Aurora Solá

Investigating and writing about how landscapes make people and people make landscapes. Films and books in production.

[Aurora Solá @sighlab]

I got to write about a farming community in the high Andes that has preserved an astonishing variety of Inca crops from the homogenizing march of modernity. Thanks @mongabay and @ACA_DC.
https://t.co/3NifvT8WXa

[Wonder of Science @wonderofscience]

A brinicle, also known as an ice stalactite, is an underwater icicle formed in polar regions when supercooled, saline water seeps from sea ice, creating a downward flow that freezes surrounding seawater and anything in its path.

📽: BBC, Frozen Planet

[roobz 🌙 🌸 @tishray]

C.S Lewis knew this already.

[Shaiel Ben-Ephraim @academic_la]

Israel didn’t ban peanut butter because it’s a luxury. They banned it because it has the protein and caloric value needed to save lives. That counters their genocidal plans.

[Simon Sarris @simonsarris]

The more advice you ask of LLMs, the less interesting your life will be.

Paracelsus has some good advice. Be very careful of a collapse into consensus.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

Ok, I looked into this because sometimes claims that "China invents Y" can be somewhat exaggerated. But this is real, and completely insane.

This technology called "Bone 02" (inspired by the well-known "502 glue" in China) has been developed for the past 9 years by a team of orthopedic surgeons in Zhejiang province. The team leads are Professor Fan Shunwu (范顺武, Director of the Orthopedics Department at Zhejiang University) and Lin Xianfeng (https://t.co/IERBHn5xPa).

It's inspired by oysters because the researchers noticed their extraordinary ability to firmly attach themselves in harsh underwater environment by secreting a special adhesive known as bio-cement, which creates a strong chemical interaction with surfaces and hardens quickly.

The properties of the glue are almost miraculous (sources: https://t.co/Lw5PYmPKeN and https://t.co/16Dxe8TXFZ):
- Nearly instant adhesion in blood-soaked wet physiological environments (it just takes 2-3 minutes)
- Extremely strong adhesive properties (bonding tensile force of over 400 pounds - over 181 kg)
- Complete biodegradability that naturally absorbs after about 6 months as the bone heals (no need for secondary surgery previously required in conventional treatments)
- Vast reduction of infection risks related to the traditional metal plates and screws normally needed for bone surgery
- Minimally invasive and rapid surgery since you just need a small opening large enough to apply the glue (as opposed to a complex surgery attaching metal fixations)

This glue could be especially useful for fractures with small bone fragments which are very difficult to fix with metal plates and screws.

The glue has already undergone a proper "prospective, multicenter, blinded, randomized, parallel-controlled, non-inferiority clinical trial" with over 150 patients (https://t.co/4dy4hsPxD0). They've announced positive results - the glue "achieved seamless bonding of all fracture fragments" - and will soon publish the peer-reviewed paper in an orthopedics journal detailing full trial data.

They've launched a company for the product called 源囊生物 (Yuannang Bio) which just raised 2 weeks ago RMB100 million in Series A financing (https://t.co/XrBZAa2Gx0).

[@levelsio @levelsio]

I suggest we propose a counter-law to this:

⚖️ PoliticianControl

Where all European citizens can read any EU politician's chats at any moment

To keep them all in check

[Sam Knowlton @samdknowlton]

This article cherry-picks data from industry funded studies and safety assessments while completely ignoring the mounting evidence against glyphosate safety.

The 2025 Global Glyphosate Study (the most comprehensive independent carcinogenicity study ever conducted on glyphosate) found that approved exposure levels caused multiple cancers in rats. A separate March 2025 study showed glyphosate altered key breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 at low doses.

The common defense that glyphosate targets a metabolic pathway animals don't have (the shikimate pathway) overlooks how it actually causes harms. Glyphosate destroys beneficial gut bacteria while preserving harmful ones. Over half of human microbiome bacteria are sensitive to glyphosate, and this disruption affects digestion, hormone function, immunity, and neurological health.

Internal Monsanto documents show decades of manipulating the scientific record. Meanwhile, the EPA has been raising allowable glyphosate limits in food by as much as 25 times. This happened despite the EPA's own documents showing chronic exposure causes kidney damage and reproductive effects.

Glyphosate breaks down into AMPA, which is 1,000x more toxic than glyphosate itself. AMPA causes DNA damage and persists longer in the environment, yet it's rarely included in safety testing.

Beyond human health, glyphosate damages non target wildlife, beneficial soil organisms, and pollinators essential for food production. These ecological costs are nowhere to be found in the safety assessments regulators cite.

Regulatory approval does not equal scientific consensus, especially when it's shaped by the very industry being regulated.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

If you're looking for institutions that radicalize Americans toward acts of terrorism, don't look at mosques or Antifa or trans rights activists, look at the US military.

[Aurora Solá @sighlab]

In which I explore a little-known economic theory that suggests that we find ourselves at a Great Turning.

The sixth Kondratieff wave. A verdant affair. The metamorphosis of meaning. Read below.

https://t.co/1GoZUYnpes

[Aurora Solá @sighlab]

Finally our international courts are stating the obvious.

https://t.co/NqRWDJV75c

[Aurora Solá @sighlab]

Fascinating essay from @JewishCurrents on the parallel histories of violence and exploitation in the citrus industries in Florida and Israel. From the making of the Jaffa Orange as a brand to the politics of Bibi and Ron.
https://t.co/9SVQ7N7xoA

[Space 8K @uhd2020]

Timelapse of Europa & Io orbiting Jupiter, captured by the Cassini space probe

[Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal]

Local Amsterdam residents tell @LeftLaser how they were assaulted and menaced by Tel Maccabi hooligans hunting for anyone displaying pro-Palestine symbols

Why should decent people have to put up with a hostile invasion of foreign Zionist goon squad members?

[Andrey X @the_andrey_x]

Palestinian Bedouins of Umm al-Hiran have Israeli citizenship and lived here for generations. Now they're being ethnically cleansed with 13 other communities in the Naqab desert

Here citizenship doesn't matter — the only thing Israel cares about is if you are Palestinian or not

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

Very excited to see this: a National Geographic documentary about one of the biggest frauds in social science—the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Based on all the new evidence. Thibault Le Texier in particular deserves major credit for his work uncovering the truth.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

More than 40% (!) of Harvard graduates end up in consulting or finance. After a few years they spent most of their time thinking about when they'll go skiing again, or deciding on the perfect shade for their latest home renovation. /5

[Max Roser @MaxCRoser]

Some statistics are worth knowing by heart:

The average – mean – income in the world per person is $18 per day.

This is adjusted for differences in price levels.

It means that if incomes could get perfectly equally distributed in the world all of us would live on $18 per day.

[Aurora Solá @sighlab]

Fascinating essay from @JewishCurrents on the parallel histories of violence and exploitation in the citrus industries in Florida and Israel. From the making of the Jaffa Orange as a brand to the politics of Bibi and Ron.
https://t.co/9SVQ7N7xoA

[Alan MacLeod @AlanRMacLeod]

The Israeli media are saying it.

Why can't ours do the same?