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Dear Reader,

We're trying something new with our science newsletter this week: a note from me, KQED's Senior Science Editor, giving you a view inside one of our top stories for the week.

I've worked over two decades in public radio as a news director, editor, reporter, newscaster and talk show host. I learned radio at community station KMUN in Astoria, Oregon, and worked at KBOO and OPB in Portland, then covered government, ecology, mental health, religion, water and land use battles at KUER in Salt Lake City. I joined KQED in 2002 as Afternoon News Editor, and became KQED's Senior Science Editor in 2016. I hope you enjoy this week's stories; let me know how we're doing by emailing me here.

What matters more--that people care about climate change, or that they adopt solutions? Those two things don't always have to go together, as our Earth Day story shows. We'll take you to a Modesto farm, where almond grower Jose Robles is capturing more carbon in his soil by planting clover under his trees, and adding mulch. But he's not doing it to capture carbon; he's doing it to help his trees survive drought. His neighbors look at all the 'weeds' under his almond trees and tell him—well, you can read the story to find out what his neighbors tell him.

The story points out how some climate change solutions emerge from a simple idea: support Earth's ecological web. Earth gave rise to life over billions of years, developing finely tuned cycles to supply the air, water and food that fostered an unimaginable diversity of life, including, in the very last seconds of our evolutionary narrative, humans. In this story, the late-comers are looking to the exquisite intricacy of Earth's life-support cycles to help secure two futures—the future of humans on Earth, and the future of California almond trees. And the point is, it works no matter what your politics are.

Kat Snow
Senior Editor, Science

California Has Farmers Growing Weeds. Why? To Capture Carbon

California farmers are receiving millions of dollars to pull carbon out of the atmosphere, making the state home to some of the first official "carbon farmers" in the country.

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This Millipede and Beetle Have a Toxic Relationship

This millipede uses deadly cyanide gas to keep predators at bay. But one beetle can tolerate the toxic defense and rides the millipede like a bucking bronco. Who will win this showdown in the forest?

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California's New Enviro Chief Talks Alternative Pesticides, Recycling Reform and Trump "Upside-Down Days"

In a wide-ranging interview, Jared Blumenfeld said safe drinking water is one of his top priorities, China's rejection of previously accepted waste materials is a "crisis," and alternative, safer pesticides need to be developed.

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West Coast Crabbers Grapple With Climate Change

Warmer water off the Pacific Coast has led to algae blooms that produce large concentrations of domoic acid, a dangerous neurotoxin, in crabs and shellfish, resulting in delayed crab seasons.

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Bay Area Scientists Work to Grow Coral, Restore Imperiled Reefs

A report this month found a nearly 90 percent decline in new baby coral settling on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. KQED's Forum discusses the state of coral reefs worldwide and the research on coral reproduction being done in San Francisco to grow and restore them.

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Elizabeth Holmes Appears in Court but Still No Trial Date in Theranos Fraud Case

A federal judge proposed a start date of July 8 for the blockbuster trial of ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and her former No. 2, Sunny Balwani.

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FUNDING FOR KQED SCIENCE IS PROVIDED BY: The National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation and the members of KQED.