Seaweeds are not plants – and six other surprising facts about aquatic flora

Crucial to life on earth

Alexander Bowles, University of Oxford

Hidden beneath the water’s surface is a botanical world that is among nature’s most innovative and ecologically important.

As I highlighted in a recent paper, an extraordinary range of adaptations have evolved in aquatic plants for life beneath the water’s surface. Some flower underwater, others capture animals in ingenious traps. Here are seven facts that show how these remarkable organisms challenge our assumptions about what plants are and how they survive.

Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories. This article is part of a series, Plant Curious, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.

1. Plants can’t stop returning to water

When we think of plants, we often picture life on land: forests, grasslands and meadows. Yet throughout their evolutionary history, plants have repeatedly returned to the water, where they first evolved. Around 500 million years ago, plants moved from water onto land. Since then, many have moved back. Scientists estimate that the aquatic lifestyle has evolved independently more than 100 times across different plant groups.

Water lilies float their leaves on the surface, duckweeds drift freely and seagrasses live entirely submerged in the ocean. Some of these groups made their return over 100 million years ago. The repeated evolution of aquatic plants is one of nature’s most striking examples of convergent evolution.

Save kids' lives

Flu shots prevent 80% of death in kids

Mary Van Beusekom, MS

During eight respiratory illness seasons, estimated influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against death in US children was 80% overall, 77% in those who had underlying medical conditions, and 87% among those without such conditions, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers report today in Pediatrics. 

The team used data from the US Influenza Associated Pediatric Mortality Surveillance System and survey data to estimate VE against death and assess vaccination status in children aged 6 months to 17 years who died of their infections from August 2016 through July 2025. The study excluded the 2020-21 flu season.

“Seasonal influenza vaccination has been shown to reduce the risk of influenza and severe complications among children aged 6 months and older,” the study authors noted. “Since 2010, reported numbers of influenza-associated pediatric deaths among children younger than 18 years have ranged from 37 during the 2011 to 2012 season to 289 during the 2024 to 2025 season.” 

Over half of flu deaths were in otherwise healthy children

In total, 1,234 children aged 6 months to 17 years died of flu. Overall, 48% of pediatric deaths occurred in children with one or more underlying medical conditions and 52% in those without such conditions. 

Of deaths in children with at least one high-risk condition, the greatest proportion of flu vaccination was in those with non-asthma lung disorders (35%), followed by immune-weakening conditions (33%) and genetic and mitochondrial disorders (29%) and was lowest among those with obesity (18%), diabetes (11%), and hemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease (8%).

Among 1,086 deaths with flu vaccination data, only 23% of 530 children with chronic conditions and 13% of 556 children without these conditions were fully vaccinated against flu. By season, the proportion of flu deaths in children vaccinated in the current year ranged from 26% in 2018-19 to 9% in 2024-25. 

Federal health agencies say they need a big funding bump to prepare for future emergencies

Rebuild our ability to handle public health emergencies

Sarah Boden

Public health decisions are made by this clown

Federal agencies tasked with planning for and responding to public health emergencies say they need a big bump in funding to prepare for future pandemics and antimicrobial resistance, as well as chemical, biological, radiologic, or nuclear threats. 

The multiyear budget, released July 15, proposes an allocation of $53.3 billion over the next three fiscal years: 2027, 2028 and 2029. If funding remains flat, the allocation will be $20 billion, or $33.5 billion less than requested. 

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the federal government's leading health security agency, says the budget is based on agency professional judgment. 

"These investments will strengthen our ability to develop, manufacture, and deliver lifesaving medical countermeasures when they are needed most," said John Knox, ASPR's principal deputy assistant secretary and interim leader, in an ASPR news release. 

The proposed budget comes at a time when many have criticized the federal government's deep cuts to preparedness efforts amid the recent hantavirus outbreak and ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa.

Trump has a public nervous breakdown on Truth Social

He flaunts his dementia for all to see

By Will Collette

There was a ton of political commentary today about Donald Trump's astounding six-hour posting spree on Truth Social yesterday. As one of my favorite columnists Jeff Tiedrich put it: 

Dear Leader is bugfuck nuts.

we know this. it’s not open to debate. we’ve all seen the erratic behavior. the pants-shittingly infantile tantrums. the utter lack of impulse control. the mood swings. the ever-shifting incoherence he wreaks on the world, as the family of raccoons that live inside his fat, waterlogged head randomly chew through all the wires.

The AI-slopped photo above of Trump and John F. Kennedy in front of the now half-destroyed White House is particularly ironic, given Trump's blasphemous destruction of Jackie's Rose Garden and treatment of the Kennedy Center.

Then there's this:

And this:

And this one featuring Cadet Bonespurs:

And this interpretation of how his endless war with Iran is going:

For Trump, this one is a pretty subtle attack in our renewed war on Canada:

Of course, he tried to make fun of his critics:

This is how the President of the United States spent his Sunday. We are at war with Iran, a war Trump started without cause or plan or exit strategy. Runaway inflation, diseases running rampant, hungry children, unaffordable housing. A world that now either hates us or doesn't trust us. 

When he isn't trying to come up with new things to name after himself or historic treasures he wants to turn into gilded bordellos, he spends his time with this shit.

He's out of control and that spells danger for all of us, MAGA and DSA alike. Since the Republican controlled Congress doesn't have the guts to deal with him, we need to deal with them on November 3. 

July 29 protest

Second finding of West Nile Virus

Important state races crucial September 9 Democratic primary for Charlestown's state Representative

HOW TO VOTE

You can register to vote on the Secretary of State's website! The deadline to register to vote in the September Primary is August 10th. If you would like to vote by mail, you can apply for a mail ballot using this application. This form must be received by your local board of canvassers by 4 p.m. on August 19th. If you don’t want to or cannot vote in person and missed the mail ballot application deadline, you may still request an emergency mail ballot from your local Board of Canvassers. Emergency mail ballot period is August 20th to September 8th. Early voting also starts on August 20th and continues until September 8th. Most cities and towns will host early voting at their local board of canvassers, which is located in your city/town hall. Be sure to check the designated early voting location. Primary Election Day is Wednesday, September 9th. Be sure to confirm your polling location using the polling place lookup tool. Polling places typically open at 7 a.m. and close promptly at 8 p.m. You should also check when your polling place opens on Election Day. You will be asked to show a current and valid photo ID when you vote at your polling place. For a complete list of acceptable photo IDs and to learn about provisional ballots, refer to the FAQ section below or download the informational flyer.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE

Across the United States: Nationwide, a whopping 95% of U.S. adults believe the country is in an affordability crisis. (Harris Poll | July 2026) Trump’s total crypto earnings totaled some $1.4 billion during his first year back in office, when he began making liberalized cryptocurrency regulations a cornerstone of his presidency. (NBC News | June 2026) The average household in America has had to spend more than $3,100 extra on goods and services since Trump took office. (Joint Economic Committee | June 2026) Nearly a third of manufacturers and about 45 percent of service firms fully passed along all tariff-induced cost increases by raising their prices. (Liberty Street Economics | June 2025) ACA premiums likely set for another double-digit rise next year; Insurers are proposing a rate hike of about 14%, driven by rising healthcare costs, inflation and the loss of enhanced tax subsidies. (NBC News | July 2026) Two million fewer children are enrolled in Medicaid since Trump took office. (Georgetown | May 2026) In Rhode Island: In Rhode Island, an estimated 33,000 people — including 1,600 children — are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage by the 2028 federal fiscal year. (WPRI | July 2025) As of May 2026, the average household in Rhode Island has had to spend $3,300+ more on goods and services under President Trump.  (Joint Economic Committee | June 2026) President Trump’s war in Iran has cost the average Rhode Island household $235.34 in rising gas prices. (Brown University | July 2026) In Rhode Island, monthly premiums for 2026 ACA health plans doubled, on average, compared with last year; Thousands of Rhode Islanders dropped Affordable Care Act health plans. (Ocean State Media | March 2026) The Northeast region’s Consumer Price Index rose 4.3% over the year to June 2026, with energy prices up 18.7% and food prices up 3.7% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | June 2026)

Don’t Forget that your voice matters! Vote in the primary election on September 9, then make sure to come back and vote in the general election on November 3.

Microplastics Found in 84% of Serious Heart Attack Patients

Plastic pollution may be reaching the heart through the bloodstream

By European Society of Cardiology

In a study published in the European Heart Journal, researchers detected microplastics and nanoplastics in the coronary blood of 84% of patients who had experienced a serious heart attack. That compared with 40% of patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and 32% of those whose coronary arteries appeared normal.

The heart attack group also had a wider variety of plastics in their blood. Polyethylene, one of the world’s most widely used plastics and a common ingredient in packaging and consumer products, was the material found most often.

Although the results do not show that plastic particles trigger heart attacks, they add to concerns that pollution may be connected to cardiovascular disease through inflammation, lung exposure, and damage to blood vessels.

How Microplastics Enter the Human Body

“Micro and nanoplastics are tiny plastic particles that are found virtually everywhere in the environment, including the air we breathe, the water we drink, and many foods we consume,” said first author Dr. Pasquale Paolisso of Sant’Andrea Hospital at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. “In recent years, scientists have begun to detect these particles in human tissues and organs, raising concerns about their potential health effects.”

“However, very little was known about whether these particles are present in the coronary circulation, the blood flowing through the arteries that supply the heart, or whether environmental exposures such as smoking and air pollution might influence their presence.”

Microplastics generally measure less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches), while nanoplastics can be small enough to interact with cells and biological tissues. Scientists have already reported plastic particles in human blood, lungs, placenta, and breast milk, but their long-term health effects remain uncertain.

How we got to have clam cakes and stuffies

Stanford Scientists Solve a 252-Million-Year-Old Mass Extinction Mystery

By Stanford University

Representative samples of the modern fauna
(left three samples) and the Paleozoic fauna
(right four samples). Credit: Sarah Leibovitz

The shells scattered along modern beaches are clues to an ancient catastrophe. Clams and snails are common today partly because their distant relatives survived the worst mass extinction in Earth’s history, while many of their former rivals nearly vanished.

A new Stanford-led study helps explain why.

About 252 million years ago, the Permian-Triassic extinction event eliminated 96% of marine species and 70% of land animals. Known as the “Great Dying,” it was far more destructive than the later disaster that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs.

Why Some Ocean Animals Vanished

Yet the crisis was not equally deadly for every branch of animal life. Some groups that had dominated the oceans for hundreds of millions of years suffered catastrophic losses, while others endured and eventually took their place.

Brachiopods were among the biggest casualties. These shelled animals resemble clams but belong to a completely different evolutionary group. Before the extinction, they were among the most abundant creatures on the seafloor. Crinoids, or sea lilies, and several other mostly stationary bottom dwellers also declined sharply.

The antifa terrorism threat the Trump administration describes does not exist

But since when is being imaginary not a feature in Trump's rants?

Jason M. Blazakis, Middlebury College

The State Department on July 16, 2026, hosted what officials billed as a ministerial on the resurgence of left-wing political terrorism.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio invited representatives from more than 60 countries to Washington to hear an argument that many of them appear not to believe: that a transnational far-left terrorist movement called antifa threatens the democratic world. 

At the event, allies were asked to mobilize against that enemy despite nations like the Netherlands and Germany politely noting to their host that they cannot find evidence of any such group.

Some intelligence analysts have declined to brief on antifa at interagency meetings because they do not regard it as a serious counterterrorism threat.

As a terrorism scholar who spent a decade running the State Department office that designates terrorist organizations, I understand their confusion. The threat the administration describes does not exist in the form the administration describes it.

Antifa is not a group

Jan. 6 insurrectionist and former Republican state
Rep. Justin Price claims Antifa and not him stormed the Capitol

As I and others have written before, antifa is not a group. It is a movement and an ideology, a loose commitment to opposing fascism. In its most organized form, it amounts to scattered local collectives like Rose City Antifa in Portland, Oregon.

There is no membership roll, no command hierarchy and no funding structure. There is no leader of antifa – the Trump administration has not named one – and there is no record of deadly attacks attributed to a U.S.-based organization called antifa.

Groups like the Islamic State group and al-Qaida have killed tens of thousands of people and have a documented chain of command. Antifa does not. You cannot decapitate a movement with no head, and you cannot sanction an organization that does not exist.

As such, the Trump administration created one.

Trump would love to steal the election. But he's floundering.

Republicans would rather talk about almost anything else than his conspiracy theories.

Paul Waldman

Whenever Donald Trump does something alarming, disturbing, or seemingly ill-considered, his opponents immediately begin trading theories about what his true motivations are.

Is today’s crazy statement or decision just a ruse to distract the public from something else, probably Jeffrey Epstein? Is he laying the groundwork for future actions that are even worse?

The assumption underlying this kind of speculation is that when Trump seems at his most deranged, he actually has a plan. But these days, when it comes to the only subject that occupies Trump’s mind as much as his ballroom or the Reflecting Pool — his obsession with phantom voter fraud — we should stop looking for the hidden strategy. Because there is none.

Last week’s speech revealed Trump’s impotence

In advance of the primetime address he delivered last Thursday, Trump went through the usual motions, promoting it as an earth-shaking speech that would alter the American political landscape.

“It doesn’t get bigger,” he said beforehand. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt tried to tamp down speculation about the content of the speech while heightening the dramatic tension, saying “nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in.”

But nobody was fooled.

Just as there are only so many times you can hear Trump say “It’s like nothing anyone has seen before” before the hyperbole loses all meaning, yet another allegation that elections are being stolen no longer registers as revelatory or urgent. That’s especially true when Republicans have worked so hard for so many years to prove that voter fraud is organized and widespread, with an enormous amount of time, effort, and money spent by the entire conservative movement, yet have come up with essentially nothing.

Everyone knew what Trump would deliver — some lies, some innuendo, some banal facts portrayed as deeply sinister. And no one was less enthusiastic about the speech than the Republicans actually trying to win elections this November.

Greatness like we've never seen before

Big races in the Democratic Primary: House District 36, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General

Trump and Hegseth have been covering up the number of US casualties in Iran war

Consistent with the cover-up of the actual costs from this war

Stephen Prager for Common Dreams   

After months of downplaying the number of American casualties from Donald Trump’s war in Iran, The New York Times revealed that the Pentagon once again hid dozens of US military injuries from Iranian strikes on bases in Jordan last week.

As the Times reported on Monday:

In the week leading up to the Iranian attack on Friday that killed two US soldiers and left one service member missing in Jordan, Iran carried out three other strikes against US forces in the country.

Those attacks injured dozens of US service members and damaged several helicopters, according to several US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the casualties and damage they inflicted.

The Pentagon’s failure to disclose full information about US casualties is not a new development.

In the early days of the war, Defense Department officials said fewer than a dozen American troops had been injured before abruptly acknowledging that more than 140 had been wounded after Reuters obtained the full figures.

After six American soldiers were killed during the war’s opening salvo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth derided the press’s inquiries about the number of casualties, claiming they were only seeking “to make the president look bad.”

The Intercept’s Nick Turse found in April that US Central Command (CENTCOM) had repeatedly sent outdated and incomplete casualty figures to journalists in what one defense official referred to as a “casualty cover-up.”

How many cups of caffeinated coffee are safe to drink each day?

Up to five cups of coffee per day OK for heart health. Energy shots, not so much

American Heart Association

The latest research indicates that consuming up to 400 mg of caffeine/day (equivalent to up to 5, 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day) is generally safe for most adults and appears to be linked to a lower risk of several cardiovascular conditions, including heart failure, heart disease and stroke in some individuals.

However, higher amounts of caffeine, such as levels found in energy drinks including energy shots, may increase the risk of high blood pressure and/or irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia.

 
More research is needed to better understand caffeine’s impact on the body, how different sources of caffeine impact heart health and how its impact may vary among different people, according to the scientific statement.

Previous studies have found that caffeine is the world’s most popular stimulant and psychoactive sub­stance, and coffee is the most common way people consume caffeine. The latest research supports the conclusion that for most adults, consuming up to 400 mg of caffeine/day (or up to 5, 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day) is safe and appears to be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease for some individuals. 

However, higher doses of caffeine, such as levels found in energy drinks including energy shots, may cause cardiovascular harm, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement, “Caffeine and Cardiovascular Disease,” published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship peer-reviewed scientific journal Circulation.