friday on the topic of the immunization schedule for U.S. children.The current guidance advises a dose within 24 hours of birth for all medically stable infants who weigh at least 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms), plus follow-up shots to be given at about 1 month and 6 months. The committee is expected to vote on language that says when a family decides not to get a birth dose, then the vaccination series should begin when the child is 2 months old.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

Education
Government
Health

Thirsty work: how the rise of massive datacentres strains Australia’s drinking water supply

The demand for use in cooling in Sydney alone is expected to exceed the volume of Canberra’s total drinking water within the next decadeSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereAs Australia rides the AI boom with dozens of new investments in datacentres in Sydney and Melbourne, experts are warning about the impact these massive projects will have on already strained water resources.Water demand to service datacentres in Sydney alone is forecast to be larger than the volume of Canberra’s total drinking water within the next decade. Continue reading...

As Australia rides the AI boom with dozens of new investments in datacentres in Sydney and Melbourne, experts are warning about the impact these massive projects will have on already strained water resources.Water demand to service datacentres in Sydney alone is forecast to be larger than the volume of Canberra’s total drinking water within the next decade.In Melbourne the Victorian government has announced a “$5.5m investment to become Australia’s datacentre capital”, but the hyperscale datacentre applications on hand already exceed the water demands of nearly all of the state’s top 30 business customers combined.Technology companies, including Open AI and Atlassian, are pushing for Australia to become a hub for data processing and storage. But with 260 datacentres operating and dozens more in the offing, experts are flagging concerns about the impact on the supply of drinking water.Sydney Water has estimated up to 250 megalitres a day would be needed to service the industry by 2035 (a larger volume than Canberra’s total drinking water).Cooling requires ‘huge amount of water’Prof Priya Rajagopalan, director of the Post Carbon Research Centre at RMIT, says water and electricity demands of datacentres depend on the cooling technology used.“If you’re just using evaporative cooling, there is a lot of water loss from the evaporation, but if you are using sealers, there is no water loss but it requires a huge amount of water to cool,” she says.While older datacentres tend to rely on air cooling, demand for more computing power means higher server rack density so the output is warmer, meaning centres have turned to water for cooling .The amount of water used in a datacentre can vary greatly. Some centres, such as NextDC, are moving towards liquid-to-chip cooling, which cools the processor or GPU directly instead of using air or water to cool the whole room.NextDC says it has completed an initial smaller deployment of the cooling technology but it has the capacity to scale up for ultra-high-density environments to allow for greater processing power without an associated rise in power consumption because liquid cooling is more efficient. The company says its modelling suggests power usage effectiveness (PUE, a measure of energy efficiency) could go as low as 1.15. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletterThe datacentre industry accounts for its sustainability with two metrics: water usage effectiveness (WUE) and power usage effectiveness (PUE). These measure the amount of water or power used relative to computing work.WUE is measured by annual water use divided by annual IT energy use (kWh). For example, a 100MW datacentre using 3ML a day would have a WUE of 1.25. The closer the number is to 1, the more efficient it is. Several countries mandate minimum standards. Malaysia has recommended a WUE of 1.8, for example.But even efficient facilities can still use large quantities of water and energy, at scale.NextDC’s PUE in the last financial year was 1.44, up from 1.42 the previous year, which the company says “reflects the dynamic nature of customer activity across our fleet and the scaling up of new facilities”.Calls for ban on use of drinking waterSydney Water says its estimates of datacentre water use are being reviewed regularly. The utility is exploring climate-resilient and alternative water sources such as recycled water and stormwater harvesting to prepare for future demand.“All proposed datacentre connections are individually assessed to confirm there is sufficient local network capacity and operators may be required to fund upgrades if additional servicing is needed,” a Sydney Water spokesperson says.In its submission to the Victorian pricing review for 2026 to 2031, Melbourne Water noted that hyperscale datacentre operators that have put in applications for connections have “projected instantaneous or annual demands exceeding nearly all top 30 non-residential customers in Melbourne”.“We have not accounted for this in our demand forecasts or expenditure planning,” Melbourne Water said.It has sought upfront capital contributions from the companies so the financial burden of works required “does not fall on the broader customer base”.Greater Western Water in Victoria had 19 datacentre applications on hand, according to documents obtained by the ABC, and provided to the Guardian.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Clear Air AustraliaAdam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisisPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe Concerned Waterways Alliance, a network of Victorian community and environment groups, has flagged its concerns about the diversion of large volumes of drinking water to cool servers, when many of the state’s water resources are already stretched.Cameron Steele, a spokesperson for the alliance, says datacentre growth could increase Melbourne’s reliance on desalinated water and reduce water available for environmental flows, with the associated costs borne by the community. The groups have called for a ban on the use of drinking water for cooling, and mandatory public reporting of water use for all centres.“We would strongly advocate for the use of recycled water for datacentres rather than potable drinking water.”Closed-loop coolingIn hotter climates, such as large parts of Australia during the summer months, centres require more energy or water to keep cool.Danielle Francis, manager of customer and policy at the Water Services Association of Australia, says there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for how much energy and water datacentres use because it will depend on the local constraints such as land, noise restrictions and availability of water.“We’re always balancing all the different customers, and that’s the need for residential areas and also non-residential customers, as well as of course environmental needs,” Francis says.“It is true that there are quite a lot of datacentre applications. And the cumulative impact is what we have to plan for … We have to obviously look at what the community impact of that is going to be.“And sometimes they do like to cluster near each other and be in a similar location.”One centre under construction in Sydney’s Marsden Park is a 504MW datacentre spanning 20 hectares, with six four-storey buildings. The CDC centre will become the largest data campus in the southern hemisphere, the company has boasted.In the last financial year, CDC used 95.8% renewable electricity in its operational datacentres, and the company boasts a PUE of 1.38 and a WUE of 0.01. A spokesperson for the company says it has been able to achieve this through a closed-loop cooling system that eliminates ongoing water draw, rather than relying on the traditional evaporative cooling systems.“The closed-loop systems at CDC are filled once at the beginning of their life and operate without ongoing water draw, evaporation or waste, ensuring we are preserving water while still maintaining thermal performance,” a spokesperson says.“It’s a model designed for Australia, a country shaped by drought and water stress, and built for long-term sustainability and sets an industry standard.”Planning documents for the centre reveal that, despite CDC’s efforts, there remains some community concern over the project.In a June letter, the acting chief executive of the western health district of New South Wales, Peter Rophail, said the development was too close to vulnerable communities, and the unprecedented scale of the development was untested and represented an unsuitable risk to western Sydney communities.“The proposal does not provide any assurance that the operation can sufficiently adjust or mitigate environmental exposures during extreme heat weather events so as not to pose an unreasonable risk to human health,” Rophail said.

Water
Climate
Crisis

Stop treating your pet like a fur baby – you're damaging its health

Pet owners' increasing tendency to see their animals as children rather than dogs or cats can have dire consequences. Owners, and veterinarians, should be wary, warns Eddie Clutton

Where once they lived in our backyards, many pets – for better and for worse – have now transitioned to a pampered life as “fur baby” family members. The American Veterinary Medical Association recently highlighted that pet owners were projected to spend nearly $1 billion on costumes for their pets this year. Many see this as harmless fun, but the increasing tendency to treat pets as surrogate children – or at least small humans – can have severe health and welfare consequences for the animals involved. The forerunners of the modern fur baby belonged to a widely distributed population of small, domesticated carnivores of the genera Canis and Felis. Despite being relatively short-lived, such pets usually brought considerable pleasure, companionship and some health benefits to their human owners, while teaching children a respect for, and the vital requirements of, these animals. Pets have also brought other educational gains, such as the opportunity to experience and grieve non-human death in preparation for the demise of human loved ones. Most pets would be rewarded for this with food, water, shelter, vaccines, flea powders and a name reflecting their service (Fido), colour (Sooty) or behavioural traits (Rover). Importantly, they were usually assured a relatively pleasant death before the inevitable effects of advanced age extinguished any remaining quality of life. The pet-to-fur-baby evolution can be attributed to many things, including undue emphasis on the human-animal bond, increasing affluence, ignorance of animals’ biological needs, irresistible consumerism – and, in propagating ill-advised (though well-intentioned) anthropomorphism, social media. The principal causes, drivers and outcomes of fur babyism have intensified and spread globally. Evidence for this is inescapable and goes beyond the availability of clothes for birthdays, Halloween or Christmas. Strollers, jewellery, fragrances, nappies, nail polish, coat dyes, birthday cakes and shoes are now available for the modern fur baby, as are “gold standard” veterinary treatments. The adverse physical and psychological health effects of fur babyism are well documented. Take strollers for dogs: while potentially useful for injured or arthritic animals, their excessive use in other dogs can lead to muscle wastage, joint damage and obesity. Restricting the fur baby’s movement limits its natural inclination to explore, mark territory and interact with environmental features, such as others of its species, leading to fear and anxiety. Given these potential health and welfare hazards, one would expect the veterinary profession to adopt a universally condemnatory position with respect to the fur baby phenomenon. Oddly, this isn’t the case, with attitudes ranging from censure to capitalisation. The latter position is troubling because in encouraging overtreatment, for example radiotherapy in geriatric animals, it may further compromise animal welfare without necessarily improving animal health. An owner’s profound love for their pet can always be accepted, provided the animal’s interests are prioritised, which includes ensuring them freedom from pain, suffering and distress. What is considerably less defensible is the vet who cashes in on an owner’s misguided love for their pet to conduct unnecessary, invasive, painful, unproven and expensive tests and procedures on an animal that cannot give its consent. All caregivers should reflect on the suffering that may arise when animals are treated inappropriately: that is, as children rather than dogs or cats. And vets pandering to the fur baby trend should know better. Eddie Clutton is co-author of Veterinary Controversies and Ethical Dilemmas (Routledge)

Animals
Health
Food

What’s the best way to expand the US electricity grid?

A study by MIT researchers illuminates choices about reliability, cost, and emissions.

Growing energy demand means the U.S. will almost certainly have to expand its electricity grid in coming years. What’s the best way to do this? A new study by MIT researchers examines legislation introduced in Congress and identifies relative tradeoffs involving reliability, cost, and emissions, depending on the proposed approach.The researchers evaluated two policy approaches to expanding the U.S. electricity grid: One would concentrate on regions with more renewable energy sources, and the other would create more interconnections across the country. For instance, some of the best untapped wind-power resources in the U.S. lie in the center of the country, so one type of grid expansion would situate relatively more grid infrastructure in those regions. Alternatively, the other scenario involves building more infrastructure everywhere in roughly equal measure, which the researchers call the “prescriptive” approach. How does each pencil out?After extensive modeling, the researchers found that a grid expansion could make improvements on all fronts, with each approach offering different advantages. A more geographically unbalanced grid buildout would be 1.13 percent less expensive, and would reduce carbon emissions by 3.65 percent compared to the prescriptive approach. And yet, the prescriptive approach, with more national interconnection, would significantly reduce power outages due to extreme weather, among other things.“There’s a tradeoff between the two things that are most on policymakers’ minds: cost and reliability,” says Christopher Knittel, an economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who helped direct the research. “This study makes it more clear that the more prescriptive approach ends up being better in the face of extreme weather and outages.”The paper, “Implications of Policy-Driven Transmission Expansion on Costs, Emissions and Reliability in the United States,” is published today in Nature Energy.The authors are Juan Ramon L. Senga, a postdoc in the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research; Audun Botterud, a principal research scientist in the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems; John E. Parson, the deputy director for research at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research; Drew Story, the managing director at MIT’s Policy Lab; and Knittel, who is the George P. Schultz Professor at MIT Sloan, and associate dean for climate and sustainability at MIT.The new study is a product of the MIT Climate Policy Center, housed within MIT Sloan and committed to bipartisan research on energy issues. The center is also part of the Climate Project at MIT, founded in 2024 as a high-level Institute effort to develop practical climate solutions.In this case, the project was developed from work the researchers did with federal lawmakers who have introduced legislation aimed at bolstering and expanding the U.S. electric grid. One of these bills, the BIG WIRES Act, co-sponsored by Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Rep. Scott Peters of California, would require each transmission region in the U.S. to be able to send at least 30 percent of its peak load to other regions by 2035.That would represent a substantial change for a national transmission scenario where grids have largely been developed regionally, without an enormous amount of national oversight.“The U.S. grid is aging and it needs an upgrade,” Senga says. “Implementing these kinds of policies is an important step for us to get to that future where we improve the grid, lower costs, lower emissions, and improve reliability. Some progress is better than none, and in this case, it would be important.”To conduct the study, the researchers looked at how policies like the BIG WIRES Act would affect energy distribution. The scholars used a model of energy generation developed at the MIT Energy Initiative — the model is called “Gen X” — and examined the changes proposed by the legislation.With a 30 percent level of interregional connectivity, the study estimates, the number of outages due to extreme cold would drop by 39 percent, for instance, a substantial increase in reliability. That would help avoid scenarios such as the one Texas experienced in 2021, when winter storms damaged distribution capacity.“Reliability is what we find to be most salient to policymakers,” Senga says.On the other hand, as the paper details, a future grid that is “optimized” with more transmission capacity near geographic spots of new energy generation would be less expensive.“On the cost side, this kind of optimized system looks better,” Senga says.A more geographically imbalanced grid would also have a greater impact on reducing emissions. Globally, the levelized cost of wind and solar dropped by 89 percent and 69 percent, respectively, from 2010 to 2022, meaning that incorporating less-expensive renewables into the grid would help with both cost and emissions.“On the emissions side, a priori it’s not clear the optimized system would do better, but it does,” Knittel says. “That’s probably tied to cost, in the sense that it’s building more transmission links to where the good, cheap renewable resources are, because they’re cheap. Emissions fall when you let the optimizing action take place.”To be sure, these two differing approaches to grid expansion are not the only paths forward. The study also examines a hybrid approach, which involves both national interconnectivity requirements and local buildouts based around new power sources on top of that. Still, the model does show that there may be some tradeoffs lawmakers will want to consider when developing and considering future grid legislation.“You can find a balance between these factors, where you’re still going to still have an increase in reliability while also getting the cost and emission reductions,” Senga observes.For his part, Knittel emphasizes that working with legislation as the basis for academic studies, while not generally common, can be productive for everyone involved. Scholars get to apply their research tools and models to real-world scenarios, and policymakers get a sophisticated evaluation of how their proposals would work.“Compared to the typical academic path to publication, this is different, but at the Climate Policy Center, we’re already doing this kind of research,” Knittel says. 

Climate
Energy
Nature

Incredible close-up of spider silk wins science photo prize

Duelling prairie chickens, a snake-mimicking moth and a once-a-year sunrise at the South Pole feature in the best images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025

Spider silk threadsMartin J. Ramirez/Royal Society Publishing These twisting threads wrapped in thinner, looping strands are the silk of an Australian net-casting spider (Asianopis subrufa), a consummate ambush predator. Instead of building a web and waiting for prey to fall into it, this spider holds its net in its front four legs and throws it over a hapless insect. As this electron microscope image shows, its silk is specially adapted for this unusual hunting technique: it consists of an elastic core encased in a sheath of harder fibres of varying sizes, making it both strong and exceptionally stretchy. The photo, taken by Martin J. Ramirez at the Argentinian Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Sciences and his colleagues, is the overall winner of the Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025. Jumping prairie-chickensPeter Hudson/Royal Society Publishing The winning photo in the behaviour category shows a fight between two male greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido), snapped by Peter Hudson at the Pennsylvania State University. Like many grouse species, males gather at a so-called lek during the breeding season, where they compete for mates by leaping into the air and attempting to strike their opponent. TadpolesFilippo Carugati/Royal Society Publishing Filippo Carugati at the University of Turin, Italy, won in the ecology and environmental science category with this photo of tadpoles, taken during fieldwork in Madagascar. The tadpoles, thought to be the young of a Guibemantis liber frog, are swimming in a gelatinous substance hanging from a tree trunk. Atlas mothIrina Petrova Adamatzky/Royal Society Publishing This image by Irina Petrova Adamatzky, a UK-based photographer, is the runner-up in the behaviour category. It showcases the masterful mimicry of the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), one of the largest moths in the world, with a wingspan of up to 30 centimetres. The tips of its wings resemble snake heads: a disguise that helps it avoid being eaten by birds. Fog in the Atacama desertFelipe Rios Silva/Royal Society Publishing In Chile’s Atacama desert, stratocumulus clouds drifting in from the coast are a valuable resource. Felipe Ríos Silva at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and his colleagues are exploring techniques for catching the fog and turning it into drinking water for communities living in one of the driest places on Earth. Ríos Silva’s photo was the runner-up in the earth sciences and climatology category. South Pole sunriseDr. Aman Chokshi/Royal Society Publishing The return of the sun after six months of darkness at the South Pole is captured in this image by Aman Chokshi at McGill University in Canada, the runner-up in the astronomy category. Chokshi had to heat up his camera and contend with the icy wind at -70°C (-94°F) for several minutes to take a 360-degree panoramic shot of the horizon as the sun rose. He then turned it into a stereographic image resembling a small planet, fringed by a green and purple aurora with the Milky Way above.

Science
Water

UK farmers lose £800m after heat and drought cause one of worst harvests on record

Many now concerned about ability to make living in fast-changing climate after one of worst grain harvests recordedRecord heat and drought cost Britain’s arable farmers more than £800m in lost production in 2025 in one of the worst harvests recorded, analysis has estimated.Three of the five worst harvests on record have now occurred since 2020, leaving some farmers asking whether the growing impacts of the climate crisis are making it too financially risky to sow their crops. Farmers are already facing heavy financial pressure as the costs of fertilisers and other inputs have risen faster than prices. Continue reading...

Record heat and drought cost Britain’s arable farmers more than £800m in lost production in 2025 in one of the worst harvests recorded, analysis has estimated.Three of the five worst harvests on record have now occurred since 2020, leaving some farmers asking whether the growing impacts of the climate crisis are making it too financially risky to sow their crops. Farmers are already facing heavy financial pressure as the costs of fertilisers and other inputs have risen faster than prices.This year Britain had the hottest and driest spring on record, and the hottest summer, with drought conditions widespread. As a result, the production of the five staple arable crops – wheat, oats, spring and winter barley, and oilseed rape – fell by 20% compared with the 10-year average, according to the analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). The harvest in England was the second-worst in records going back to 1984.Supercharged by global heating, extreme rainfall in the winters of 2019-20 and 2023-24 also led to very poor harvests, as farmers were unable to access waterlogged and flooded fields to drill their crops.“This has been another torrid year for many farmers in the UK, with the pendulum swinging from too wet to too hot and dry,” said Tom Lancaster at the ECIU. “British farmers have once again been left counting the costs of climate change, with four-fifths now concerned about their ability to make a living due to the fast-changing climate.”He added: “There is an urgent need to ensure farmers are better supported to adapt to these climate shocks and build their resilience as the bedrock of our food security. In this context, the delays [by ministers] to the relaunch of vital green farming schemes are the last thing the industry needs.” The sustainable farming incentive was closed in March.Many farmers are struggling to break even and some blame environmental policies, but Lancaster said: “The evidence suggests that climate impacts are what’s actually driving issues of profitability, certainly in the arable sector, as opposed to policy change. Without reaching net zero emission there is no way to limit the impacts making food production in the UK ever more difficult.”David Lord, an arable farmer from Essex, said: “As a farmer, I’m used to taking the rough with the smooth, but recent years have seen near constant extreme rainfall, heat and drought. It’s getting to the point with climate change where I can’t take the risk of investing in a new crop of wheat or barley because the return on that investment is just so uncertain.“Green farming schemes are a vital lifeline for me, helping build my resilience to these shocks whilst providing cashflow to help buffer me financially.”Green farming approaches include planting winter cover crops. These increase resilience by boosting the organic content of soil, meaning it can retain water better during droughts. Cover crops can also help break up compacted soil, allowing it to drain better during wet periods.The ECIU analysis used production data for England published in October and current grain prices and then extrapolated it to the UK as a whole, a method shown to be reliable in previous years. Since 2020, which was the worst harvest on record, lost revenue associated with the impact of extreme weather is now more than £2bn for UK arable farmers. Grain prices are set globally, so low harvests in the UK do not translate in the market to higher prices.The link between worsening extreme weather and global heating is increasingly clear. The Met Office said the UK summer of 2025 was the hottest in more than a century of records and was made 70 times more probable because of the climate crisis. Global heating also made the severe rainfall in the winter storms of 2023-24 about 20% heavier.“This year’s harvest was extremely challenging,” said Jamie Burrows, the chair of the National Farmers’ Union combinable crops board. “Growing crops in the UK isn’t easy due to the unpredictable weather we are seeing more of. Funding is needed for climate adaptation and resilient crop varieties to safeguard our ability to feed the nation.”The price of some foods hit by extreme weather are rising more than four times faster than others in the average shop, the ECIU reported in October. It found the price of butter, beef, milk, coffee and chocolate had risen by an average of 15.6% over the year, compared with 2.8% for other food and drink.Drought in the UK led to poor grass growth, hitting butter and beef production, while extreme heat and rain in west Africa pushed up cocoa prices and droughts in Brazil and Vietnam led to a surge in coffee prices.A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said farmers were stewards of the nation’s food security. “We know there are challenges in the sector and weather extremes have affected harvests,” she said. “We are backing our farmers in the face of a changing climate with the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history to grow their businesses and get more British food on our plates.”

Climate
Crisis
Energy

Panda Express pays fine for failing to train employees on handling hazardous materials

Panda Express has agreed to pay $1 million for failing to train employees on how to safely handle carbon dioxide in soda machines.

Panda Express has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it failed to train its employees on how to handle its soda machines. The parent company of the Rosemead-based fast-casual Chinese American food chain had to pay a penalty for failing to educate its employees on handling carbon dioxide used for carbonated fountain beverage systems.The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Carbon dioxide is typically stored in tanks and is widely used by restaurants. California’s hazardous materials law requires that employees receive training on the storage and handling of carbon dioxide. Leaks that displace oxygen can result in serious harm or even death. Restaurants are required to certify employees and file reports with local regulators confirming such training.The lawsuit was filed after an investigation by Riverside County alleged that Panda Express failed to train its restaurant personnel on safe handling of carbon dioxide, and did not disclose employee training information as required by state law. Panda Express, the originator of the orange chicken, operates more than 500 locations in California, including 30 in Riverside County.“We don’t see a lot of these violations, so I would assume this would be a wake-up call for restaurants in general,” said Richard Shank, senior principal at Technomic, a research and consulting firm for the food services industry. “Typically, beverage stations are leased from a beverage supplier and serviced by third parties, including the CO2, so this may have identified a gap in training that was unknown to Panda.” “Panda’s workplace culture is built on a strong training foundation,” he added, “so I’m inclined to believe that this settlement possibly identifies a need to clarify roles between the beverage supplier and the restaurants.” The Riverside County district attorney’s office said the settlement was reached after Panda Express took steps to comply with California law regarding training and updating reporting and training records.Panda Express has been ordered to pay $881,925 in civil penalties, $100,000 in supplemental environmental projects, and $75,000 in cost reimbursement.

CO2
Culture
Food

The Scientific American Staff’s Favorite Books of 2025

Here are the 67 books Scientific American staffers couldn’t put down this year, from fantasy epics to gripping nonfiction

Each year around this time, we ask the staff of Scientific American to recommend the best books they read this year. Here are the 67 new favorites and old classics that kept us turning the pages in 2025.Happy reading! Jump to your favorite section here:On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.NonfictionIn alphabetical orderApocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futuresby Lizzie WadeHarper(Tags: History)“This was such an upbeat book about apocalypses! I learned a ton and got a much smarter sense of what people really experienced during these extreme scenarios.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterBad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining Americaby Elie MystalThe New Press(Tags: Policy)“A clearly structured and compellingly argued takedown of 10 terrible laws that could easily be fixed by simply revoking them. It will make you mad but in the most clarifying way.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneersby Cheryl McKissack Daniel, with Nick ChilesAtria/Black Privilege Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“The author’s great-great-grandfather, an enslaved person brought from Africa, started a construction/engineering company in North Carolina and Tennessee that is still in the family and is now run by her. An intimate view of courageous Black lives in the midst of ongoing white prejudice and violence.” —Maria-Christina Keller, Copy DirectorCareless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealismby Sarah Wynn-WilliamsFlatiron Books(Tags: Memoir)“When I finished the prologue of Careless People, I immediately looked up who had the movie rights—the author has a flair for the cinematic in describing her experiences. Besides being a riveting read, this look at the thoughts and thoughtlessness of those running Facebook is crucial to understanding how today’s toxic digital landscape came to be.” —Sarah Lewin Frasier, Senior EditorCHART: Designing Creative Data Visualizations from Charts to Artby Nadieh BremerA K Peters/CRC Press(Tags: Data Visualization)“Nadieh Bremer excels at creating captivating and memorable information-rich data displays. If you’re stuck in a world of bar charts and line charts and looking to stretch your own capabilities beyond standard visualization forms, this book is for you. Examples include several graphics commissioned for Scientific American articles!” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorThe Football: The Amazing Mathematics of the World’s Most Watched Objectby Étienne GhysPrinceton University Press(Tags: Math, Physics, Sports)“A fascinating mathematical and physical microhistory of soccer balls and the official FIFA World Cup match balls in particular.” —Emma R. Hasson, 2025 AAAS Mass Media FellowThe Harder I Fight the More I Love Youby Neko CaseGrand Central Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“A searing, beautiful memoir by singer-songwriter Neko Case, recalling her lonely, tumultuous upbringing and the way music became a balm and an escape. It is written with the same gut-punching poetic voice that makes her such an incredible lyricist.” —Andrea Thompson, Senior Desk Editor/Life ScienceI Want to Burn This Place Downby Maris KreizmanEcco(Tags: Essays)“A wonderfully slim collection of essays about growing up, getting angry and choosing to change the world for the better. I cringed at how relatable it was at times, but that’s the point!” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerInventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Ageby Ada PalmerThe University of Chicago Press(Tags: History)“You may know Ada Palmer as a science-fiction novelist, but she’s also a historian at the University of Chicago who focuses on the Renaissance. This is a chunky book with many parts, but it’s very readable and thought-provoking. You’ll think differently about the Renaissance—and about how history works.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterLeaving the Ocean Was a Mistake: Life Lessons from Sixty Sea Creaturesby Cara Giaimo. Illustrated by Vlad StankovicQuirk Books(Tags: Humor, Animals)“This charming little book highlights 60 creatures that live in the shallows to the abyssal deep. Each is beautifully illustrated, while the text shares an interesting fact about the animal and a wry inspirational-poster-style motto for human life drawn from its experience. Great for kids five to 10 years old, plus anyone else who wants to be delighted by the ocean’s denizens.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Meteorites: Encounters with Outer Space and Deep Timeby Helen GordonProfile Books(Tags: Space, History)“I’ve never had such an emotional reaction to reading about rocks, but the prose is beautiful, and the passion of the authors pours off every page.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerMore Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanityby Adam BeckerBasic Books(Tags: AI, Technology)“A fascinating look at the so-called philosophies that Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs use to justify sacrificing the present to build a future that will never exist. Equal parts fascinating and infuriating, this book sheds light on the way some of the most powerful people in the world think and also shows you how to argue against it.” —Ian Kelly, Product ManagerOne Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been against Thisby Omar El AkkadKnopf(Tags: Memoir, Politics)“A powerfully written, thought-provoking book with deep moral clarity.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterOwned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Leftby Eoin HigginsBold Type Books(Tags: Political Science)“The story of how tech billionaires are buying out their most vocal critics and trying to change the journalistic landscape. This book helps explain not just how narratives are changing in front of our eyes but why.” —Ian Kelly, Product ManagerPhenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science around Usby Felice FrankelMITeen Press(Tags: Young Adult, Photography)“Photographer Felice Frankel explores the science behind visual characteristics through a series of images paired with artist statements and succinct scientific explanations. Together, this prompts the reader to ponder light and shadow, form, transformation and surfaces.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorProto: How One Ancient Language Went Globalby Laura SpinneyBloomsbury Publishing(Tags: History, Linguistics)“Laura Spinney tells engaging tales of archeologists traipsing through fields, linguists working toward professional vindication and many others active in the search for understanding of how these ancient languages traveled, fragmented, warred and traded to eventually became the dominant Indo-European languages today.” —Rich Hunt, Managing Production EditorA Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Liftingby Casey JohnstonGrand Central Publishing(Tags: Memoir)“A gripping combination of memoir and exploration of the history and science of weight lifting. Casey Johnston’s background as a science journalist comes through clearly in the fascinating explanations of how and why lifting can be so beneficial.” —Sarah Lewin Frasier, Senior EditorRaising Hareby Chloe DaltonPantheon(Tags: Memoir)“An atmospheric and cozy memoir about a city slicker workaholic who rescues a newborn abandoned hare and awakens to nature. A great one for animal lovers.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorReefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survivalby Lisa GardinerPrinceton University Press(Tags: Science, Environment)“This is a love letter to past, present and future coral reefs. Gardiner is a close friend of mine. Her stories of fossil and modern polyps—as well as the people that study them—prompted me to think more deeply about resilience.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics EditorRipples on the Cosmic Ocean: An Environmental History of Our Place in the Solar Systemby Dagomar DegrootHarvard University Press(Tags: Science, Space)“A fascinating tour of the environmental history of the inner solar system and how centuries of changes to our neighboring worlds have shaped the human experience.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterSearches: Selfhood in the Digital Ageby Vauhini VaraPantheon(Tags: AI, Technology)“I loved this philosophical look at how and why artificial intelligence and broader technological developments have changed our world and our artistic practice within it.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerThe Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationshipsby Nathan LentsMariner Books(Tags: Sexology, Zoology)“Surprisingly funny and eye-opening book about how the animal kingdom is more sexually diverse than previously understood.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerSociopath: A Memoirby Patric GagneSimon & Schuster(Tags: Memoir, Mental Health)“I picked up this book after I read our own July/August 2025 article about treating childhood psychopathy and wanted to know more. The author describes with vivid honesty how it felt to grow up as an undiagnosed sociopath and how she came to learn about herself and create her own path to treatment. As someone who is fascinated by different neurotypes, I was hooked from the start and came away with (somewhat ironically) a newfound empathy for those who don’t themselves experience empathy like most people do.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorSpeak Data: Artists, Scientists, Thinkers, and Dreamers on How We Live Our Lives in Numbersby Giorgia Lupi and Phillip CoxChronicle Books(Tags: Data)“A collection of thoughtful interviews with people who spend their days thinking about and working with data—including scientists, artists, activists and business leaders. I loved that each interviewee defines data in a different way.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorStrata: Stories From Deep Timeby Laura PoppickW. W. Norton(Tags: Geology)“The deep history of Earth can be overwhelming—the sheer scale of billions of years, with only the opaque names of eras and epochs to navigate by—but Strata is different. In it, geologist-turned-science-journalist Laura Poppick carries the reader on our planet’s adventure by highlighting four pivotal phenomena: air, ice, mud and heat.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterSweet Nothings: Confessions of a Candy Loverby Sarah PerryMariner Books(Tags: Essays, Food)“The sweetest essays about some of my favorite candy indulgences. It was sometimes funny, touching and even educational. This would be a nice palate cleanser to get someone out of a reading slump. The illustrations and formatting, with sections broken up by candy color, was a cute touch.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerTigers Between Empires: The Improbable Return of Great Cats to the Forests of Russia and Chinaby Jonathan C. SlaghtFarrar, Straus and Giroux(Tags: History)“A heart-in-your-mouth saga that tells the stories—terrifying, riveting and sad—of the adventurer scientists who saved the disappearing Amur tiger. Slaght gives us an inspiring account of a wilderness where brown bears fight tigers and the too-brief geopolitical thaw that reshaped the lives of both man and tiger.” —Dan Vergano, Senior Editor, Washington, D.C.FictionIn alphabetical orderAmong Friendsby Hal EbbottRiverhead Books(Tags: Literary Fiction)“This is simply about a birthday weekend spent between two families that goes wrong, but I was locked into the drama right away. Lesson learned: some friendships are best left in the past.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerThe Antidoteby Karen RussellKnopf(Tags: Historical Fiction)“Thrilled my book club made me read this! I loved this new take on a witch in the American West.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerAtmosphereby Taylor Jenkins ReidBallantine Books(Tags: LGBTQ+, Astronauts)“A gorgeous romance interspersed with a thrilling mission story about fictional astronauts in the space shuttle program in the 1980s.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersThe Botanist’s Assistantby Peggy TownsendBerkley(Tags: Mystery)“A fun murder mystery steeped in the world of scientific research and botany.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterEat The Ones You Loveby Sarah Maria GriffinTor Books(Tags: Fantasy)“Creepy and weird in all the best ways! More horror stories should examine violence through botany and abandoned malls.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerEmily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Talesby Heather FawcettDel Rey Books(Tags: Fantasy)“I find the world and characters so endlessly endearing I’d read about them if they were just sitting around having tea! The combination of monster hunting, academic woes and romantic high points was just what I was looking for.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerFor Whom the Belle Tollsby Jaysea LynnS&S/Saga Press(Tags: Romance, Erotica)“A woman dies of cancer, explores the afterlife, enjoys customer service and finds two kinds of love. It’s a nice blend of romance, plot and characters that feels like a warm cozy hug of a book.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterI Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Comby Kimberly LemmingBerkley(Tags: Erotica, Science Fiction)“As a longtime Lemming fan, I was still shocked to see her foray into science fiction. She satirizes the field’s desperation and tunnel vision for experimentation and documentation well while still showcasing hysterically self-aware protagonists and introducing new, weird and hot aliens.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerIsaac’s Songby Daniel BlackHanover Square Press(Tags: Historical Fiction)“A heart-wrenching read on grief, love, family and identity. Set in the 1980s, it’s a poetic journey about dealing with generational trauma and writing your own story.” —Fonda Mwangi, Multimedia EditorRejectionby Tony TulathimutteWilliam Morrow Paperbacks(Tags: Short Story Fiction, Satire)“As someone who spends way too much time on the social Internet, this book made me spiral. It’s a scathing look at Internet losers, woke politics and a self-hating generation of people just looking to be accepted.” —Carin Leong, Editorial Contributor“This book was as startling as it was eye-opening. Going to be hard to forget this one.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerThe Rest Is Silenceby Augusto Monterroso. Translated by Aaron KernerNew York Review of Books(Tags: Academic Satire)“A hilarious and touching bludgeoning of the provincial éminence-grise-type, in translation from the original Spanish. A short, savage antidote to every unblemished saccharine Festschrift of the scholarly world. Will make you want to go back and read Don Quixote, around which the critic at the center of the story has mislaid his entire oeuvre.” —Dan Vergano, Senior Editor, Washington, D.C.The Salvageby Anbara SalamTin House(Tags: Historical Fiction, Mystery)“There are ghosts in the icy waters east of Scotland. In 1962 a marine archaeologist raises them to the surface from a century-old shipwreck. But she is haunted by ghosts of her own. Dead men’s shadows, creaking cupboard doors and poisoned relationships make for a gothic takeover of the science in this tale. I liked the way our archaeologist is gradually convinced of the supernatural terrors, even while a supposedly superstitious islander counters with evidence rooted in the everyday world.” —Josh Fischman, Senior Editor/Special ProjectsSmall Boatby Vincent Delecroix. Translated by Helen StevensonHope Road Publishing(Tags: Philosophical Tragedy, Historical Fiction)“A minimalist and morally complex retelling of the 2021 English Channel disaster that suggests there’s no one to blame but us all.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantSunrise on the Reapingby Suzanne CollinsScholastic Press(Tags: Dystopian Fiction)“Suzanne Collins really delivered with Sunrise on the Reaping. The backstory of Haymitch, Katniss’s mentor during the Hunger Games, is finally revealed, and the result is gutting—it is rip-out-your-heartstrings devastating.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerVanishing Worldby Sayaka MurataGrove Hardcover(Tags: Science Fiction, Dystopia)“This dystopian tale imagines a world where sex for procreation has become obsolete, replaced entirely by artificial insemination and clinical reproduction. Here intimacy is viewed as unnecessary, unsanitary and even taboo. It’s an unsettling exploration of how the erosion of romantic love and pleasure and the human bonds they forge can profoundly reshape the meaning of family, friendship and society at large.” —Sunya Bhutta, Chief Audience Engagement EditorWe Love You, Bunnyby Mona AwadS&S/Marysue Rucci Books (Tags: Fantasy, Thriller)“This was the perfect spooky-season read—and dare I say, I preferred this to the prequel. Mona Awad hits the nail on the head with this dark academia freaky fever dream. The origins of this New England MFA student clique are revealed, and we get all the witchcraft and laughter that bring the ‘Bunnies’ to life. —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerWhere the Axe Is Buriedby Ray NaylerMCD(Tags: Science Fiction)“It’s less interested in the apocalypse than it is in those who shape its course. No perspectives are off limits in this far-too-familiar future, a prospect that’s as chilling as it is riveting.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantWild Dark Shoreby Charlotte McConaghyFlatiron Books(Tags: Climate Fiction)“A riveting drama set on a remote island near Antarctica, where a man and his three children are caretakers for an underground vault protecting vital samples of the world’s plant seeds. Personal mysteries and dangerous climate-change-induced weather make this a suspenseful page-turner.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersBountiful BacklistIn order of publication yearJournal of a Novel: The East of Eden Lettersby John SteinbeckPenguin Books, 1990(Tags: Diary, Creative Writing)“A fascinating look into an author’s process, especially his insecurities and what he believed the story of East of Eden was truly about. It inspired me to write more in pencil!” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerKilling Rage: Ending Racismby bell hooksHolt Paperbacks, 1996(Tags: Essays)“A necessary confrontation with the realities of racism that demands to be read. Be ready to question yourself and the country you live in.” —Charlotte Hartwell, Marketing ManagerTo Liveby Yu HuaVintage, 2003(Tags: Historical Fiction)“Set in 20th-century China, it’s an unforgettable reminder of what’s left when relentless misfortune and tragedy strike. There are plenty of moments that are unsettling, but you can’t help but keep reading such a human story.” —Cynthia Atkinson, Marketing & Customer Service AssistantThe Thing around Your Neckby Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieVintage, 2009(Tags: Short Stories)“I find I barely have any time to read these days, but Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2009 collection of short stories about postcolonial Nigeria is an absolute page-turner. I finished it in just two days, but each narrative has the potency that will keep me coming back to read them over and over again.” —Claire Cameron, Breaking News ChiefThe Night Circusby Erin MorgensternVintage, 2012(Tags: Fantasy)“A beautiful love story told through secrets, magic and circuses. Erin Morgenstern is the kind of spectacular writer who can convince me to follow her anywhere, no matter how fantastical the plot may seem at first glance.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerTo Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Partyby Heather Cox RichardsonBasic Books, 2014(Tags: History)“A history of the Republican Party that helps explain how we got to our current political situation.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterPachinkoby Min Jin LeeGrand Central Publishing, 2017(Tags: Historical Fiction)“One of the best books I’ve ever read. Isak’s life story completely broke my heart, and just thinking about it makes me teary-eyed all over again.” —Brianne Kane, Associate Editor/Books & Rights ManagerThe Apollo Murdersby Chris HadfieldMulholland Books, 2021(Tags: Space Thriller)“This riveting thriller by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield imagines a cold-war-era Apollo mission gone wrong, with lots of exciting intrigue between astronauts and cosmonauts.” —Clara Moskowitz, Chief of ReportersThis Time Tomorrowby Emma StraubRiverhead Books, 2023(Tags: Science Fiction)“I normally don’t go for time-travel books, but this had just the right sprinkle of magical realism. The book is rooted in the relationship between a father and daughter and hooked me with its tenderness and humor. It reminded me of The Midnight Library, [by Matt Haig], too.” —Isabella Bruni, Digital ProducerAbortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Winby Jessica ValentiCrown, 2024(Tags: Health, Politics)“Everything you need to know about the antiscience tactics being used to keep people from the health care they need. It’s a supersmart guide to seeing the whole context of how abortion is treated in the U.S.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterAlways Bring Your Sunglasses: And Other Stories from a Life of Sensory and Social Invalidationby Becca Lory HectorSelf-published, 2024(Tags: Parenting)“A beautifully honest account of the author’s experience growing up as an undiagnosed autistic person—part memoir, part guide for parents and other caregivers who want to better understand and support the autistic children in their lives.” —Amanda Montañez, Senior Graphics EditorCustodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Aliveby Eliot SteinSt. Martin’s Press, 2024(Tags: Society and Current Affairs)“A lovely adventure profiling 10 nearly lost traditions from around the world. It explores the history of each one and the handful of people fighting to keep them alive.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterFaux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stopby Serene KhaderBeacon Press, 2024(Tags: Politics)“A detailed reckoning of how white feminism has failed everyone, this book paints a beautiful picture of the way the world could be instead.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterFever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Themby Timothy EganPenguin Books, 2024(Tags: History)“This is a beautifully written book about a terrifying period in U.S. history. It’s also a reminder that there are always those whose hearts, corrupted by racism and power, would happily trade in freedom to enact their own tyrannical white supremacist fever dreams. Egan reminds us that the privilege of living in a democracy is the unending work that goes toward maintaining it.” —Kendra Pierre-Louis, Editorial ContributorThe Javelin Programby Derin EdalaSelf-published, 2024(Tags: Science Fiction)“This Web-series-turned-book has everything one could ask for in character-driven hard science fiction. It’s a compelling snapshot of a potential future society, full of gripping mysteries, anthropological intrigue and complex but (as far as I can tell) accurate physics. But be warned: because it was initially released as a chapter-by-chapter web series, the ending of the first book on its own will not be satisfying.” —Emma R. Hasson, 2025 AAAS Mass Media FellowThe Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earthby Zoë SchlangerHarper, 2024(Tags: Botany)“Most people think of plants as mindless, unfeeling creatures. Zoë Schlanger’s compelling, lucid tour of the latest research on the ‘plant experience’ proves this is far from the case.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorThe Ministry of Timeby Kaliane BradleyAvid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2024(Tags: Science Fiction, Time-Travel Rom-Com)“A really fun premise of historical figures plucked from their own eras and unwillingly expatriated to present-day London, where they’re forced to reckon with modern technology and with the moral legacy of the British Empire that brought them there. I love a character who yearns!” —Carin Leong, Editorial ContributorThe Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Centerby Rhaina CohenSt. Martin’s Press, 2024(Tags: Lifestyle)“This book is about a type of relationship that we have no set vocabulary for: friends who have chosen to become life partners. Rhaina Cohen, who has herself experienced one of these platonic partnerships, profiles pairs of friends whose relationships have broken out of the conventional molds. It was so striking how each of these pairs felt like they were inventing something wholly new with their love and commitment to each other—even though, historically, there’s nothing new about it at all.” —Allison Parshall, Associate Editor/Mind & BrainThe Phoenix Keeperby S. A. MacLeanOrbit, 2024(Tags: Fantasy)“This was such a delightful read! It’s billed as cozy, which I don’t think is fair—a couple guns do eventually show up—but it’s a very heartwarming story set in a magical zoo, following the revival of a defunct phoenix-breeding program.” —Meghan Bartels, Senior ReporterThe Safekeepby Yael van der WoudenAvid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, 2024 (Tags: Historical Fiction)“This novel absolutely slammed into me. Set in the postwar era of the Netherlands, it features a sour central character, a family history slowly oozing out onto the pages and an interloper who isn’t what she seems. I read this in one sitting—it is richly written, breathless and surprising! You’ll be as obsessed with this as the two main characters are with each other.” —Arminda Downey-Mavromatis, Former Associate Engagement Editor The Vaster Wildsby Lauren GroffRiverhead Books, 2024(Tags: Historical Fiction)“A lyrical tale of survival in a harsh undeveloped version of colonial America. Groff seamlessly blends a psychological exploration of oppression and class with a naturalist’s view of the living world. It is both a feminist story and an ode to freedom.” —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter EditorWhat If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futuresby Ayana Elizabeth JohnsonOne World, 2024(Tags: Climate, Technology)“The interviews, poems, essays and artwork by a wide range of contributors, including scientist Kate Marvel, artist Erica Deeman, journalist Kendra Pierre-Louis and architecture and design curator Paola Antonelli provide frameworks and nudges to propel us forward. The book provided me with much needed hope and an energy boost.” —Jen Christiansen, Acting Chief of Design & Senior Graphics Editor

Activism
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Business

Israel Publishes Draft Law Seeking to Boost State Revenues From Dead Sea Minerals

By Steven ScheerJERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for...

JERUSALEM, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Israel on Wednesday published a draft law that aims to boost state revenues from a concession for extracting minerals from the Dead Sea as well as tackling its environmental consequences.The Finance Ministry said the proposed law intends to redefine the concession to ensure the public and the state get their rightful share, while ensuring the preservation of nature and environmental values."The law serves as the basis for allocating the concession and the terms of the future tender for resource extraction from the Dead Sea, with an emphasis on promoting optimal competition, lowering entry barriers, and attracting leading international players," it said.Fertiliser maker ICL Group has held the concession, giving it exclusive rights to minerals from the Dead Sea site, for five decades, but its permit is set to expire in 2030.Last month, ICL gave up right of first refusal for its Dead Sea concession under a government plan to open it up for tender, although it would receive some $3 billion if it loses the permit when it expires.ICL, one of the world's largest potash producers, has previously said its Dead Sea assets were worth $6 billion. ICL extracts mainly potash and magnesium from the concession.Under the draft law, which still needs preliminary approval from lawmakers, the state's share of concession profits would ultimately rise to an average of 50% from 35% currently, partly through royalties, the ministry said.The law also aims to tackle negative impacts of resource extraction activities in the Dead Sea, which continues to shrink.ICL plans to participate in the future tender and has said it believes it is the most suitable candidate to operate the future concession.Accountant General Yali Rothenberg said the law places emphasis on fair, efficient, and responsible use of one of Israel’s most important natural resources. It "will ensure that the state maximizes economic value for the public, promotes optimal competition, and protects the unique environment of the Dead Sea region for future generations," he said.(Reporting by Steven Scheer. Editing by Jane Merriman)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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