Sue Burke

A network is racing to save the Midwest’s native seeds As climate change intensifies wildfires and other extreme weather events, demand for native seeds is surging.

These species go back thousands of years and sustain the region’s ecosystems, and they're in danger. www.wbez.org/environment/...

Which type of chocolate has the lowest climate impact? A lifecycle analysis compares dark, milk, white, and compound chocolate, and detects the surprising environmental burden of different ingredients.

Dark chocolate has the lowest climate impact -- a little good news (in my opinion since I like that kind the best) on an otherwise frightening day. www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/02/whic...

Last Fridays Poetry open mic 8 p.m. Friday, February 27, at Esquina, 4602 N. Western Ave., Chicago. I’ll be there!

Chicago Just Named A Snowplow ‘Abolish ICE’— Here Are The Other Winners The city received a record number of entries and votes for its annual snowplow-naming contest. The Department of Streets and Sanitation announced the six winners Monday.

Chicago Just Named A Snowplow ‘Abolish ICE’— Here Are The Other Winners blockclubchicago.org/2026/02/23/c...

Semiosis - YouTube A suite in seven parts, from the book "Semiosis" by Sue Burke Lyrics and music by BLB Vocals, all instruments by BLB except the guitar solo of Pax, by DLT © ...

A French fan of the novel Semiosis was moved to write a suite of seven songs based on the book’s seven chapters. I don’t speak French, but the music captures the energy and vibe of each chapter. You can listen to it here: Semiosis - YouTube playlist www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

17 ways to start a story At the Capricon science fiction convention earlier this month, I led a writing workshop. “It’s A Start: A Workshop On Your First Paragraph — A good opening paragraph for a story or novel will carry…

Here's the list. | Sue Burke sueburke.site/2026/02/18/1...

Contest open until March 31. Theme: Metamorphosis. No fee. parsec-sff.org/short-story-...

Hugo Nominations are open! For first time in my life I have an elegible short story: Proxima One translated by @sueburke.bsky.social is eligible if you enjoyed it... all votes are wellcome 😉
clarkesworldmagazine.com/reuven_05_25/

Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers Study of parasitic blister beetles reveals a new form of chemical deception

The beetles then latch onto the bee, hitch a ride to its nest, and eat the eggs in the nest. Nature is horrible. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Trees Connect Us with Our Ancestors. 'When Trees Testify' Explores the Powerful Link (Exclusive) "We don’t have to just live with the memories of our ancestors," writes author Beronda L. Montgomery in an exclusive essay for PEOPLE in advance of her new book 'When Trees Testify,' out Jan. 20. "We ...

I hesitate to post this because if Trump finds out, he'll have the trees cut down. people.com/beronda-mont...

Anything Goes When You Live in a Crack New research shows that the plants thriving in parking lots succeed not just because they are tough, but because they spread their pollen and seeds in many different ways.

How to survive when the going gets tough: Keep all your options open. botany.one/2026/01/anyt...

Last Fridays poetry open mic tonight, January 30, 8 p.m. at Esquina event space, 4602 N. Western Ave., Chicago. See you there!

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Sad news. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

The Language of Liars Speak another people's language. Know them. Become them…

I highly recommend this, and you can enter a giveaway at Goodreads. www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

Clarkesworld 2025 finalists to vote!!
If you enjoyed it you can vote for
my short story “Proxima One” translated by @sueburke.bsky.social a story about a bunch of silico beings seeking for inteligent life across the galaxy. "We yearn, we hope".
"We collaborate. Exist. Persist. But we are alone"

Plants Can Talk to Each Other When They Touch, and It Makes Them Stronger When plants grow close enough to touch, they appear to warn each other that trouble is on the way, and that warning makes them tougher.

Touch grass, and it touches back. www.vice.com/en/article/p...

Kew's top 10 new species of 2025 Kew's scientists and international partners share their favourite species named as new to science in another big year for nature.

A few good things happened in 2025 | Kew www.kew.org/read-and-wat...

When an invader vanishes, so does an ecosystem's winter defences A pretty riverside invader does its worst damage after it dies, destabilising riverbanks when floods hit hardest.

This is probably a good metaphor for human invasion. botany.one/2026/01/when...

Latin Names for Gardeners, Part 1: Why Latin names? I often write articles for the newsletter of our local Botanic Garden. Recently, it’s been a 4-part series (so far) on Latin names, intended for gardeners who don’t necessarily have any background …

Latin names are accurate, unambiguous, and weird. That's why there's a genus named "Hebejeebie." For real. | Scientist Sees Squirrel scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/l...

The Speculative Literature Foundation will host a Deep Dish reading at the store at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, January 3, 1373 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Come, enjoy the performances, and buy a book. I’ll be one of the readers.

You might need this. Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

"Checking the output is not sufficient as humans are notoriously poor at checking automated processes while the overhead of checking bullshit is often the same or even higher than creating the underlying content." This is true in all sorts of contexts beyond teaching and computer science.

Twining motion of vines YouTube video by ultraguitarist

Plants can move - YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTlj...

Mass-market books are disappearing from grocery store racks NPR's Daniel Estrin talks with publisher Esther Margolis about the end of the era of mass market paperbacks. These inexpensively made books were once staples in most grocery and drug stores.

A brief history of what happened to cheap paperbacks: NPR www.npr.org/2025/12/28/n...

Ep. 557 - How to Help Fireflies — In Defense of Plants In Defense of Plants' Matt Candeias talks with Ben Pfeiffer of Firefly Conservation & Research to learn more about how we can protect, restore, and create firefly (lightning bug) habitat.

Ep. 557 - How to Help Fireflies — In Defense of Plants www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2025...

As a translator, I can testify that "fixing" machine translated text is harder and takes longer than translating it myself. Other translators concur. And yet, people who want something translated are sure an AI will make the work easier, so they can pay us less.

56 million years ago, the Earth suddenly heated up – and many plants stopped working properly It could be a sign of what’s to come.

Plants can't adapt to sudden global warming, especially not as fast as it's happening now. theconversation.com/56-million-y...

«arancel», palabra del año 2025 de la FundéuRAE La Fundación del Español Urgente (FundéuRAE), promovida por la Real Academia Española y la Agencia EFE, ha escogido arancel como su palabra del año 2025. Las negociaciones y las imposiciones comercia...

«arancel», palabra del año 2025 de la FundéuRAE | FundéuRAEFundéuRAE
www.fundeu.es/recomendacio...

«Arancel», palabra del año 2025 de la FundéuRAE. YouTube video by FundéuRAE

The Word of the Year for Spain's FundéuRAE is "arancel" or "tariff." You can guess why. youtu.be/MEZDVSg3YXA?...

Garden Cleanup for Pollinators: Trim Perennial Stems in Their First Winter | NC State Extension Publications It can be a challenge to manage a perennial garden to look tidy and maximize benefit to wildlife. To benefit native, solitary bees, we recommend trimming perennial stems in their first winter to a cre...

Garden Cleanup for Pollinators: Trim Perennial Stems in Their First Winter | NC State Extension Publications content.ces.ncsu.edu/garden-clean...