Environmental News

I put my Culicidae marker down and I'm pleased that others have done so as well.

Food webs of aquatic dragonfly larvae to some extent depend on mosquito larvae. That is the only system that lends itself to experimental manipulation that I can think of. Food switching when some sources become (are made) limited would be a starting point.

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One could certainly fault the foresight and recognize negative consequences of humans banishing top predators that feed on human food animals. But functional analogies may not be instructive. Mosquitoes being at the bottom of food chain and predators being at top.

I use food chain and food web as descriptions while recognizing that they are not identical. Hope readers can allow that.

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"I'm not opposed to DNA editing for zany religious reasons, but I am not confident that we're going to be very good at it"

How zany figures here I do not know. But 'we' are already very good at it.

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The main point must be kept in view here. Were mosquitoes not humans' worst killers, nobody would be plotting and planning against them in several ways.

 

This week, Science journal offers some gloom. On the factual side, examining budget cuts:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady5151

(Vax vs. diseases)

https://www.science.org/content/article/final-nsf-budget-proposal-jettisons-one-giant-telescope-amid-savage-agencywide-cuts

(although including “savage” in title goes towards editorial)

And an editorial:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz5024

I quote two sentences from that for comment:

“Why would world-class researchers stay in US universities under these conditions? Why would the best international students come to institutions under siege when other countries offer stability, funding, and respect for academic expertise?”

There are reasons for staying. It is home and developed laboratories would take time and effort to re create elsewhere. Unless abandoning US citizenship, world-class researchers will still pay US tax on foreign income above USD$120k (and world-class researchers exceed that). Most importantly and less gloomy, those with long views might expect current US perturbations to not persist.

In contrast, international students considering US research institutions have shorter time frames. If they are all that smart, they will make rational assessments. Including ‘elsewheres’ that are now shopping.