big ideas

A first: extra-terrestrial water inside a meteorite.

“The Winchcombe meteorite, which struck a road in the town of Gloucestershire last February, is also believed to contain information about the origins of the water that makes up the planet’s immense seas, according to the Independent.” | learn more

oh, chicago

The costs of Chicago’s Air & Water Show. 

Listeners of WBEZ asked them to find out the costs, and the radio station did the research to deliver! “When it began in 1959, the Chicago Air and Water Show had a budget of $88.” Obviously it costs more now… | learn […]

oh, chicago

Workers caught pumping slurry into Chicago River. 

“Environmental agencies Friday were investigating why workers at a construction site were pumping a slurry of water and sediment directly into the Chicago River, creating a cloudy plume beneath the Randolph Street bridge.” |learn more

oh, chicago

Lead in homes’ water across Chicago. 

“An analysis from the Chicago Tribune finds that lead was in water drawn from nearly 70% of 2,797 homes across Chicago within the past two years.” Free test kits available from the city here. | learn more

thoughts of food

The latest chapter in the Plenty story. 

I’ve written about vertical farm startup Plenty before, and now that they’ve raised an additional $200MM from SoftBank, it’s time for another look at their progress and vision. Reminder: “All told, Plenty says, its technology can yield as much as […]