Take root and flourish in a healthier planet. We cover everything you need to know about the world's most pressing health and environmental disparities. Get newsletter: newsletter.thexylom.com Donate: https://fnd.us/sustain-the-xylom?ref=cr_1EHOhbhttps://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mumc5azwsc2rThank you Dan Abendroth for your donation! The Xylom is an independent nonprofit. We have no owners or shareholders, no corporate interests, and no government contracts. We have no paywalls. Everything we publish is free. Support our coverage of global health and environmental disparities: https://fundrazr.com/sustain-the-xylom?ref=cr_1EHOhb03 Sep 2026 10:57 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumc5azwsc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3muklgpz4ot26This week on The Shoots: • Nigeria grapples with its bat-eating culture • Is Loudoun County, Virginia's Data Center Alley the future of America? • It's Indonesian wildfire season again • Some good news on the human-wildlife interaction front Read and subscribe to our news digest for free: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/eating-bats-is-still-a-public-health-risk02 Sep 2026 18:39 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3muklgpz4ot26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mug6izhjtk26“Last year, after I patrolled the forest, the provincial Department of Environment issued a warning letter to me. They threatened to take action … saying that I was patrolling the forest illegally,” says Ma Chettra, a Cambodian environmental and human rights activist. (Published May) https://www.thexylom.com/post/cambodia-mother-nature-protest-trial-arrest-deforestation-hun-sen01 Sep 2026 00:37 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mug6izhjtk26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3muiapyx56h26NEW: As Nigerian locals trade in dead bats for traditional healers to prepare concoctions for women battling infertility, researchers remain concerned about potential transmission risks. This story is produced by The Xylom and co-published by Sayansi Magazine. https://www.thexylom.com/post/nigeria-bats-traditional-medicine/01 Sep 2026 20:22 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3muiapyx56h26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mufihuadok26@nicolefcarr.bsky.social: "I wanted to know the history behind the price we all pay for excluding these doctors, and the proverbial debt America owes for their resilience and fight for basic human rights." https://www.thexylom.com/post/the-price-of-exclusion-black-americans-healthcare-segregation-georgia31 Aug 2026 18:02 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufihuadok26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3muhhxth6vh26“While the mountains used to be snow-white 10-15 years ago, we now see increasing black spots in the mountains. In the last two years, potatoes were heavily destroyed due to the burial of mud in excessive snow”, said Dawa Sherpa, who runs a guest house for trekkers in Namche, Nepal. (Published 2023) https://www.thexylom.com/post/in-the-high-himalayas-sherpa-women-bear-the-disproportionate-effects-of-climate-change01 Sep 2026 12:59 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhhxth6vh26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mudasdnjei26"I wanted to stop him there, to tell him that it’s ... people from faraway lands who prioritized profit and their personal comfort above all else, who did not bat an eye about the melting glaciers, the rising seas, sweltering heat waves, and the vulnerability of laborers like him." (Published 2022) https://www.thexylom.com/post/daunting-work-at-the-third-pole30 Aug 2026 20:40 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mudasdnjei26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mug6izhjtk26“Last year, after I patrolled the forest, the provincial Department of Environment issued a warning letter to me. They threatened to take action … saying that I was patrolling the forest illegally,” says Ma Chettra, a Cambodian environmental and human rights activist. (Published May) https://www.thexylom.com/post/cambodia-mother-nature-protest-trial-arrest-deforestation-hun-sen01 Sep 2026 00:37 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mug6izhjtk26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mufihuadok26@nicolefcarr.bsky.social: "I wanted to know the history behind the price we all pay for excluding these doctors, and the proverbial debt America owes for their resilience and fight for basic human rights." https://www.thexylom.com/post/the-price-of-exclusion-black-americans-healthcare-segregation-georgia31 Aug 2026 18:02 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufihuadok26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mu3ps3nu4x26“It's hard to describe [our reality] in words,” says Margarita Lomberg, a Ukrainian microbiologist. “After a hard, sleepless night under shelling, we have to gather ourselves and work… How can we stay on the same level as other researchers if we are in much worse conditions?” https://www.thexylom.com/post/ukrainian-mycologists-are-not-giving-up27 Aug 2026 20:47 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu3ps3nu4x26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mub3tr5ra726This weekend on The Shoots: • Our Texas Coastal Bend series is a finalist for a second national journalism award! • Latest updates on climate-induced disaster on the Nepal-China border • Remembering Dolly Parton, public health advocate Read and subscribe to our news digest for free: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/the-xylom-nabs-first-online-journalism-award/30 Aug 2026 00:06 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mub3tr5ra726https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mucydagb4626Journalists in the Global South are exploring ethical uses of AI to tackle longstanding language and knowledge-access challenges that Western journalists rarely face. But from the personal experience of our Managing Editor, Laasya Shekhar, that does not automatically help them thrive as writers: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/such-writers-will-thrive30 Aug 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucydagb4626https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3muewgxmci326Physician Ajaz Nabi Kaul says he treats up to 20 patients with waterborne illnesses every month. “Anchar Lake is the most polluted water body in Kashmir,” Kaul said. “Children bathe there, and women wash clothes and utensils along its banks, often unaware of the risk of infection.” https://www.thexylom.com/post/kashmir-anchar-lake-sewage-water-pollution-infection31 Aug 2026 12:40 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3muewgxmci326https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mudoih6k3y26Jonathan Kirkpatrick, who was incarcerated alongside Don Snook for around 17 years, says he is one example of someone who no longer needs to be in prison. “If they let him go, he wouldn’t be a very productive member of society, but not destructive either. He’d just sit with his plants on a porch.” https://www.thexylom.com/post/washington-pennsylvania-louisiana-death-by-incarceration31 Aug 2026 00:45 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mudoih6k3y26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mudasdnjei26"I wanted to stop him there, to tell him that it’s ... people from faraway lands who prioritized profit and their personal comfort above all else, who did not bat an eye about the melting glaciers, the rising seas, sweltering heat waves, and the vulnerability of laborers like him." (Published 2022) https://www.thexylom.com/post/daunting-work-at-the-third-pole30 Aug 2026 20:40 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mudasdnjei26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mucydagb4626Journalists in the Global South are exploring ethical uses of AI to tackle longstanding language and knowledge-access challenges that Western journalists rarely face. But from the personal experience of our Managing Editor, Laasya Shekhar, that does not automatically help them thrive as writers: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/such-writers-will-thrive30 Aug 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucydagb4626https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mtyhe2jsov26We recently got verified on Reddit! Follow us and join in on our conversations with readers and friends: https://reddit.com/user/thexylom/26 Aug 2026 13:38 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtyhe2jsov26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mub3tr5ra726This weekend on The Shoots: • Our Texas Coastal Bend series is a finalist for a second national journalism award! • Latest updates on climate-induced disaster on the Nepal-China border • Remembering Dolly Parton, public health advocate Read and subscribe to our news digest for free: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/the-xylom-nabs-first-online-journalism-award/30 Aug 2026 00:06 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mub3tr5ra726https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mu2vapax3g26This week on The Shoots: • Keeping Ukrainian fungal research alive during the war • A Tennessee opioid researcher and the Georgia agricultural sector inflate their impact • Disappearing public comments, greenhouse gas data, and NSF Grants Read and subscribe to our news digest for free: https://newsletter.thexylom.com/archive/why-study-mushrooms-during-a-war/27 Aug 2026 12:52 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu2vapax3g26https://bsky.app/profile/thexylom.com/post/3mu4atf42og26“Each newly isolated strain is a potential source of biologically active compounds: antibiotics, anticancer agents, immunomodulators, enzymes, and other substances that could find applications in medicine, agriculture, food industry, and biotechnology,” said researcher Alisa Atamanchuk. https://www.thexylom.com/post/ukrainian-mycologists-are-not-giving-up28 Aug 2026 01:51 +0000at://did:plc:fftccsn7drw2jsrrwepkptgw/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu4atf42og26