8.7.2024

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Harris Taps Walz 

Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election yesterday. The choice is seen as a strategic move to boost Harris’ connection with rural voters in the Midwest, an important region for the upcoming election.

Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and National Guard veteran, served as a representative for Minnesota from 2007 to 2019 and as the state’s governor since 2019. He is known for policies such as removing abortion restrictions, legalizing recreational marijuana, and providing universal free school meals. Walz has also faced criticism for the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for the handling of the George Floyd protests in 2020. See an overview here.

For the first time since 2004, both major parties will feature military veterans on the ballot. Walz's and opponent JD Vance's service backgrounds could potentially resonate strongly among voters, as a recent study found nearly 90% of US adults express a favorable opinion of veterans.

EPA Bans Dacthal

The US Environmental Protection Agency yesterday issued an emergency ban on a common weed killing herbicide known as DCPA, the first such emergency order in four decades. The ban stems from a 2023 EPA assessment claiming the chemical can harm prenatal thyroid levels and lead to brain impairment and loss of motor skills.

Dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as Dacthal, is an herbicide used to suppress grass and weed growth around commercial crops like broccoli and onions as well as on golf courses and private lawns. In use since the 1950s, the compound is a preemergent herbicide, attacking growth hormones in the weed's early stages. In its 2023 assessment, the EPA reported pregnant farmworkers handling the chemical are exposed to up to 20 times the safe level of the compound. The substance has been banned in Europe since 2009.

US-based agricultural corporation AMVAC, Dacthal's sole producer, stopped selling the chemical for use on turf in December. The company has yet to respond to the ban.

Hobbit Bone Discovery

Archaeologists have discovered a tiny arm bone on the Indonesian island of Flores belonging to the smallest ancient human species on record. The finding helps shed light on the evolution of the Homo floresiensis, an early relative to ancient humans.

The 700,000-year-old incomplete fossil measures 3.5 inches long and makes up the upper arm bone, known as the humerus. The Homo floresiensis (see overview), nicknamed the "hobbits" due to their diminutive size, stood at roughly 3.5 feet tall and coexisted with unique island fauna such as pygmy elephants, rabbit-sized rats, and Komodo dragons. 

The discovery of the bone and other fossils suggests Homo floresiensis underwent significant body size reduction in their evolutionary history due to the isolated environment and limited resources on Flores, a phenomenon known as island dwarfism. The findings also support the hypothesis that Homo floresiensis descended from Homo erectus (see overview), an ancient hominin species that arose in Asia and became stranded on Flores.

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