Episode Details

Today you’ll learn about a new process that could turn plastic waste and CO2 into lipstick, how cold and flu season isn’t different, you are, and a way to turn the forest into farmland without cutting down trees. 

Plastic Waste Fuel  

• “Could waste plastic become a useful fuel source?” by Katherine Latham. 2023. 
  • https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64703976
• “Our planet is choking on plastic.” n.a. N.d.
  • https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/

Colds Got Worse? 

• “Colds Haven’t Changed. So Why Do They Suddenly Feel So Bad?” by Katherine J. Wu. 2023. 
  • https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/02/common-cold-virus-symptoms-immunity/673193/
• “The National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System.” CDC. 2023. 
  • https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/index.html
• “BIOFORE Syndromic Trends.” n.a. 2023. 
  • https://syndromictrends.com/

Trees and Mushrooms  

• “Growing mushrooms alongside trees could feed millions and mitigate effects of climate change, research finds.” n.a. 2023. 
  • https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2023/march-2023-news/growing-mushrooms-alongside-trees-could-feed-millions-and-mitigate-effects-of-climate-change-research-finds/
• “Edible fungi crops through mycoforestry, potential for carbon negative food production and mitigation of food and forestry conflicts.” by Paul W. Thomas & Alistair S. Jump. 2023. 
  • https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2220079120
• “Edible mycorrhizal fungi of the world: What is their role in forest sustainability, food security, biocultural conservation and climate change?” by Jesus Perez-Moreno, et al. 2021. 
  • https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10199#:~:text=Edible%20mycorrhizal%20fungi%3A%20This%20name,different%20cultures%20around%20the%20world.

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