Time again for five interesting things: stuff you should know, stuff you might want to take action about, stuff you can share.

Nanoclay – Some very cool research into using tiny clay particles to help restore soil fertility. This will be key to halting desertification, sequestering carbon dioxide, and feeding the world. See also one of my other favourite topics, biochar.

Tiny, But Very Important Things – You probably don’t give much thought to silica gel, but it’s incredibly important to the world economy. Check out this deep dive and impress your friends with your knowledge at your next cocktail party.

Maybe judge some books by their cover? – Apparently some historical books get their nice green covers from a combination of arsenic and copper. A new device from University of St. Andrews can detect toxic pigments.

More reasons to quit Coke? – When this multi-billion dollar corporation isn’t putting artists out of work by making their ads with AI, they’re pumping plastic into our environment at a horrendous rate. How bad, you ask? A new estimate puts the plastic waste resulting from just Coca-Cola products at 1.33 billion pounds annually by 2030. BTW, I wrote a book about this and other environmental problems and what you can do about them. It’s available at Amazon of course, but also at Bookshop.org, a site that supports indie booksellers.

Shocking development – Next time you’re in Panama, you might want to avoid being near an almendro tree. Apparently, they have evolved to be especially resilient to lighting strikes. These same strikes kill off nearby trees and parasitic vines, giving a whole new meaning to that old adage, “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

What cool or actionable thing have you learned or done lately?

Visit the blog at 5 Interesting Things #20.