Reading archive 2021-02-12

Half of Republicans say that the Capitol violence was mostly antifa’s fault Democrats blame Trump - "That claim gained traction after the Washington Times reported that a facial recognition company had linked several of those photographed in the Capitol to antifa. That report quickly made it to Fox News and to the House floor, where Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) elevated the theory. Unfortunately for Gaetz and Fox, though, the report was entirely incorrect and was ultimately rescinded. The storming of the Capitol wasn’t by antifa activists. It was, as it seemed, by supporters of Trump."

White House suspends senior press aide accused of threatening reporter

Britney Spears' father loses bid to retain control of delegating her investments: The joint conservatorship powers were debated in court Thursday amid intensified scrutiny over James Spears' control of his daughter's estate.

The great nutrient collapse The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. - "Earlier this summer, a group of researchers published the first studies attempting to estimate what these shifts could mean for the global population. Plants are a crucial source of protein for people in the developing world, and by 2050, they estimate, 150 million people could be put at risk of protein deficiency, particularly in countries like India and Bangladesh. Researchers found a loss of zinc, which is particularly essential for maternal and infant health, could put 138 million people at risk. They also estimated that more than 1 billion mothers and 354 million children live in countries where dietary iron is projected to drop significantly, which could exacerbate the already widespread public health problem of anemia.

...

"Goldenrod, a wildflower many consider a weed, is extremely important to bees. It flowers late in the season, and its pollen provides an important source of protein for bees as they head into the harshness of winter. Since goldenrod is wild and humans haven’t bred it into new strains, it hasn’t changed over time as much as, say, corn or wheat. And the Smithsonian Institution also happens to have hundreds of samples of goldenrod, dating back to 1842, in its massive historical archive—which gave Ziska and his colleagues a chance to figure out how one plant has changed over time. 

"They found that the protein content of goldenrod pollen has declined by a third since the industrial revolution—and the change closely tracks with the rise in CO2. Scientists have been trying to figure out why bee populations around the world have been in decline, which threatens many crops that rely on bees for pollination. Ziska’s paper suggested that a decline in protein prior to winter could be an additional factor making it hard for bees to survive other stressors."