Pollution found in our air and water can lead to serious health issues. A new report from the Children’s Environmental Health Network explored such risks, especially for children. Michigan Environmental Council program director Tina Reynolds discusses the report with WEMU's David Fair in this week's "Issues of the Environment."

The 1,4 dioxane plume emanating from the old Gelman Sciences facility on Wagner Road in Scio Township continues to expand through groundwater in the greater Ann Arbor area. At a recent public forum, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said it would take decades to get the contamination designated as a Superfund site and clean-up could take decades beyond that. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks to Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners chair Jason Morgan about what is happening now to better address the environmental threat.

PFAS contamination continues to threaten Michigan's environment, as well as the health of its citizens. Over the past month, action at the state level has been taken to fight this problem. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," Rebecca Esselman, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, discusses progress and challenges with WEMU's David Fair.

By all accounts, electric vehicles are the future. Right now, EV’s comprise a small percentage of the automotive marketplace. A new study from the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor shows the electric vehicles owners are paying far more in taxes and fees and that can serve as a disincentive to purchase. The center’s Charles Griffith joined WEMU’s David Fair for this week’s "Issues of the Environment" to share the study’s findings and discuss the need to create policy that will create tax parity for EV vehicles.

In an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint, the University of Michigan has pledged to freeze its investments in fossil fuel companies. This move has drawn praise from such activist groups as the U-M's Climate Action Movement (CAM). But it also says the school needs to go much further. CAM member and U-M doctoral student Noah Weaverdyck discusses it all with WEMU's David Fair on this week's "Issues of the Environment."

Since President Donald Trump took office, 58 environmental protection policies have been rolled back or rescinded. 37 more are in the process of being taken off the books. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair checks in with 12th District Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell about efforts to thwart federal policies that threaten environmental health and sustainability.

A series of "energy freedom" bills, which would allow customers to diversify energy generation and usage is before the Michigan Legislature. For this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks with Ed Rivet, executive director of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum, about a new strategy to move the measures forward.

Many services have felt the sting of the coronavirus outbreak. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," Kathy Sample, founder/owner of Argus Farm Stop, joins WEMU's David Fair for a conversation about the importance of local food during this unprecendented time.

The coronavirus pandemic has lead to major changes for homes and businesses, including more frequent use of chemicals and disinfectants. While they do help, some can be dangerous to human health and the environment. Professor John Meeker , senior associate dean for research at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, spoke with WEMU's David Fair about how best to safely use these products on "Issues of the Environment."

Maintaining water service and safety remains an essential service during Governor Whitmer's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" executive order. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks with the manager of Ann Arbor's water treatment services, Brian Steglitz, about managing the system to filter out virus and chemical contamination.

Many aspects of daily life have been dramatically changed due to COVID-19, and public transportation is certainly no exception. Although services like the Ann Arbor Area Transportion Authority (AAATA) promote a cleaner environment, they still have financial obligations and public health matters to consider. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," AAATA CEO Matt Carpenter explains how his organization and other forms of public transit in Michigan are adapting to the pandemic in a conversation with WEMU's David Fair.

The Centers for Disease Control continues to recommend wearing gloves and masks while in public. More and more people are following recommended guidelines. However, getting rid of those personal protective equipment (PPE) items is often being done improperly. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks with Washtenaw County Public Works manager Theo Eggermont about proper disposal to protect public health and the environment.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. A group of environmentally aware and concerned students at the University of Michigan formed the group ENACT during a rather heady time on campus in 1969. Through activity and organization, it led to the first-ever Earth Day in 1970. In Part 1 of a special, Earth Day edition of "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair caught up with David Allan to look back at the five decades since that event. Allan was a founding member and co-chair of ENACT and an organizer for the first Earth Day.

Today marks the 50th Earth Day in the United States, which traces its origins to Ann Arbor. Normally, there would have been a huge celebration, but the coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to that. For Part 2 of a special, Earth Day edition of "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair spoke with Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability. They discuss an online celebration of Earth Day and look ahead to what the future may hold.

Food production has been seriously disrupted to the coronavirus pandemic. It has forced producers, including dairy farmers, to dispose of more of their supplies, which has led to more food waste. Joe Diglio, president/CEO of the Michigan Milk Producers Association, has a conversation with WEMU's David Fair about how the problems are being addressed in this week's "Issues of the Environment."

It's been forecast that this spring will be quite wet. That could bring flooding to portions of Washtenaw County. Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss planning for such issues and the proactive nature of work already underway on this week's "Issues of the Environment."

I need 9 TV tuners so I can display 9 different over the air TV channels on 9 separate screens. 9 TVs is not an option. Output resolution is not at all critical. What is the cheapest solution you can come up with?

For latest iOS: If I'm actively using my phone, DND doesn't seem to work -- this is annoying when I'm trying to get lost in a book, long article, etc. Is there a way to force all incoming texts to obey DND at all times?

There's been lots of advice for partner board games and group social meetups and work meetings online but I feel like I'm in the vacuumest vacuum in which I've ever been. I've been at a contract job for 2 months and just got an extension until 4/30. However, I spent last Thursday and Friday on furlough (no pay) and my contract has been paused (no pay) for the next 2-3 weeks.

I have a regular Wednesday evening happy hour that we've turned into a video party but beyond that I have no social interactions and no real reason to get out of bed.

I tend to be pretty bad at self-care anyway so reminders to cook or clean or exercise more may not work.

I'm totally OK with sleeping through it all. There are online classes I can do, partly-finished projects, lots of cleaning that I could do but I just need a kick in the butt.

Mainly I need motivation from fellow lazy people - just lazy people - to figure out how to start and how to keep going.

I had always expected that the coronavirus situation would get worse before it got better. Now that is more clear. I am in the USA, where most states are opening up before seeing a decline in cases. And news sources are saying that we can expect, at best, a "slow burn" of more cases for a few years. So how do we live like this? What are reasonable precautions to live under for a few years? What are good guidelines?

My county seems to have plateaued. My sister and my dad live in the same town I do. He is 80 years old. I expect they are still seeing each other. They are being prudent now, but who knows what they will do as restrictions loosen. Should I see them again? Under what conditions?

My 90-year-old mother-in-law lives in the independent level of a continuing-care retirement community about eight hours away, in a state with more cases. Visitors haven't been allowed for a while, which is sensible. But my wife is worried she will never get to see her mother again.

I might be able to work from home indefinitely. But I worry that my wife will not. Even if she gets unemployment, that will run out at some point, and options for other jobs are limited.

I am politically active and also had hoped to volunteer with direct services to help people. But my wife has high risk factors, and it seems like the risk of infection will just increase.

How can prudent people best live our lives in the next few years? Without going stir-crazy, etc.

I have two questions about the Corona pandemic. 1. Wouldn't it be quite informative to know the total number of tests conducted in relation to the positive ones? As there is widespread concern about undertesting, this would show the extent of it? Why isn't this done?

2. In the projections for the casualties from the Pandemic, are the likely deaths from non-Corona causes included that would occur because the hospitals are full? For example in the one study where the worst case scenario was 2.2 million deaths?

I use Google Photos on my Android phone to back up my photos and videos to the cloud. As I have been known to occasionaly loose my phone I really like this feature. But, I can't find an option to not download photos back to my phone. The result is that as soon as I enable backup&sync ALL my photos get downloaded and my storage is full. I would like to have only backup and no sync. Is there a solution for that besides using another app?

Upstairs neighbors did something that resulted in a little water dripping from my ceiling. It appears to have gotten behind a wall outlet as well, and I'm now concerned as to whether it's safe to use. The outlet had a surge protector plugged in at the time of the water exposure, which I unplugged after I heard buzzing coming from the outlet. Since the outlet kept buzzing, I cut off all electricity to half of my home via the circuit breaker for about a day (the building is old, so multiple rooms - kitchen, bathroom, and 2 extra are all on the same 20 amp breaker). There has been no buzzing since I turned the breaker back on.

After a cursory observation my super stated I could use the outlet again after 36 hours, which I extended to around 60 to be safe. When I started plugging in the surge protector, however, I saw a blue spark; this freaked me out enough that I decided to leave it unplugged.

Questions:
1. Given the above, is there reason to believe the outlet is currently safe to use/will be safe to use in the near future?
2. If not, what are my next steps? Request that my super/landlord send in an electrician?
3. (Slightly unrelated) Is it possible to change the configuration of rooms to circuit breakers? I don't want to have to shut off half my home again if there's a problem in only one room, and I appear to have a spare 20 amp that isn't connected to anything. The super said it wasn't possible as it would require new wiring to be placed in the walls, etc. but I don't know how knowledgeable they are on the electrical front.

Thanks!

A low budget one man type of travel show, similar to "Bald and Bankrupt". What sort of camera setup would you use? I am looking to buy camera and all related gear but it seem like there are a lot of conflicting aspects in terms of what would best work. Please give me your own opinion and advice, here are some of my key criteria:

1) I am thinking it has to have the option for mic jack / external mic, relying on the built in mic seems to often give really shitty audio.
2) Size, as compact as possible, needs to be easy to tote around while travelling
3) Price - not so much that I cannot spend the $$$, I guess "discreet" is more the thing... where I will be shooting there could be thieves as well as police or other officials that would think "journalism" if they see a really pro looking setup.

When I look up "prosumer" level cameras I see fairly bulky and fancy looking units. Again my main concern here is I do not want to look too juicy to thieves, and I need to be able to work in places where border guards will not immediately think "journalist" and police and others will think more "tourist who just happens to have good gear".

Oh, and:
1) one man show, so all auxilliary gear etc needs to fit in like a backpack or large tote bag
2) needs to be digital, such that uploading footage to the cloud is easy
3) should be flexible such that it is easy to point and shoot throughout travels, as well as set up like on a tripod for properly framed scenes

If I am thinking about this entirely wrong, please tell me that, too.

If you think "just shoot with your phone" that is kind of off the table, I want to be producing semi-pro quality video and audio when I do this.

So please, tell me, what would you buy?

So what do you buy in 2020 if you want an inexpensive ILC that you're going to use primarily for video? Panasonic? I'm thinking of buying used for less than, say, $850 with lens. Probably just leave the kit lens on there for the moment, probably just use it for family videos. I love the form factor of the GX9 but the lack of a mic jack is a bummer. But if I'm not shooting super serious video do I even need a mic jack?

Please don't suggest phones, I really hate phones.

Two organizations I belong to publish Google calendars of events. I would like to subscribe to these from my Macintosh and iPhone, so they appear on the calendars I look at every day. I don't want to change which calendar apps I use. How can I do this most easily? On the Macintosh I use Apple's calendar app. On the iPhone I use Fantastical (which is just accessing the same calendar data that Apple's iOS calendar uses).

The shared calendars I want to access have not been made available in ical format. Is there any way I can subscribe to them from my Mac and iPhone?

More details follow:

I also have a Google calendar which I do not use except when I am forced to by other aspects of the Google ecosystem (e.g. Google Meet invitations).

The shared Google calendars I want to see are not public. They relate to kid things so they can't be public. I've been invited to join these calendars. When I click the invitation link they get added to my Google calendar. So when I go to calendar.google.com I see my own Google calendar, and I also see that I am subscribed to these other calendars and I see their events in their own colors.

I have subscribed to my Google calendar from my Macintosh and my iPhone by adding my Google account to those devices. However, that only brings in the events from my own Google calendar. It doesn't transitively bring in the calendars that I'm subscribed to via my Google calendar. Is there a way I can make it do that?

I would rather not ask the calendar owners to make changes to their calendars, but I will if that's the only way to get these calendars onto my Mac and iPhone. If that's necessary, what should I tell them to do? I don't want to ask them for an iCal link, because then they would have to manually retrieve and send out that link to everyone wha wants it. Ideally they'd be adding iCal capability to the calendar so that anyone with access could subscribe to it that way.

So many people use Google calendars and so many people have iPhones and Macs, I'm really hoping this is possible.

For a (doctoral level) class I teach I do an activity where I hide a quarter on the quad (grassy open space the size of a soccer field, say) and a student has two minutes to find it. The student can recruit helpers, if they want, but has to split the fabulous 25 cent spoils evenly with each helper recruited.I'd like to do a similar activity in my now online class. For example, maybe it's a *very difficult* hidden picture or find one thing different in a field of similar images. I know a programmer could probably easily make a primitive game where you had to move your cursor over just the right pixel to find the quarter, but I'm not a programmer.

Can you think of an activity a person could do remotely (using zoom as a platform) where you would visually search for something but have relatively poor odds that you would actually find it in two minutes, and where having helpers to help you look would increase the odds of finding the thing in the time limit?

Can't wait to hear your ideas.

Google says most of its employees will likely be allowed to work remotely through the end of year. In a companywide meeting Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said employees who needed to work in the office would be allowed to return in June or July with enhanced safety measures in place. The rest would likely continue working from home, a Google spokesperson told NPR. Google had originally told employees work-from-home protocols would be in place at least through June 1. Facebook also said it would allow most of its employees to work remotely through the end of 2020, according to media reports. The company had previously announced it was canceling large events through June 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both companies began telling employees to stay home in March . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

A slickly produced 26-minute video called Plandemic has exploded on social media in recent days, claiming to present a view of COVID-19 that differs from the "official" narrative. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation." In it, filmmaker Mikki Willis conducts an uncritical interview with Judy Mikovits, who he says has been called "one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation." Never heard of her? You're not alone. Two prominent scientists with backgrounds in AIDS research and infectious diseases, who asked not to be identified over concerns of facing a backlash on social media, told NPR that they did not know who she was. If you were aware of Mikovits before this week, it is probably for two books she published with co-author Kent Heckenlively, one in 2017 and another last month. Heckenlively has also written a book

Updated at 5:02 p.m. ET It was supposed to be a day of parades, a vast party that would transcend borders and bring generations together, not unlike the spontaneous euphoria that swept through victorious European allies when Nazi Germany finally surrendered. But instead of a mega-event, leaders in London, Paris, Moscow and other capitals, observed the 75th anniversary of V-E Day at a diminished level Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron led a small ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, looking out over an empty Champs-Élysées. A 93-year-old veteran of World War II observes a moment of silence at the Cenotaph war memorial in London, where British residents — like much of Europe — marked a subdued 75th anniversary of V-E Day. Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP via Getty Images Because of health risks the disease poses to older people, many veterans of the war were forced to avoid travel and keep their distance at public gatherings. "The veterans are of course getting

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

This is part of a series looking at pressing coronavirus questions of the week. We'd like to hear what you're curious about. Email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." More than 76,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19, and there have been 1.27 million confirmed cases across the country — and nearly 4 million worldwide. Though the virus continues to spread and sicken people, some states and countries are starting to reopen businesses and lift stay-at-home requirements. This week, we look at some of your questions as summer nears and restrictions are eased. Is it safe to swim in pools or lakes? Does the virus spread through the water? People are asking whether they should be concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus while swimming. Experts say water needn't be a cause for concern. The CDC says there is no evidence the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas or water

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

Dr. Grace Farris is chief of hospital medicine at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan. She also writes a monthly comics column in the Annals of Internal Medicine called "Dr Mom." You can find her on Instagram @coupdegracefarris . Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Meatpacking plants are hotspots for the coronavirus, with workers elbow-to-elbow as animals are processed on a conveyor belt. So, how can these factories be adapted to keep workers healthy?

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Monty and Rose met last year on a beach on the north side of Chicago. Their attraction was intense, immediate, and you might say, fruitful. Somewhere between the roll of lake waves and the shimmer of skyscrapers overlooking the beach, Monty and Rose fledged two chicks. They protected their offspring through formative times. But then, in fulfillment of nature's plan, they parted ways, and left the chicks to make their own ways in the world. Monty and Rose are piping plovers, an endangered species of bird of which there may only be 6,000 or 7,000 in the world, including Monty, Rose and their chicks. They were the first piping plovers to nest in Chicago in more than 60 years. After their chicks fledged, they drifted apart. Rose went off to Florida for the winter, and Monty made his way to the Texas coast. They'd always have the North Side, but were each on their own in a huge, fraught world. And then, just a few days ago, Monty and Rose were sighted again, on the same patch of sand on

Updated at 9:44 a.m. ET As a young woman growing up in a poor farming community in Virginia in the 1940 and '50s, with little information about sex or contraception, sexuality was a frightening thing for Carole Cato and her female friends. "We lived in constant fear, I mean all of us," she said. "It was like a tightrope. always wondering, is this going to be the time [I get pregnant]?" Cato, 78, now lives in Columbia, S.C. She grew up in the years before the birth control pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on May 9, 1960. She said teenage girls in her community were told very little about how their bodies worked. "I was very fortunate; I did not get pregnant, but a lot of my friends did. And of course, they just got married and went into their little farmhouses," she said. "But I just felt I just had to get out." At 23, Cato married a widower who already had seven children. They decided seven was enough. By that time, Cato said, the pill allowed the couple to

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Airlines and airport operators in the United Kingdom are not waiting for the British government to publicly confirm their fears. Already, the groups representing major players in the U.K.'s air travel industry are pushing back on a proposal that would require travelers to quarantine after arriving from outside the country. A spokesperson for Airlines UK — a trade body with British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair as members — says the group understands from government officials that plans for a quarantine are in the works, but that details remain scarce at the moment. "We need to see the detail of what they are proposing. Public health must of course be the priority and we will continue to be guided by Sage advice," the group said in a statement emailed to NPR, noting that support measures will be necessary to ensure "that we still have a UK aviation sector once the quarantine period is lifted." "We will be asking for assurances that this decision has been led by the science and that

In this week’s Medical Minute, Dr. Joseph Hobbs, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, discusses a push to study a group of genes that may hold the key to finding better therapies for women with a rare, aggressive uterine cancer. The Medical Minute airs at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across Georgia. For more Medical Minute episodes, visit the Medical Minute 2020 SoundCloud page.

Tomorrow begins a new section on this website. It’s to be called Current Listens, and that’s what it’s about. To a degree, it’s an answer to a frequent question I receive: “What have you been listening to lately?” It may prove to be an experiment, and it may prove to last long-term. It’s going to […]

Current Listens is a listening diary of sorts. It’s an answer to the frequent question: “What have you been listening to lately?” This is what’s on heavy rotation at home and … well, of late, pretty much just at home. It’s annotated, albeit lightly, because I don’t like re-posting material without providing some context. And […]

This variation on a loop from the first generation of the Buddha Machine was as much a test for the AV Squad as it was for the Music Department. I’m trying out a new camera, and the good news is the audio sounds good (as with yesterday’s, the audio was recorded straight to the camera, […]

One Buddha Machine, first generation, one loop. It’s split into three strands. One strand goes straight into the mixer. That’s channel one. One strand goes into the low-fidelity looper, which spits out little instant-recall snippets into the filter, which then sends three bands of audio spectrum to the mixer. Those bands are channels two, three, […]

The batteries were dying on one of the Buddha Machines, so I recharged them. But only a bit. Just enough to let them last for this recording. The green one on the left is the one giving out the dying-whale sounds, the dying Buddha. The blue one is fully charged. Both are sending loops of […]

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto group, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to […]

The goal here was to push the Muxlicer by altering its clock as time passes. The clock is what sets the pace of the changes that you hear. The Muxlicer, from the manufacturer Befaco, is the module toward the upper right corner. It’s the one with all those red faders that go up and down. […]