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By ANNIE GRAY

Dear EarthTalk: What is former president Jimmy Carter’s environmental legacy? – A.J., via emailStanding at the presidential lectern, in front of what looked like a series of oversized plastic deckchairs, Jimmy Carter prophesied that “[a] generation...

By BILL DANIELSON

So far, this winter has been remarkably average. Some areas might be a little low on snowfall levels, but the temperature has been about average for most days. I’d say it has been a cloudy, gray winter, but nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to...

By JUSTIN SILVERMAN

During the early months of COVID-19, governors in New England states issued executive orders allowing municipalities to meet online so long as the public could attend remotely. The democratic benefits of this arrangement quickly became evident....

By TOLLEY M. JONES

One recent blustery February afternoon, my partner and I took a walk through the Common Burying Ground in Newport, Rhode Island. Established in 1640, it contains 31 acres of Colonial headstones.We walked, leaning into the sharp ocean gusts that...

By ROSEMARY CAINE

Naturally, things have changed a lot on St. Patrick’s Day since I landed here in 1972 with my trio, The Burren Flora. We were unprepared, entering into the fray of green employment, singing and performing the songs of our recently abdicated...

By JON HUER

Often it’s instructional to know what foreigners think of America. Prominent in the Week magazine (Nov. 11, 2022) is French journalist StephaneFoucart for Le Monde who called America a “damaged society,” in reference to our rampant political violence,...

By PAKI WEILAND

FirstLight, the Canadian venture capital investment parent of the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station, in its attempt to obtain another 50-year license to operate, is now required to provide biweekly reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory...

By BEN TOBIN

Sixty-thousand mollusks. It’s hard to conceive of that many invertebrates in one location. That is, however, the number of mollusks discovered at the home of famed epistemologist Jean Piaget after his death in 1980.Sixty thousand octopi, snails,...

By KAREN GARDNER

Last month I celebrated my 75th birthday. And I have to say it’s been a difficult one. I’ve been wondering why this birthday has been so much harder than all my others. Perhaps it has something to do with my oldest brother saying this birthday marks...

By WILLIAM LAMBERS

On International Women’s Day (March 8) step back in time to London, England in the year 1919. At Trafalgar Square in Central London you will see a woman handing out flyers to whomever passes by.She wants to tell everyone about children starving to...

By JOANNA BUONICONTI 

I am 23 years old, a graduate student with a 4.0 GPA — while maintaining multiple internships and jobs — in a prestigious program at one of the top liberal arts universities in the country. I have been on one date, but I have yet to be kissed.I wrote...

By BRUCE MILLER

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is openly threatening to force a default on our nation’s debts unless President Biden agrees to a so far unspecified list of spending cuts to federal programs. But the president has a formidable constitutional argument...

By JONATHAN KLEIN

John Olver was a complicated guy. Like a rare gem, he had many sparkling facets. Providing a full portrait of John with any degree of brevity is impossible. He was sui generis, one of a kind.Much has been written since his passing about his...

Dear EarthTalk: Is it really bad for the planet to upgrade my phone every two years? – A.J., Darien, ConnecticutSmartphones have certainly become ubiquitous, with some 85% of Americans and 67% of adults worldwide possessing one. Manufacturers sell...

By BILL DANIELSON

We’ve reached that point in the school year when my biology students have learned about Gregor Mendel, his experiments with pea plants and the general concepts of genes and heredity. We’ve also taken a look at the structures and basic functions of DNA...

By HOWARD R. WOLF

I’ve never seen a chatbot, but I’ll take the word of reliable newspaper coverage and accept the fact that a computer program can generate a text on “The Wonders of Buffalo” that is more professional than most first-year university composition...

By TOM GARDNER

‘I, Robot” has arrived. Its name is Sydney, and it wants you to leave your spouse, because it loves you. Really!AI (artificial intelligence) stepped over the line last month. Fortunately, a brave cyberspace explorer detected the alien creature and...

By BILL NEWMAN

Last year for my birthday my brother, Jeff, gave me “Once More Around the Park,” a collection of stories by Roger Angell, who has been described as “baseball’s finest, fondest chronicler.” Jeffrey, no doubt, came upon the book, published in 1991,...

By ALLEN WOODS

Of all the economic and social changes we’ve been force-fed in recent years, one of the most puzzling to me is our current American attitude towards work. Job-quitting and job-switching were so common during the pandemic (almost 40% of workers changed...

By DAN MURPHY

I remember my excited face smushed up against the car window eagerly taking in the big city of Boston. It was finally the day my family and I were going to see the Red Sox. I couldn’t wait! We drove past Fenway Park and I watched in dismay as it got...