Could the precise architectural form of your residence influence how much you participate in politics? A new study by MIT scholars finds this to be exactly the case—at least in Accra, Ghana, where many people live in semi-communal structures known as "compound houses," often sharing kitchens, bathrooms and common living-room spaces, while having private bedrooms.

The detailed study of homes in Ghana's capital finds that residents of compound houses are more likely to vote, attend rallies and take part in political campaigns, compared with people with more private forms of housing.

"The overarching pattern we find is that if you compare people who live in compound houses to residents of other housing types, like single-family homes or self-contained apartments, there is a pretty big difference in political actions," says Noah Nathan, an MIT political scientist and co-author of a newly published paper detailing the study's results. "People seem to vote more, and there are more other types of political behavior, like going to rallies, participating in campaigns and contacting politicians."

While those differences could stem from factors other than housing, the highly granular study suggests the architecture itself really matters. The researchers examined the specific floor plans of compound houses and found variations in people's political information and social connections—key factors that existing studies show predict political activity—that map to differences in where people live within compound houses.

"We show that those kinds of social relationships and exchanges of political information seem to vary systematically with people's individual locations within the layouts of the buildings they live in," says Nathan, an associate professor in MIT's Department of Political Science. "That's consistent with architectural design leading you to have different levels of political participation."

The open-access paper, "Vernacular Architecture and Grassroots Urban Politics: How Politics Is Embedded in Residential Design," is published in the American Political Science Review. Nathan's co-author is Paige Bollen, Ph.D. '23, an assistant professor of political science at Ohio State University.

Many years ago, I wrote an article entitled Is Veganism Ableist? A Disabled Vegan Perspective. And in regard to the ideas of veganism, the answer remains no.

However, I do think in the wanting and sometimes desperation to do all we can to save the animals (and to a certain degree, the planet as animal agriculture is one of the larger contributors to climate change), a lot of us took action to dispel the protein myth, and while in ways it was good, some of our actions had consequences that also caused harm.

It is a reminder that when we take action to fight misinformation, we must make sure that we are also not punching down in the process (whether intentionally or not.) This is something that goes far beyond veganism.

In the end, us vegans from marginalized communities must represent with as much realness as possible, not only so people know that vegans vary, but so other marginalized people who are perhaps ‘vegan-curious’, will know that they too are welcomed in the movement. After all, the animals need as many allies as they can get.

Native plants can transform your yard into a backyard habitat -- and Al Roker's reaction on the TODAY Show says it all. "Wow. Wow. 9,000."

That's how many caterpillars a mama chickadee needs to raise one brood. Most American yards have zero. Not because you did anything wrong -- the ornamental plants most of us grow (hostas, pachysandra, imported grasses) came from Asia and Europe. Native caterpillars can't eat them. The chickadee flies past.

Wildr CEO Jo Hall and Chief Naturalist Murray Fisher joined Al for National Garden Week to show how native plants for birds and wildlife actually work -- live on set, with live caterpillars. Big bluestem hosts 22 caterpillar species. Switchgrass hosts 15. One native oak supports 570. That's the difference between a yard a chickadee ignores and one she nests in.

They also brought a live Cecropia moth caterpillar on set -- the kind that becomes the largest flying insect in North America. All it needs is a cherry tree. Most people cut them down.

Founded in Italy during the late 1980s, the organization Slow Food believes that people should eat food that is “good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.” This sentiment now drives a global movement that is inspired by Slow Food and closely aligned with the concept of sustainability.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/38619026

Lifelong migraineur, chronic for the last eight years. Last week, I had an aura come on hard and fast then lost about two minutes of time. Very unsettling to say the least, but thankfully my partner was there to witness it.

My neuro set me up with an awake/drowsy EEG at the end of the month. They put "behavioral arrest epileptic seizure" on the order. Depending on how it goes, I may need to go to an epilepsy monitoring unit for further testing.

So for those who have both migraine and epilepsy, especially if migraine was diagnosed first, what was it like getting diagnosed?

FoodPrints is one of many efforts around the country that helps students better understand where their food comes from, so that they can enjoy growing and eating it. It’s the kind of program that has gained ground in recent years, with more emphasis put on local food and education. But creating healthy habits isn't easy.

About The Urban Foragers

The Urban Foragers {house of eco-drifters} series consists of a group of wearable architectures that transform into portable shelters and gardens. The aim of the project is to support a sustainable lifestyle for the new urban nomad by growing one’s own food supply and building community through public engagement. The Mobile Garden Dress’ skirt is a dome shape surrounded by potted plants from which to make a salad. The Nomadik Harvest Dress is a yurt design that holds local vegetables, which are prepared as a soup. The Traveling Seedbomb Dress transforms into a teepee and is fitted up to make sprouts and energy snacks. View Video.

I'm currently studying at Yale Divinity School, in large part drawn here by the Living Village, an experiment in ecological building design and community living. In this video essay I explore the tensions between eco-theological vision and praxis, and the moral complexities of working with, and in, large-scale institutions.

Climate change is widely understood as an environmental and economic threat, but new research from the University of Sydney shows it is also a growing social crisis, weakening the relationships people rely on to survive.

Published in Nature Human Behaviour, the international study found climate change is eroding social connection at a time when those ties are most needed, creating a feedback loop where disruption to relationships reduces people's ability to adapt and recover.

"Climate change isn't just something happening 'out there,'" said lead author Dr. Marlee Bower from the Matilda Center for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. "It's reshaping how we live, how we connect, and ultimately who has support when things go wrong."

Text version: https://www.marystestkitchen.com/will-peanuts-cheese/