Trego's Mountain Ear

A TikTok ban isn’t a data security solution. It will be difficult to enforce – and could end up hurting users Milovan Savic, Swinburne University of Technology Montana has made an unprecedented move to become the first US state to ban TikTok. However, doubts have been raised over the decision’s legal foundation, enforcement mechanisms and underlying Read more

Trego has completed its school board elections – for the first time since 2007.  Sixteen years – a long time for a democratic institution to operate in the absence of voter input.  It isn’t a stretch to say that the people who make democracy work aren’t the people who win elections – democracy works at Read more

If the past is a foreign country, it’s one where the weed is a lot less potent. This may be part of the reason that psychosis as a result of marijuana intake is becoming more of a concern. Legal, certainly in some places. But safe? One of the principles of toxicology (the study of poisons) Read more

Critical Race Theory is explained in Wikipedia:  “Roy L. Brooks defined critical race theory in 1994 as “a collection of critical stances against the existing legal order from a race-based point of view”. While there are not many (probably none) full-blooded Neanderthals in my neighborhood, the genetic evidence implies that many of my neighbors are Read more

The past year gave us a massive increase in the vole population – with a corresponding damage to fruit trees and garden plantings.  I suspect it was partially due to weather or climate factors, but I think we have also lost some of our small predators.  For the lack of a couple tiny weasels, I’m Read more

Why are some mushrooms poisonous? Karen Hughes, University of Tennessee Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Why are some mushrooms poisonous and some are not? – Alice T., age 11 You may have noticed that mushrooms Read more