Imagine I’m jogging in the Great North Woods
Plus: The end of Gore-Tex; a swimming pool in the Hudson; new 'terror beasts' discovered; too many words about space trash; and more.
It’s one of my favorite seasons in Fort Greene, when people drop their Christmas trees off in the park to be mulched, and the abandoned firs perfume the air with their sweet-spicy scent. As long as I can pull air in through my nostrils white I trot around the park—instead of huffing it in through my mouth—I can almost imagine I’m jogging along a trail somewhere up in the Great North Woods.
What I’m reading
“There is a part of our spirit that is also being killed.”: Doug Bierend spoke with Vivien Sansour about the future and significance of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library given the horrifying and ongoing violence against Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. “Even as we’re thinking about our project, which is meant for seed conservation, now we are having to think about how we’re going to feed ourselves and our people,” Sansour told Bierend. “Even having the security of a plot of land where we can grow—not even for seed, just for food—is highly uncertain.” [Doug Bierend for Mold]
Also: Measuring the carbon ‘boot print’ of war in Gaza [Nina Lakhani for The Guardian via The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]; The war zone in Gaza will leave a legacy of hidden health risks [Saqib Rahim for Grist]
“We’ve been going into the outdoors for hundreds and hundreds of years without these chemicals…We can do it again.”: An incredible thorough and detailed report on when and how outdoor companies will be phasing PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances—the forever chemicals that do things like keep your eggs from sticking to your non-stick pans and keep you dry in the rain). [Jeva Lange for Heatmap]
Good riddance? A moon lander carrying a bunch of junk (including human remains and DNA from more than 200 individuals, “cryptocurrency products,” and “commemorative plaques and capsules”) won’t be able to reach the moon after all, after it experienced a “critical loss of propellant” just hours after launch. The Navajo Nation had strongly objected to this endeavor: “The sacredness of the moon is deeply embedded in the spirituality and heritage of many Indigenous cultures, including our own,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren wrote in a statement. “The placement of human remains on the moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our people.” NASA claimed it had no control over the payloads of its private partners—which is just wild to think about! As a society, are we fully ceding what can be put on the moon to whoever can pay for it to get there? (Speaking of spaces reserved for the uber-wealthy, you know what the 100 bags of astronaut piss and shit on the moon reminds me of?) Very curious what the Trekkies I know think of this, since some of the remains belonged to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and some of the cast members. Also: The problem with space trash.
Shai-Hulud, ho! Fossils of ‘giant’ predator worms have been discovered in North Greenland, and have been christened ‘Timorebestia’ or ‘terror beasts’. If you also immediately thought of Dune, I regret to say these extinct worms were only about a foot long, but they are still cool, because they ‘may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a past dynasty of predators that scientists didn’t know existed.’
Also: The zombie deer disease arrives in Yellowstone national park. [Todd Wilkinson for The Guardian] An ancient city that could have once been home to up to 100,000 residents has been discovered in Ecuador. [Georgina Rannard for BBC] Scientists are creating a dictionary of crocodile sounds, including their amorous love language. [Kirra Grimes for ABC]
Watch: A wolf catch a beaver in the water.
Finally, the +Pool: Fellow New Yorkers, how are we feeling about the ‘floating pool’ that the city and state want to stick in the Hudson? Personally, I can think of several other things that I would rather they spent a combined $16 million on (starting with hiring lifeguards at our EXISTING public pools and reinstating adult lap swim). I mean, I think this is stupid AF but let’s get into it in the comments—convince me I’m wrong. (And a reminder: You can already swim in the Hudson.) [Jon Campbell for Gothamist]
Yo honestly I can’t wait to swim in the Plus Pool! Love that dirty water 🎶
Pool+ is fine but I’m curious where the water comes from. Filtered from the East River? Hard pass. I agree, I’d much much rather have adult laps back. At the Red Hook pool (my favorite!), half of it remains closed for the last few years because there aren’t enough lifeguards