Author: Sean Vanderaa

Puberty blockers only work while being taken; once they’re stopped, puberty resumes.

Puberty blockers suppress the production of sex hormones such as testosterone or estrogen. They are prescribed to youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria to pause the development of secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair growth or breast development.

Puberty blockers give youth time to decide whether to move on to hormone replacement therapy, which does carry some permanent effects such as voice deepening or breast development.

A review of studies on the effects of puberty blockers found that the treatment reduced suicide and improved mental health but carried some risk of decreased height and bone density.

At least 26 states restrict youth access to some form of gender-affirming care, including Oklahoma, which bans surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone replacement therapy for people under 18.

The definition of mass shootings varies, but research has found the U.S. has the most.

Reasons include high gun ownership, “cultural factors like individualism and fame-seeking, sensationalized media coverage, and gaps in mental health care and law enforcement,” said James Densley of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center.

According to two peer-reviewed studies:

U.S. mass shootings accounted for 73% of all incidents and 62% of all fatalities in developed countries from 1998–2019.

That study’s author wrote in February there were 109 U.S. mass shootings from 2000-2022 and 35 in comparable countries. The U.S. accounted for 33% of the population of the 36 countries, but 76% of the incidents and 70% of victim fatalities.

The U.S. had 30.8% of all mass shooters from 1966–2012, despite having less than 5% of the world’s population.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan made the U.S. claim after a mass school shooting Dec. 16 in Madison, Wisconsin, which he represents.

Texas law doesn’t define or outlaw “speed traps,” a term generally describing a part of road, often near a change in speed limit, regularly policed by officers or devices trying to catch speeders.

However, Texas bans citations based on images captured by cameras installed at traffic signals. Cities are also prohibited from maintaining informal or formal quotas that encourage officers to issue a target number of citations.

Cities with populations fewer than 5,000 can have up to 30% of their annual tax revenue come from traffic citations. Any funds exceeding the limit are sent to the Texas comptroller.

Editing the body! Hell yeah!

The two “sacred settlements” currently operating in Minnesota — Sacred Settlement Mosaic in St. Paul and Sacred Settlement: Prince of Peace in Roseville — do not require that residents believe in a particular religion or attend religious services to live in the community. 

These settlements of tiny houses, built on church property, are set up to provide housing and support to people who are unhoused. Residents live alongside  “intentional neighbors,” who have moved into the settlements to provide community. The idea of sacred settlements is the brainchild of Settled, a Minnesota nonprofit. 

According to Settled, it is up to individual churches to define residency requirements for their tiny houses. Currently, however, all intentional neighbors in these settlements are people of faith. 

Another sacred settlement, associated with the Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, is set to open in 2026, and it’s not yet known what its requirements will be.

A recent study found that adding red seaweed to cattle feed could decrease methane emissions from cows by up to 90%, but researchers say further testing is necessary to make sure it’s safe and effective.  

Methane is a byproduct of cattle digestion and enters the atmosphere through cow burps and flatulence, and when manure is applied on fields. The compound bromoform in red seaweed inhibits enzymes that microbes in cow stomachs use to create methane. More study is needed to ensure bromoform is safe for cattle and people, researchers say. And new methods of producing red seaweed may be necessary to make it cheaper and more available.  

Agricultural emissions make up 10.4% of Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions. Over half of agricultural emissions come from livestock, with methane from digestion accounting for nearly 80% of those emissions.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.