Daffodils
Sophie Pemberton
1897

An oil and gas company just left behind an estimated $476M cleanup mess in Alberta | The Narwhal The mess is left behind by a tangled web of Chinese investors and a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

A beleaguered oil and gas company has left behind 4,000 orphan wells and, The Narwhal has learned, an estimated $476M cleanup bill in Alberta.

We called to hear their side of the story. They answered. thenarwhal.ca/alberta-long...

This is a major line being crossed by Alberta's UCP government. Throwing out the work of an independent boundaries committee is authoritarian and extremely anti-democratic.

Neuronal APOE4-induced early hippocampal network hyperexcitability in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis - Nature Aging Young, cognitively normal APOE4 mice display hippocampal network hyperactivity that predicts later memory decline. This phenotype is driven by neuronal APOE4 expression, which causes hyperexcitability of hippocampal neurons and can be reversed by targeting Nell2.

A study in Nature Aging shows that the strongest Alzheimer’s Disease risk gene, APOE4, can make certain brain cells in young mice hyperactive, which can predict later memory decline. The study also implicates Nell2 protein as a contributor to APOE4-driven dysfunction. #Alzsky 🧬🧪

Uh sir you are selling your armored vehicles to ICE to use against American citizens.

Millions in war-ravaged Sudan surviving on one meal a day, say NGOs Many people resorting to eating leaves and animal feed to survive in North Darfur and South Kordofan states.

Many people resorting to eating leaves and animal feed to survive in North Darfur and South Kordofan states.

During the last 15 hours, Russia has violated a recently announced Easter ceasefire 2,299 times, Ukraine's General Staff said on April 12.

Emperor penguins are now endangered amid climate change and melting ice Emperor penguins are native to Antarctica, where record low sea ice over the last decade has dramatically changed their habitat. Populations of the world’s largest penguin have fallen so much that…

The emperor penguin is now officially endangered. Record low sea ice in Antarctica has decimated colonies, with populations projected to fall 50% within 50 years.

This International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List update is a "warning" that climate change is accelerating the extinction.

4,000 more wells are added to Alberta’s orphan well list | The Narwhal Even before the addition, the estimated total costs to properly seal and reclaim orphan oil and gas sites in Alberta was more than $1B

The orphan well inventory is way up. The orphan well levy is not. #ableg

thenarwhal.ca/alberta-orph...

Cool - so the world is burning, warring, dying, starving and we have this super useful tool that now not only has the ability to produce slop, memes, and deepfakes but also take down the **everything**. Great.

The UCP would win re-election today under the current existing boundaries that were drawn in 2017 and the majority report’s map, but the minority report’s map would make it basically impossible for the NDP to ever win in enough ridings to form a majority government — and that’s the point.

I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.

It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

A Deadly Fungal Invader Is Threatening BC’s Bats | The Tyee But a probiotic developed in the province might be able to save them if the government moves quickly.

A Deadly Fungal Invader Is Threatening BC's Bats via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/04...

Banff's bison herd grows to more than 130 animals “As we plan our next steps with bison, we’re assessing population size, potential range expansion and opportunities for collaboration with the government of Alberta."

BEYOND LOCAL: Banff's bison herd grows to more than 130 animals

Hello from Alberta, Canada! I think your cactus is what we would call a Thanksgiving cactus? If we lived closer, I have a cutting rooted from my Christmas cactus that I would give you and your family! Thanks for sharing photos of your garden - we still have over 12” of snow here in places 🫤

Gut microbes affect cognition during ageing Nature - As mice age, changes in the microorganisms in their guts contribute to cognitive decline by altering signalling between the gut and brain.

As mice age, changes in the microorganisms in their guts contribute to cognitive decline by altering signalling between the gut and brain

go.nature.com/4uHYl4O

A complete set of canonical nucleobases in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu - Nature Astronomy Samples returned from the asteroid Ryugu contain all five canonical nucleobases (A, G, C, T and U). Their presence in Ryugu and Bennu supports the hypothesis that carbonaceous asteroids contributed to the prebiotic chemical inventory of early Earth.

The complete set of nucleobases found in terrestrial DNA and RNA — adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine and uracil — have been detected in samples returned from the asteroid Ryugu, according to research published in @natastron.nature.com: spklr.io/63324EHjho

🔭 #astronomy

When We Revive Buried Urban Creeks, What Can Happen? | The Tyee Spurred by advocates, Vancouver has ‘daylighted’ some paved-over waterways. Ducks, and people, are flocking.

When We Revive Buried Urban Creeks, What Can Happen? via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/03...

Pd (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) fungal growth on bat wings - the fungus fluoresces orange under UV light (Photo: Jason Headley - from an Alberta bat)

The British Columbia government has announced a detection of Pd, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats in the lower mainland/Vancouver area. Not surprising as it has been noted in WA for some time now. Still, sad news.
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...

A white bust sculpture is used as a knife holder, with multiple knives and a pair of scissors stuck into it, placed on a kitchen island.

#IdesOfMarch

Alberta power policies trigger $408M devaluation to ATCO's wind and solar division, company says | CBC News The Calgary-based giant warned of "legal recourse" if province doesn't alter reforms that harm renewable projects.

NEW: Alberta government’s power policies have battered existing renewable projects, and a major company now speaking out.
ATCO blames province for $408M writedown to wind & solar, suggests it may pursue in court: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... by me

Ministry of Energy and Minerals - Main Estimates 2026 YouTube video by Legislative Assembly of Alberta

In 2023 I posted on Shell's 2019 decision to sell its legacy sour gas assets to a company now known as Cavvy.
It's great to see @nagwanyyc.bsky.social asking Minister Jean about why the AER dropped the ball. Jean doesn't answer (of course) but
at 1.11 #abpoli #ableg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWFd...

If this is a threat to their economic competitiveness, they were never economically competitive in the first place.

Urgent: Historical Society of Alberta has been informed that their funding from the Government of Alberta has been eliminated! The HSA was founded by our first Premier, Alexander Rutherford, in 1907 and was instrumental in drafting the Historical Resources Act. The HSA includes 5 chapters: The Chinook Country Historical Society (CCHS), Edmonton and District Historical Society (EDHS), The Lethbridge Historical Society (LHS), Central Alberta Historical Society (CAHS) and Peace Country Historical Society (PCHS). The Historical Society of Alberta has survived world wars and depressions, but it might not survive Budget 2026. Don’t let our story end here. Heritage isn’t a line item; it’s our foundation. 119 years of history erased in one budget. The committee reviews this budget on Wednesday. Please take 2 minutes to call and email Minister Tanya Fir-@tanyafirab, and tell her that Alberta’s history is not a “luxury” to be trimmed. Tanya Fir Phone: 780-422-3559 E-mail: acsw.minister@gov.ab.ca #AbLeg #AlbertaHistory #SaveTheHSA #abbudget

"Urgent: Historical Society of Alberta has been informed that their funding from the Government of Alberta has been eliminated!"

www.facebook.com/share/p/173q...

#Alberta #abpoli #yyc #yeg

Danielle Smith drags the judiciary deeper into her partisan mud slinging The Alberta Premier’s referendum is a direct threat to the proper functioning of our justice system

"This isn’t about constitutional reform. It’s about politics. More specifically, it’s part of a broader and increasingly brazen [UCP] effort to either control the courts or, failing that, convince the public not to trust them. "
www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion...

The presumed upcoming El Nino will help cement and quantify global warming acceleration, showing that 2C global warming is likely to be reached in the 2030s, not at midcentury.
See Another El Nino Already? mailchi.mp/caa/another-... Also available on Substack: jimehansen.substack.com/p/another-el...

A brown penguin chick of some kind. It looks very much like a man in a suit. It is bedraggled and miserable

Made it to Friday but at what cost

NEW: Reporting from Postmedia and newly disclosed briefing materials at today’s special Council meeting outline the scope of the provincial property tax increase. Cities like Chestermere will see increases as high as 32%, making this the largest property tax increase in Southern Alberta’s history.