globalbriefs


News and resources to inspire concerned citizens to work together in building a healthier, stronger society that benefits all.


Fungus Among Us Mushrooms Offer Pesticide-Free Insect Control


Paul Stamets, one of the world’s leading mycologists, invented a fungus (mushroom)-based pesticide in 2006. An industry executive states, “This patent represents the most disruptive technology we have ever witnessed.” This “smart” pesticide provides a safe and nearly permanent solution for controlling more than 200,000 species of insects. Entomopathogenic (insect-destroying) fungi are al- tered so they don’t produce spores. This actually attracts


the insects, which then eat them and turn into fungi from the inside-out. The invention has the potential to revolutionize the way humans grow crops.


Source: Earth. We Are One. View the patent at Tinyurl.com/FungusPesticidePatent.


Sentient Beings New Zealand Enacts Bill Recognizing Animal Intelligence


The New Zealand Animal Welfare Amendment Bill that passed into law this year states that animals, like humans, are sentient beings. Dr. Virginia Williams, chair of the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee, says this acknowledges, “Animals can experience both positive and nega- tive emotions, including pain and distress.” The bill thus bans the use of animals for testing cosmetics. Williams says the legal recognition of animal


sentience provides a stronger underpinning of the requirements of the existing Animal Welfare Act. The bill also provides for penalties to enable low-to-medium-level offenders to be punished more effectively and gives animal welfare inspectors the power to issue compliance notices, among other measures.


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Uncommon Devotion Religion in America Shows Resilience


On any given Sabbath, four of 10 Americans travel to a place of worship, a number that hasn’t fluctuated dramat- ically in the past half-century. Gallup polls report that more than 81 percent say they identify with a specific religion or denomination; 78 percent say it’s an important part of their lives; and 57 percent believe that religion is able to solve today’s problems.


While recent attendance may be


off, Americans are no less likely to attend services today than they were in the 1940s and early ’50s, just prior to the ultra-religious following decade. The reason, says Gallup’s Frank Newport, is that U.S. religious worship is cyclical. Today’s practicing religious communities “tend to consist of the seriously committed, not just those swept along by obligation,” reports Christian Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame and co-principal investigator of the Na- tional Study of Youth and Religion. Those that worship regularly are more likely to be older, female and Southern; they also are better educat- ed and stronger financially than those that don’t, according to Newport. At the same time, Mitchell Marcus, a University of Pennsylvania professor, characterizes his Ph.D. students as religiously curious, often devout and eager to talk about their beliefs.


Source: The Christian Science Monitor


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