Adam Bates | November 10, 2026
Soil is the material near the land surface in which mineral particles, organic matter, water, air, and living organisms interact. It is not simply broken rock or a uniform layer of brown material. Soils differ in texture, colour, depth, and structure. These differences develop through combinations of parent material, climate, vegetation, terrain, organisms, and the amount of time during which the ground has been changing.
Mineral particles are often described by their sizes.
Adam Bates | October 11, 2026
Whales: Giants of the Ocean
Whales are among the largest and most remarkable animals on Earth. These marine mammals live in oceans around the world, from warm tropical waters to the cold seas surrounding the poles.
Life Beneath the Surface
Although whales spend their lives in water, they breathe air through blowholes located on top of their heads. They must regularly return to the surface to breathe before diving again in search of food or traveling through the ocean.
Jay Schweikert | October 22, 2021
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued two unsigned opinions in Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna and City of Tahlequah v. Bond, both of which summarily reversed lower-court opinions that had denied qualified immunity to police officers. The reasoning in the two opinions was nearly identical – in both cases, the Court held that the officers were entitled to immunity because there were no prior judicial decisions with sufficiently similar facts as these cases.
… Continue reading “Supreme Court Reaffirms Unwillingness To Reconsider Qualified Immunity”
James Craven | July 2, 2021
A New York Times article published last week explores the recent uptick in attrition within police forces. Public confidence in police fell to 48% last year, a 27‐year low, and police have reported that the loss of confidence has made it more difficult to do their jobs. Now, the fallout has hit retention rates, as police forces struggle to keep officers committed to a difficult profession that has undergone a reputational fall from grace. The article ends with an officer describing her feelings about her relationship with the public as akin to being dumped without knowing why.
But this isn’t a break-up: it’s an intervention. The American public wants to hold police accountable for wrongful acts. Confidence in policing depends on it.
Clark Neily | May 25, 2021
One year ago today, George Floyd was murdered by armed agents of the state. Their employer, the Minneapolis Police Department, initially attributed Floyd’s death to a “medical incident,” for which officers had taken him to the hospital. But because 17‐year‐old Darnella Frazier captured the horrific incident on video—and perhaps only for that reason—we know what really happened: George Floyd was brutally asphyxiated by police over a period of nearly ten minutes while he called out for his mother and bystanders begged to intervene.
… Continue reading “Police Accountability Is a Matter of Life and Death”