The answer to climate-killing cow farts may come from the sea.
For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters. One day in January 2014, police rushed to a farm in Rasdorf, Germany, after flames burst from a barn. They soon discovered that static electricity had caused entrapped methane from the flatulence and manure of 90 dairy cows to explode.
Climate change isn’t just frying the planet—it’s fraying our nerves
“We kind of lose our cool.”
A new report finds that climate change is the world’s worst public health crisis
Researchers forecast more disease and disaster as the planet warms.
New CDC data shows that farmers don’t have America’s highest suicide rate
But the problem hasn’t gone away.
Alabama voters just approved a sweeping anti-abortion amendment
While Oregonians voted to keep public funding for abortions.
Massachusetts votes to uphold protections for transgender people in public places
Question 3 passes with about two-thirds support.
Kids suing the government over climate change will get their day in court after all
The Supreme Court says the Trump administration can’t stop the suit—again.
Massachusetts voters could repeal a ban on discrimination against transgender people
The battle over the state’s landmark “bathroom bill” isn’t over yet.
These 32 Republicans voted to kill Obamacare. Now they say they’ll protect preexisting conditions.
House members in tight races try to run from their records.
Republicans in close races are defending popular Obamacare provisions they tried to kill
Too bad they have a preexisting condition: Their votes.
California college students won’t have access to medication abortions on campus
Jerry Brown just vetoed a bill that would have required it.
California is one step closer to requiring colleges to offer medication abortions
A bill pushed by student reproductive rights activists is headed to the governor’s desk.
California lawmakers demand an investigation into Verizon’s slowdown of firefighters’ data
Rep. Nancy Pelosi and 12 others ask the Federal Trade Commission to step in.
Firefighters say Verizon choked their data as they battled California’s biggest fire ever
A lawsuit over net neutrality sparks allegations of data throttling.
Washington Judge Just Dealt a Blow to the Youth-Led Fight Over Climate Change
But there’s still reason for hope: Another similar suit is headed to a federal court.
There are better ways to mock Trump than joking that he’s Putin’s gay lover
Be more creative, people.
An anti-abortion initiative just got on the ballot in the nation’s most pro-choice state
Following Alabama and West Virginia, Oregon will weigh new limits on abortion.
Supreme Court says kids can sue Trump over climate change
The high court called the breadth of the lawsuit “striking.”
The CDC just retracted its farmer suicide data. That could be terrible news for farmers.
The numbers “might be inaccurate” as a result of coding errors.
Pro-choicers are sending coat hangers to Sen. Susan Collins
The Maine Republican reportedly won’t weigh Supreme Court nominees’ position on Roe v. Wade.
For Pride, we asked you to name your favorite LGBTQ characters growing up (real or imagined).
Your responses pulled our heartstrings.
Ignore the buzz about honey curing allergies
Bee skeptical.
Trump’s Lawyer Says the President May Be Mulling Pardons in the Russia Investigation
Rudy Giuliani’s remarks came just after Paul Manafort was put in jail to await trial.
What Characters Were Gay Icons for You Growing Up?
Although not explicitly gay, Mulan, Astro Boy, and Velma are just a few that come to mind.
With “Rape Jokes,” Cameron Esposito turns the lowest form of comedy into something groundbreaking
“We’re all laughing at something that is painful to take the power out of it.”
In Wake of Celebrity Deaths, People Are Sharing Stories About How They #LiveThroughThis
Acts of kindness can help with everyday struggles.
They’re here. They’re queer. They’re scientists.
This new campaign wants you to get used to it.
Growing your own cocktails makes gardening a lot more fun
Three recipes and some sage advice from “The Drunken Botanist.”
What if we held a constitutional convention and the right-wingers prevailed?
That’s the fear driving this group of progressive convention-boosters.
Happy Mother’s Day! Please enjoy these stories about moms, daughters, and food
Forget picture perfect Sunday dinners—”Eat, Darling, Eat” serves up family mealtime realness.
Are bacteria a secret weapon against eczema? These researchers are hopeful.
NIH study suggests a potentially cheap and effective treatment for a painful condition.
“We wouldn’t need the suicide hotline if dairy farmers were getting paid what they deserve”
Milk pricing policies have left small producers at their wit’s end.
Puerto Rico, still reeling from Hurricane Maria, is hit by an island-wide blackout
Millions of Americans are without power.
Trump’s war on data could quietly erase LGBT crime victims
“When groups of people are invisible, their problems are invisible.”
Stressed, struggling, and suicidal: America’s farmers are begging for mental health services
Trump’s trade war promises even more uncertainty.
This bill would allow college students to get a medication abortion without leaving campus
The California Senate has already passed it.
Using data from fracking country, scientists train a “neural network” to detect earthquakes
With a 95 percent precision rate, the software is still learning.
Gut-wrenching memorials to Parkland victims are showing up all over the country
Florida’s latest tragedy is resounding from coast to coast.
That “I approve” tagline on political ads may have precisely the opposite effect of what Congress intended
A first-of-its-kind study looks at what happens when candidates stand behind their attacks.
From fringe to baby oil, here are 9 eye-catching Winter Olympics opening ceremony looks
Fashion Week kicked off in New York City on Thursday, but nearly 7,000 miles away in Pyeongchang, almost 3,000 Olympic athletes from 92 countries were preparing for a fashion show of their own.
This New Company Wants You To Trade Your DNA Sequence for Cryptocurrency
After about a year of development, a new biotech company, the brainchild of Harvard genomics pioneer George Church, emerged from the darkness this week, STAT News reported. It’s called Nebula Genomics, and it lets you buy and sell your genomic data using cryptocurrency.
Experts aren’t too worried about the bitcoin bubble…yet
This doesn’t mean you should rush out and buy cryptocurrency.
Software used to make “life-altering” decisions is no better than random people at predicting recidivism
Researchers at Dartmouth College have found that a computer program widely used by courts to predict an offenders’ risk of reoffending is no more fair or accurate than a bunch of random non-experts who were given the same data and asked to make predictions.
The East Coast is about to get hit by a “bomb cyclone”
Much of the eastern United States has been assaulted by brutally cold temperatures over the last week. And the worst is yet to come.
Here’s what Siri says when New Zealanders ask about sex
“Tell me about menopause.” “Am I at risk of HIV?” “Is it OK to put a jade egg in my vagina?” A team of New Zealand researchers posed these questions and 47 others to digital assistants to determine how effectively Siri et al. could answer questions on sex.