jojoxenosky

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must we lose the progress we made in 2016 about learning queer terms and labels because of this app?

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Slender single stem? Check. Three mottled green oval-shaped leaves with pointed ends? Check. Flower parts in threes, including maroon petals? Check. Popping up in early spring in the Missouri Ozarks? Check. All these clues point to this being a member of the genus Trillium--and it is! Specifically toadshade (Trillium sessile), a spring ephemeral wildflower commonly found throughout the Ozarks, the Ohio River Valley, and the central Appalachians. (Technically the stem is a scape, and the leaves are bracts, but you'd be forgiven for just calling it like you see it when casually observing this species.)

If you want to learn more about what traits to look for when observing a new-to-you animal, plant, or fungus, and then using those traits to identify your mystery species, my forthcoming book, The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go (Ten Speed Press, June 2025) walks you through my identification process that I've developed over the past two decades. No experience required, and it's not specific to any region but can be used anywhere! Ask your local bookstore about it, or you can preorder a signed copy from me at TheEverydayNaturalist.com

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should make a post on how to make seed bombs tbh

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sea story; el matador beach, california

instagram - twitter - website

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a palestinian activist whos a green card holder is being detained by ICE. wtf.

Mahmoud Khalil, a college student at Columbia University was just arrested this saturday by ICE in his university-owned apartment without a proper warrant.

His lawyer, Greer was on the phone as the arrest was happening and they told them that they were going to revoke his student visa, despite Khalil being a permanent US citizen. After being informed about his citizenship ICE said they were going to revoke that instead.

Mahmoud khalil led the protests at columbia university for palestine, and this was clearly an attack against the pro-palestine movement (as department of state marco rubio said this was to comply with trumps executive orders).

While ICE can arrest green card holders to revoke their citizenship, they can only do it if they have committed a CRIME. Mahmouds criminal record? none, unless you consider the intentionally vague bs executive order of trump to atop antisemitism.

this is an infringement of his 1st and 14th amendment rights.

JUSTICE FOR MAHMOUD KHALIL!

JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE!

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Yellow specklebelly lichen - Pseudocyphellaria citrina. It looks bluer than it is in these photos - big blue sky and no direct sunlight.

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like especially her electra heart and family jewel album... how do yall not love it

Marina diamandis (MARINA on spotify) is such a girlboss, i dont care if shes in the khai asylum >:(

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Marina diamandis (MARINA on spotify) is such a girlboss, i dont care if shes in the khai asylum >:(

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A bunch of gorgeous pachypodium! Pachypodia? Pachypodias?

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alright so Pangur got her claw stuck while rolling over in bed, and then just GAVE UP, which led to her being horizontally flattened in a way that gives her impossible girth and...... I'll share, but just know that it's an optical illusion. please. I swear to god she's a healthy weight. I mean, a little chubby, but not like this.

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University Greenhouse

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My favorite part of teaching lichen ID class always comes when we are taking walks and I get to point at patches on rocks and trees and be like "hey, see that? Lichen." And then the students are like "what? no way. You mean those black spots on rocks/white spots on trees/etc. have always been lichen?" And I get to be like "yep," and watch their brain explode as they realize that everything around them has been covered in lichen the whole time.

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"In some cities, as many as one in four office spaces are vacant. Some start-ups are giving them a second life – as indoor farms growing crops as varied as kale, cucumber and herbs.

Since its 1967 construction, Canada's "Calgary Tower", a 190m (623ft) concrete-and-steel observation tower in Calgary, Alberta, has been home to an observation deck, panoramic restaurants and souvenir shops. Last year, it welcomed a different kind of business: a fully functioning indoor farm.

Sprawling across 6,000sq m (65,000 sq ft), the farm, which produces dozens of crops including strawberries, kale and cucumber, is a striking example of the search for city-grown food. But it's hardly alone. From Japan to Singapore to Dubai, vertical indoor farms – where crops can be grown in climate-controlled environments with hydroponics, aquaponics or aeroponics techniques – have been popping up around the world.

While indoor farming had been on the rise for years, a watershed moment came during the Covid-19 pandemic, when disruptions to the food supply chain underscored the need for local solutions. In 2021, $6bn (£4.8bn) in vertical farming deals were registered globally – the peak year for vertical farming investment. As the global economy entered its post-pandemic phase, some high-profile startups like Fifth Season went out of business, and others including Planted Detroit and AeroFarms running into a period of financial difficulty. Some commentators questioned whether a "vertical farming bubble" had popped.

But a new, post-pandemic trend may give the sector a boost. In countries including Canada and Australia, landlords are struggling to fill vacant office spaces as companies embrace remote and hybrid work. In the US, the office vacancy rate is more than 20%.

"Vertical farms may prove to be a cost-effective way to fill in vacant office buildings," says Warren Seay, Jr, a real estate finance partner in the Washington DC offices of US law firm ArentFox Schiff, who authored an article on urban farm reconversions. 

There are other reasons for the interest in urban farms, too. Though supply chains have largely recovered post-Covid-19, other global shocks, including climate change, geopolitical turmoil and farmers' strikes, mean that they continue to be vulnerable – driving more cities to look for local food production options...

Thanks to artificial light and controlled temperatures, offices are proving surprisingly good environments for indoor agriculture, spurring some companies to convert part of their facilities into small farms. Since 2022, Australia's start-up Greenspace has worked with clients like Deloitte and Commonwealth Bank to turn "dead zones", like the space between lifts and meeting rooms, into 2m (6ft) tall hydroponic cabinets growing leafy greens.

On top of being adaptable to indoor farm operations, vacant office buildings offer the advantage of proximity to final consumers.

In a former paper storage warehouse in Arlington, about a mile outside of Washington DC, Jacqueline Potter and the team at Area 2 Farms are growing over 180 organic varieties of lettuce, greens, root vegetables, herbs and micro-greens. By serving consumers 10 miles away or less, the company has driven down transport costs and associated greenhouse emissions.

This also frees the team up to grow other types of food that can be hard to find elsewhere – such as edible flower species like buzz buttons and nasturtium. "Most crops are now selected to be grown because of their ability to withstand a 1,500-mile journey," Potter says, referring to the average distance covered by crops in the US before reaching customers. "In our farm, we can select crops for other properties like their nutritional value or taste."

Overall, vertical farms have the potential to outperform regular farms on several environmental sustainability metrics like water usage, says Evan Fraser, professor of geography at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and the director of the Arell Food Institute, a research centre on sustainable food production. Most indoor farms report using a tiny fraction of the water that outdoor farms use. Indoor farms also report greater output per square mile than regular farms.

Energy use, however, is the "Achilles heel" of this sector, says Fraser: vertical farms need a lot of electricity to run lighting and ventilation systems, smart sensors and automated harvesting technologies. But if energy is sourced from renewable sources, they can outperform regular farms on this metric too, he says. 

Because of variations in operational setup, it is hard to make a general assessment of the environmental, social and economic sustainability of indoor farms, says Jiangxiao Qiu, a landscape ecologist at the University of Florida and author of a study on urban agriculture's role in sustainability. Still, he agrees with Fraser: in general, urban indoor farms have higher crop yield per square foot, greater water and nutrient-use efficiency, better resistance to pests and shorter distance to market. Downsides include high energy use due to lighting, ventilation and air conditioning.

They face other challenges, too. As Seay notes, zoning laws often do not allow for agricultural activity within urban areas (although some cities like Arlington, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio, have recently updated zoning to allow indoor farms). And, for now, indoor farms have limited crop range. It is hard to produce staple crops like wheat, corn or rice indoors, says Fraser. Aside from leafy greens, most indoor facilities cannot yet produce other types of crops at scale.

But as long as the post-pandemic trends of remote work and corporate downsizing will last, indoor farms may keep popping up in cities around the world, Seay says. 

"One thing cities dislike more than anything is unused spaces that don't drive economic growth," he says. "If indoor farm conversions in cities like Arlington prove successful, others may follow suit.""

-via BBC, January 27, 2025

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i love my mother, shes oblivious to the fact she actually brought in an invasive species (japanese barberry/Berberis thunbergii) and its actually kinda funny.

thank god that it cant be spread and honestly.. she mightve done a good thing anyway

PS: no photos cuz im too lazy

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Okay so we have this huge problem with forgetting about everything that’s happened by the time the next election rolls around so I’d like to keep a running list of things as they’re happening to help remind us when the 2026 midterms roll around. And please add to this if I’ve missed anything.

January 2025:

Donald Trump pardoned 1500 people who participated in the insurrection of January 6th, including those who violently assaulted and nearly killed police officers.

Donald Trump has declared that trans and non-binary people don’t exist.

Donald Trump is working towards firing everyone in the government who isn’t loyal to him.

Donald Trump has effectively fired everyone who he claims is an “illegal DEI hire” …whatever that means

Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreenent and the World Health Organization

Congress are trying to pass the Laken Riley Act to, effectively, round up every immigrant in the country, including LEGAL immigrants

Donald Trump removed caps on prescription drug prices.

Donald Trump wants to withhold federal aid to help combat the LA wildfires and help the thousands of people who have been displaced and lost their homes.

The Department of Justice has put a hold on all civil rights cases.

Donald Trump has cut off aid to Ukraine.

Laken Riley Act has been passed by Congress and is awaiting being signed into law by the President. Here’s the breakdown of the votes: House Senate

Donald Trump purged a dozen inspectors general from the federal government and intends to replace them all with people loyal to him.

I’ll keep adding to this list as new things come up and, again, please feel free to add anything I’ve missed. I know that in this world of constant news it’s easy to forget, so let’s give our future selves a little help!