Best non-fiction books (picking best 10 among others) I explored this year...
#books #bookrecco

#books
Favorites among all the fiction I read this year:
Also, including Ursula le Guin and Starhawk's works here

A walk in the forest & some wonderful interactions...

How can non-elite and more-than-colonial environmentalisms offer an alternative narrative to the competing ideologies, agents and institutions shaping human–nature relationships? 👇🏾

Monsoons are a personal favorite, always.

#readingnow

BOOK REVIEWS BOOKS 2025 The Empire of AI – Karen Hao One of the finest tech journalists, Karen Hao, has been covering the world of artificial intelligence even before it became “business”. Wha…

Why everyone should read the fantastic The Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social
A brief review 👇🏾
eletellnow.wordpress.com/long-forms/
#bookreview #openai

#readingnow

Flow chart of the "fossil fuel spin cycle" showing the 5 narratives the industry shifts between: 1. We keep you safe, 2. We make your life work, 3. Economy vs. Environment, 4. We're part of the solution, 5. We're a great neighbor

I've been talking about this for years but the fossil fuel industry has five key narratives, they haven't changed much in decades, and they just shift between them/combine them depending on what is happening in the world. Made a quick and dirty flow chart to illustrate it:

A simple change... Misleading interpretations.
Notice how most headlines lately have been replacing capture, translocation with rescue?!

Wildlife institute WII is one among others that pushed for environment clearances for Nicobar project & now stands to get crores of rupees in mitigation/ monitoring funding. Sharing my findings on one such WII research paper that further shed light on need for research integrity 👇🏾

This week's #bookreviews
eletellnow.wordpress.com/long-forms/

When a chimp community lost its males, it also lost part of its love language Male chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park use distinct “auditory gestures” to attract females. However, researchers have found that when the males die, these behaviors can disappear with t...

A new study highlights the urgent need to integrate chimpanzee cultural preservation with conservation.

It documents the loss of a socially-learned behavior — a mating signal — among a group of chimps following the poaching of all of the male members.

Once lost, behaviors take years to reemerge.

More evidence on the relative ineffectiveness of current snake anti-venom that possibly is better suited for S. Indian regions cos of heterogeneity in venom composition across the 4 Indian venomous snakes

Story in Research Matters: buff.ly/E7Ec3y2

Nepal's rhino census conducted in an interval of every five years now faces an uncertain future with the suspension of USAID, one of the major donors for the project, by the Donald Trump administration.
www.business-standard.com/world-news/n...

Private entities to gain access to state-owned degraded forests for afforestation Private entities may soon be granted access to degraded forests in Madhya Pradesh for afforestation projects, with the opportunity to earn carbon credits. A dra

There goes village commons - to benefit the corporate under the guise of greening...
www.downtoearth.org.in/forests/priv...

#readingnow

We need to replace/make words like experts & greens in news articles more inclusive & diverse: Their excessive usage, singular references (scientists/conservationists) have created social monoculturalism (limiting it to one section of people).
Like, forest dwellers don't know better?!

IIIT Kottayam develops drones for tranquillising elephants in distress A drone lab here has developed an advanced hexacopter-based tranquilliser-firing drone

Also, tech solutions that are expensive & remain short-term & more reactive in addressing challenges on ground... 👇🏾
www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...

Local elephants can be brought from other states: Stay for High Court order NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stayed the Kerala High Court order that had banned the transportation of local elephants from other states to Kerala.

This year, over 6 people died & 25 injured in processions from elephants that were highly stressed. Unfortunately, it looks like unshakable truths (such as the reality and impact of many of our customs) are of no consequence in the face of inherited beliefs.
keralakaumudi.com/en/news/mobi...

😂

First evidence of transovarial transmission of Kyasanur Forest disease virus in Haemaphysalis and Rhipicephalus ticks in the wild - Parasites & Vectors Background Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV) is a tick-borne flavivirus causing debilitating and potentially fatal disease in people in the Western Ghats region of India. The transmission cycle is ...

Definitely worrisome
parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Tycoon profited after India relaxed border security rules for energy park Exclusive: Military experts raise concerns over change to protocols on Pakistan border to allow project that was handed to billionaire Gautam Adani

Adani-related energy news from India is always fascinating.

"The Indian government relaxed national security protocols along the Pakistan border to make way for a renewable energy park, a project ultimately handed to one of India’s richest men, Gautam Adani"

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

"In rendering this sky into English, into a language of distance and abstraction, did I preserve its unbearable weight—or did I risk reducing it, smoothing its jagged edges for those who will never be beneath its destruction?"
Do read 👇🏾

#pastoralism
Maintaining biodiversity of rangelands...
At the Living Lightly exhibition...

World’s smallest otter makes comeback in Nepal after 185 years KATHMANDU — Scientists have for the first time in 185 years confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal, thrilling conservationists and researchers looking for clues to its existen...

Scientists have confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal for the first time in more than 185 years. The last confirmed sighting was in 1839, followed by occasional unconfirmed reports.
news.mongabay.com/2025/02/worl...

New Zealand's Mount Taranaki gets same legal rights as a person The aim is to address injustices of colonisation, including confiscating land from local tribes.

New Zealand's Mount Taranaki, sacred to the Maori, has been accorded legal rights as a living person.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

As India plans for more zoos, what are we celebrating?What stories are we telling ourselves about other animals here – as educators, rescuers, and hosts - in these enclosures, where mutual well-being and healing are emotions you'd never experience??