What just happened? Researchers at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering have harnessed the power of machine learning to create nanomaterials that combine carbon steel's strength with Styrofoam's lightness. This development can significantly impact industries ranging from automotive to aerospace. The research team, led by Professor Tobin Filleter, has engineered nanomaterials that offer unprecedented strength, weight, and customizability. These materials are composed of tiny building blocks, or repeating units, measuring just a few hundred nanometers so small that over 100 lined up would barely match the thickness of a human hair.The researchers used a multi-objective Bayesian optimization machine learning algorithm to predict optimal geometries for enhancing stress distribution and improving the strength-to-weight ratio of nano-architected designs. The algorithm only needed 400 data points, whereas others might need 20,000 or more, allowing the researchers to work with a smaller, high-quality data set. The Canadian team collaborated with Professor Seunghwa Ryu and PhD student Jinwook Yeo at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science & Technology for this step of the process.This experiment was the first time scientists have applied machine learning to optimize nano-architected materials. According to Peter Serles, the lead author of the project's paper published in Advanced Materials, the team was shocked by the improvements. It didn't just replicate successful geometries from the training data; it learned from what changes to the shapes worked and what didn't, enabling it to predict entirely new lattice geometries.The team used a two-photon polymerization 3D printer to create prototypes for experimental validation, building optimized carbon nanolattices at the micro- and nano-scale. The team's optimized nanolattices more than doubled the strength of existing designs, withstanding stress of 2.03 megapascals for every cubic meter per kilogram of density about five times stronger than titanium.The potential applications of these materials are vast. Professor Filleter envisions the aerospace industry building ultra-lightweight components for planes, helicopters, and spacecraft. The researchers estimate that replacing titanium components on an aircraft with this new material could save 80 liters per year for every kilogram of material replaced, helping to reduce the high carbon footprint of flying. // Related StoriesThis project brought together diverse elements from material science, machine learning, chemistry, and mechanics, involving collaborations with international partners from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, MIT, and Rice University. The next step is to improve the scale-up of these material designs. The team also plans to explore new matrices that push the material architectures to even lower density while maintaining high strength and stiffness.

OBS Studio provides real-time capture, encoding, and broadcasting for YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and many other providers. High performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing. Create scenes made up of multiple sources including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards, and more.Is OBS Studio free for commercial use?OBS Studio is open source software and free for anyone to use it. OBS can be used commercially without restrictions, it won't add watermarks and has no limitations.Is OBS good for recording videos?OBS Studio stands for Open Broadcaster Software, which means its main purpose is livestreaming your gaming sessions on YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, among others. However, you can record audio and video from multiple sources.Can you edit videos in OBS Studio?You can't edit videos on OBS Studio, for that you may need a video editor like DaVinci Resolve, Shotcut or VSDC Video Editor, which are great free options.Is there a portable version of OBS Studio?Yes, there is a portable version of OBS Studio. You can download it here. Instruction on how to run it can be found here.What are OBS Studio basic system requirements?OBS Studio runs on Windows, macOS and Linux systems with at least 4GB of RAM.Windows DirectX 10.1 compatible GPU (GeForce GTX 900 Series, Radeon RX 400 Series, Intel HD Graphics 500)Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11Intel i5 2500K, AMD Ryzen 1300XHardware encoders are recommendedmacOS Intel or Apple Silicon CPUOpenGL 3.3-compatible GPUmacOS "High Sierra" (10.13) or laterLinux/Unix OpenGL 3.3-compatible GPUX window system or WaylandFeaturesHigh performance real time video/audio capturing and mixing, with unlimited scenes you can switch between seamlessly via custom transitions.Live streaming to Twitch, YouTube, Periscope, GoodGame, DailyMotion, Hitbox, VK and any other RTMP serverFilters for video sources such as image masking, color correction, chroma/color keying, and more.x264, H.264 and AAC for your live streams and video recordingsIntel Quick Sync Video (QSV) and NVIDIA NVENC supportIntuitive audio mixer with per-source filters such as noise gate, noise suppression, and gain. Take full control with VST plugin support.GPU-based game capture for high performance game streamingUnlimited number of scenes and sourcesNumber of different and customizable transitions for when you switch between scenesHotkeys for almost any action such as start or stop your stream or recording, push-to-talk, fast mute of any audio source, show or hide any video source, switch between scenes,and much moreLive preview of any changes on your scenes and sources using Studio Mode before pushing them to your stream where your viewers will see those changesDirectShow capture device support (webcams, capture cards, etc)Powerful and easy to use configuration options. Add new Sources, duplicate existing ones, and adjust their properties effortlessly.Streamlined Settings panel for quickly configuring your broadcasts and recordings. Switch between different profiles with ease.Light and dark themes available to fit your environment....and many other features. For free. At all.What's New31.0.1 Hotfix ChangesFixed a crash on macOS caused by hand gesture reactions [gxalpha]Fixed a crash caused by malformed scene collection files [PatTheMav]Fixed a possible crash on Linux when initializing PipeWire screen sharing [tytan652]Fixed a possible deadlock and freeze on macOS while exiting OBS [izwb003]Fixed an issue with inhibiting screensaver on Linux [tytan652]Fixed an issue where migrated NVIDIA Audio Effects filters would not retain their position in the filter order [pkviet]Fixed an issue where Scene Collections could have an incorrect base resolution [derrod]Fixed an issue on Linux with Portable Mode causing the config directory to be in the wrong location [Penwy]Fixed an issue where an Image Slideshow Source set to Random Playback Mode would stop on the last image [derrod]Fixed a missing string for an NVENC error message [derrod]Changed NVENC to not permit invalid custom options [derrod]31.0 New FeaturesAdded NVIDIA Blur Filter and Background Blur [pkviet]Added preview scrollbars and zoom/scale indicator [cg2121/Warchamp7]Added v210 format support for AJA device capture [paulh-aja]Added Amazon IVS service integration [palana]Added QSV AV1 Screen Content Coding [thyintel]Enabled first-party YouTube Chat features [msuman-google]31.0 ChangesUpdated the browser source/docks CEF (Chromium) to version 127 (6533) on all platforms [reitowo/WizardCM/PatTheMav/tytan652/pkviet/kkartaltepe/Lain-B]Changed scene items to use relative coordinates [derrod]Existing scene collections will be automatically converted to use relative coordinates if the scene collection has a known output resolution set.Split NVIDIA Audio Effects from Noise Suppression [pkviet]Existing filters will be automatically migrated.Changed the Image Slideshow's Playback Mode property from radio buttons to a dropdown [derrod]Disabled the (currently unsupported) built-in Automatic Scene Switcher when using Wayland on Linux [tytan652]Improved error messages for macOS Virtual Camera [jcm93]Changed Display and Window capture on Windows to not capture the first found display or window [Lain-B]Changed display and window capture on Linux to not capture implicitly [Lain-B]Added a warning to Window Capture when trying to capture WinUI 3 applications with BitBlt [qhy040404]Refactored the NVENC implementation with various improvements [derrod]SDK 12.2 features, such as split encoding, are now supported.Additional features from old SDKs are supported:B-Frames as referenceTarget Quality VBR mode (CQVBR)A custom options field has been added to allow setting more options that don't warrant their own UI elements.Improved screensaver inhibit functions on Linux in Flatpak [tytan652]Changed scripts to correctly pass settings to modified callbacks on reload [Penwy]Removed legacy QSV code for old devices (Haswell or older) [RytoEX]Removed legacy QSV code for Windows 7 [RytoEX]Removed default desktop audio device on macOS 13+ [jcm93]Removed NVIDIA Kepler GPU support for NVENC [derrod]Removed FTL support [derrod]Removed legacy migrations from OBS Studio 28.1 and earlier [derrod]If updating from these older versions, you may wish to update to OBS Studio 30.2 first, and then update to OBS Studio 31.Removed support for Ubuntu 22.04 [derrod]Removed legacy YouTube chat [gxalpha]Blocked TikTok Virtual Camera from loading in OBS due to known issues [notr1ch]Application settings have been split into "app" configuration and "user" configuration, rather than storing everything in global.ini [PatTheMav]31.0 Bug FixesFixed two crashes with the QSV encoder on Linux [kkartaltepe]Fixed a crash with a race condition involving multitrack video output reconnect [dsaedtler]Fixed two potential crashes in Linux Window Capture [Lain-B]Fixed a crash on macOS that could occur if an audio device was disconnected [jcm93]Fixed a crash on Windows when capturing D3D12 games [confusionattack/Lain-B]Fixed a crash on Linux when importing a scene collection created on Windows [SarenDev]Fixed a crash on Windows when capturing a Vulkan application [Charlese2]Fixed a deadlock in MP4 muxer [derrod/notr1ch]Fixed a deadlock when shutting down muxer [exeldro]Fixed a potential deadlock when stopping an encoder [derrod]Fixed a potential memory error and crash in text parser [fzwoch]Fixed a couple minor memory leaks [pkviet]Fixed a memory leak in PipeWire plugin [dimtpap]Fixed a memory leak when playing an HDR media file [tt2468]Fixed an issue on FreeBSD with handling SSL certificates [emaste]Fixed an issue with pressed button color in the Rachni theme [shiina424]Fixed an issue with some missing icons in the System theme [shiina424]Fixed an SRT listener bug where the socket was not closed properly [pkviet]Fixed an issue where the current scene collection could be erased to default when trying to switch to a different scene collection that's corrupted or invalid [derrod]Fixed a buffer overrun in UTF-8 text conversion [derrod]Fixed an issue that could cause bitrate spikes in QSV CBR [thyintel]Note: This fix only applies to Lunar Lake or newer except Alder Lake N.Fixed an issue where the Auto Configuration Wizard could unintentionally enable Enhanced Broadcasting [lexano-ivs]Fixed issues with the audio clipping indicators displaying incorrectly on volume meters [norihiro]Fixed an issue causing hotkeys to register inconsistently on macOS [jcm93]Fixed an issue causing multitrack video output to fail if color format was set to I444 [dsaedtler]Fixed an issue where Custom CSS in browser sources no longer worked with certain websites (namely YouTube chat) [vvto33]Restored STUN support for WHIP output [mondain]

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsExemptions, no moreThe low-cost benefit is goneA price hike is headed for shoppers in the US, and it could send shockwaves across industries, ranging from cheap gadgets and affordable fashion to electric vehicles. President Donald Trump, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEPA) Act and the National Emergencies Act (NEA), has imposed a fresh round of sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.Items sourced from Mexico and Canada will now face a 25% tariff, while those coming from China will have to contend with an extra 10% duty. Now, there are multiple ways in which the tariffs could the pockets of American shoppers. This is what the Tax Foundation laid out in its estimates:Recommended VideosThe tariffs on Canada and Mexico alone would increase taxes by $958 billion between 2025 and 2034 on a conventional basis, amounting to an average tax increase of more than $670 per US household in 2025. President Trump is implementing a 10 percent tariff on China until we secure the full cooperation of the Chinese government in the fight against fentanyl. China plays the central role in the fentanyl crisis that is destroying American lives.In fact, the Chinese Communist Party pic.twitter.com/pAFfC76nNq The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 1, 2025Items sourced from China, which include popular high-volume goods such as iPhones, might get pricier. Until now, a healthy bunch of top-selling items in the electronics category, such as phones and TVs, have enjoyed tariff exemption.The 10% blanket tariff Trump is proposing could affect the price of everything that is made in China and exported to the US. That applies to a lot of things from toys and tea cups to laptops, says a BBC analysis.But its not just the tariffs that could spell trouble for US shoppers, but also the retaliatory taxes. As per experts, who cited historical precedent, most companies would pass on the cost of increased duties to customers.The probability of that happening seems high. China has threatened countermeasures, while Mexico and Canada have already announced their respective retaliatory tariffs.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsThe press statement issued by the White House also mentions that the de minimisexemption no longer applies. As per the International Trade Administration, imported items in the US worth $800 or less in value are not subject to any tariffs, taxes, or fees.Earlier, the value was $200, but in 2016, Congress increased the de minimis threshold to $800. The de minimis exemptions removal is going to hurt shoppers, especially folks buying goods from popular e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Temu, JD.com, and Alibaba.As per data provided by the US Customs and Border Protection, goods worth over $47 billion were shipped into the US after qualifying for the de minimis benefit. This has allowed platforms like Shein and Temu to explode in popularity, at the cost of local players such as Amazon.The era of Chinese imports is entering a pricey phase. Simon Cohen / Digital TrendsFor lower-income customers, these de minimis purchases held a lot of value, as the products were cheaper, even though they came with a longer wait time. The price of food and alcoholic beverages is also expected to go up, as will the cost of appliances and most importantly, electric vehicles.According to the governments own data, the US collectively imported over $150 billion in motor vehicles and vehicle parts from Mexico last year, while Canada contributed $34 billion in motor vehicle imports.But the impact will be felt across all four trading nations. Intermediate goodsespecially in motor vehiclescross the borders multiple times before final assembly. The imposition of tariffs at each stage of fabrication would be disastrous, says an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.There is still a lot of uncertainty as to how the tariffs are going to unfold and how the cross-border dynamics will ultimately affect the sticker prices, but a trade war is certainly here and its inflationary effect will unfold in the immediate future.Editors RecommendationsA PC recession could make hardware way more expensive, says researcher

Palworld developer Pocketpair launched a new publishing arm last week and has since received more than 150 game pitches within a single week, with manager John Buckley saying he received over 1,500 LinkedIn requests within the first 24 hours. In that time, the company has already signed on at least one third-party project from Surgent Studios, developer of Tales of Kenzera: Zau. There have also been hints that two other games are in development, but they lack any official announcement.Despite this initial wave of interest, Pocketpair said its applications are always open and that interested developers can find more information on their website. Were blown away by the interest we have received from YOU, the developers, and were doing. our best to review each request and pitch, the company wrote on X. Of course, we cannot help everyone, but were determined to help as many great games get made as possible.Recommended VideosPocketpair Publishing opened its doors one week ago!In that time, we have received:400 emails150 pitches2,000+ LinkedIn requestsWe are blown away by the interest we have received from YOU, the developers, and we're doing our best to review each request and pitch.Of pic.twitter.com/tN0LF774wT Pocketpair Publishing (@PocketpairPBLSH) January 29, 2025Please enable Javascript to view this contentThe original title from Surgent Studios will be a horror game, although there are no specifics as of yet. Surgent Studios is owned and operated by actor Abubakar Salim, a man you might recognize as the voice of Bayek from Assassins Creed: Origins. Despite the lack of details, the game is on track to release this year, according to Pocketpair.Palworld has been a runaway success in the year since its launch, despite numerous allegations of copyright infringement and an ongoing lawsuit with Nintendo. The studio managed to take the monster-catching concept and add something unique to it, allowing Palworld to stand out in an otherwise relatively crowded market. While its still early days for the companys publishing arm, Pocketpair is in the perfect position to help dozens of games see the light of day.Editors Recommendations

Grady Stickney gained over 600,000 TikTok followers in four months.Stickney, a college student, told BI he's overwhelmed that his success came as a TikTok ban looms.President Donald Trump gave TikTok a 75-day extension to find a buyer or face a US ban.The TikTok ban has left creators facing uncertainty over the past year. One of TikTok's fastest-growing creators says the pressure has been overwhelming.The law that could ban TikTok went into effect in the United States on January 19 after the Supreme Court upheld it. The law requires TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest from the app.While President Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 20 granting a 75-day extension for TikTok to find a buyer, the social media app's future in the United States remains in limbo.Creators can often build large followings on TikTok faster than other social media platforms. One TikToker previously told BI that he gained over 3 million followers by making four to five 10-second videos a day.So the possibility of a TikTok ban came as harsh news to Grady Stickney, who has gained over 600,000 followers and 155 million views on his account since November."One of the things that affects me the most is the fact that it happened so fast," Stickney said through tears in a TikTok video on January 18, a day before the app briefly shut down to US users. @fartsmella_02 I simply cannot put into words the amount of support and personal growth you all have helped me achieve. I dont want to think about a ban because it scares me to think that all of you that have helped me gain a completely new perspective on self-confidence and authenticity (in a literal month) will be gone in an instant. Please keep asking me for pictures, please keep telling me stories, please let me be the first to try something for you. I love all of you, thank you so much. original sound - fartsmella_02 Stickney told BI that his success on TikTok has been overwhelming.In just four months, outside of the thousands of new followers and millions of views, he also said he got an offer to audition for a feature film. He said he struggles with the idea that "this could all be gone tomorrow," but is comforted that his videos have resonated with so many people."It's a little voice in the back of my head now that says, 'even if I don't get to keep the constant interaction with these people, people love the fact that I'm myself,'" Stickney told BI.Stickney is a senior education major at a small Christian college in Indiana. He said the confidence gained from social media will help his teaching career."Now that this has all happened, it's more about the fact that I can go on after social media is over and know that I affected that many people in a positive way," Stickney said.He said the support he has received on TikTok in recent months has been surreal. He receives compliments on his personality, his music taste, and his "willingness to be myself in front of this many people.""It's just so validating," he said.Stickney said his personality doesn't always mesh well with others because of his "raw" nature, but TikTok became a home for him to find a community that appreciates his sense of humor."It's all support, and so it's just so overwhelming to see this many people be this strongly affected," Stickney said. Grady Stickney, a successful TikTok creator. Grady Stickney It's a common misconception that comes with a large check. While some creators do rely on income from social media content, a survey from Influencer Marketing Hub showed that more than 48% of creators make less than $15,000 a year.Stickney said he makes about "enough to pay for dinner."Stickney's account mostly consists of videos of him dancing and making facial expressions inside a Spongebob-themed bathroom. Stickney told BI that he didn't expect to find success when he started posting regularly in November, but he decided to keep making posts after seeing how much attention they were getting."I posted one dancing video in my bathroom to a SpongeBob song, exactly how I do now, and threw up the rock finger gesture where, like the pinky and the pointer finger, and people loved it," Stickney said.When asked if he is a SpongeBob fan, Stickney said, "No, that's the best part."Stickney said his father a community artist painted the bathroom for him and his sister when they were kids and "apparently had an obsession with Spongebob.""I love the show, but I'm not, like, this fanatic about SpongeBob that everybody assumes I am with this bathroom," Stickney said.

I quit my job as a pilot to homeschool my kids, two things I never thought I'd do. The monotony of being a stay-at-home mom bored me to tears. So, we started taking educational trips.Now, I teach my kids by taking them on adventures with hands-on experiences. We're all happier.I never planned to quit my job as an airline pilot or homeschool our kids.I learned to fly at the age of 17, and spent countless hours in small planes getting more experience. By the time I was 43, I was flying for an airline, and my seniority afforded me the perks of a great schedule and salary. I averaged eight work days a month and took full advantage of my travel benefits. Most of my airline friends thought I had the perfect job.At the height of my career, an unexpected surprise derailed my future as a pilot: I was pregnant with twins. It would've been difficult for my husband to work and watch the twins and our older son while I traveled, so I reluctantly quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom.Being a stay-at-home parent bored me, especially once I started homeschooling my kids I hadn't planned to teach our kids at home but a lot of things changed. Kim Cooper As a pilot, I'd wake up in New York City and go to bed in Los Angeles. I'd look back on my day with accomplishment and pride. As a stay-at-home mom, every day felt as monotonous as the last and the only thing I explored was the never-ending mountain of dishes in the sink. Bored to tears and homesick for travel, I counted the days until the twins started school so I could pursue my own dreams againHowever, their kindergarten start date was a few short months away when the world came to a screeching halt amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. I didn't want the twins' first experience of school to include masks and social distancing, so I gave up my own plans and became a reluctant homeschool mom.As the pandemic stretched into a second year, I continued to struggle at home, and I yearned to explore the world again. In a lightbulb moment, I realized I could combine my love of adventure and still teach my kids.Now, I try to teach my kids through travel to encourage a lifelong love of learning My kids and I have fun on our trips and make a point to learn new things. Kim Cooper My main goal as a homeschooling mom is to encourage a lifelong love of learning and why couldn't that be done through travel? I started to plan trips for us with educational moments and hands-on activities in mind. Our first destination was Chincoteague Island in Virginia. We walked the beach and learned about tides. We gathered shells and horseshoe crabs and researched the history of both. Then, we explored the NASA visitors center at the nearby Wallops Island and watched a shuttle launch to the International Space Station. Once I realized how easy it was to educate through travel, we expanded our reach to explore other locations.We learned about the three branches of government while we stood in front of the White House and visited Mount Vernon after we researched George Washington. We studied stalactites and stalagmites from a boat in a cave, then had our kayak propelled by a playful manatee while we learned about his habitat.These were some of our more exotic trips, but we also travel locally. We spend time in the nearby woods exploring fungi and waterfalls, head to science centers in surrounding towns, and visit local places of historical interest.Teaching through travel entertains all of us, and I no longer feel like my days are meaningless and never-ending. The best part is that my kids and I are curiously exploring and learning about the world together.

Earlier this week, Netflix pulled back the curtain on its 2025 slate, which includes the previously announcedDevil May Cryadaptation. Along with a premiere date of April 3, we got a look at the shows opening credits, and theyre a riot. What makes them so good? The song, naturally. Of all the tunes to open a Devil May Cry show, Limp Bizkits 2000 single Rollin' is not the one anybody probably wouldve ever guessed. If anything, this is the best song that couldve been picked, and not just because Rollin' and Devil May Cry 3, whose manga the show seems to be taking some plot elements from, respectively turn 25 and 20 this year. From its multiple protagonists to the music that blares as Dante, Nero, and whoever else slice up demons with their comically large weapons, DMC is a series built on stupid swagger and feeling like the coolest kid in the room. Its truly a product of the 2000s, which also goes for Limp Bizkit as it got to be featured in the first Fast & FuriousandMission: Impossible 2. If the Devil May Crys intro is giving you any nostalgia for the guilty pleasure bands of your youth, thats part of the point. Executive producer Adi Shankar revealed the show is set in his memory of a late 90s/early 2000s PS2 era of the world rather than present day. Since its a throwback, the allegedly kickass soundtrack will have a mix then-current hits and classic DMC songs reimagined by electronic band Power Glove. And if the show gets to continue, Shankar said future seasons will have their own unique feels (similar to how the games do), and change up their intro songs and sequences. This current intro shows the series will have a little bit of everything: not only do the swords Yamato and Red Queenrespectively owned by Dantes twin brother Vergil and his nephew Nerofeature prominently at the start, later sequences hint at the inclusion of several game villains like original big bad Mundus and the Order fromDMC 4,plus Lady, an ally of Dantes who first showed inDMC 3. How much of this is actually in the season versus planting seeds for what Shanker hopes is an ongoing hit? Well find out when DevilMay Cry hits Netflix on April 3. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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Macro view of organic fruit and veg food waste decomposing inside a domestic garden compost bin Credit: Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty ImagesShareThis story was originally published byGrist. Sign up for Gristsweekly newsletter here.The United States is nowhere near its goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030, according to new analysis from the University of California, Davis.In September 2015, the U.S. set an ambitious target of reducing its food loss and waste by 50 percent. The idea was to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills, where it emitsgreenhouse gasesas it decomposes, a major factor contributing to climate change.Researchers at UC Davis looked at state policies across the country and estimated how much food waste each state was likely reducing in 2022. They found that, without more work being done at the federal level, no state is on track to achieve the national waste reduction goal.Researchers calculated that, even when taking reduction measures into account, the U.S. still generates about 328 pounds of food waste per person annually which is also how much waste was being generated per person in 2016, shortly after the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the waste-cutting goal.These figures indicate that even our best strategies for eliminating waste arent enough to meet our goals, said Sarah Kakadellis, lead author of the studypublished in Naturethis month.In order to assess how the U.S. is doing to meet its food waste reduction goals, Kakadellis and her team used both publicly available data (from ReFED, a nonprofit thatmonitors food waste in the U.S.) and estimates based on the current policy landscape.The studys findings were not surprising given the absence of federal policy governing food waste, said Lori Leonard, chair of the Department of Global Development at Cornell University. People are trying to do what they can at state and municipal levels, she said. But we really need national leadership on this issue.Kakadellis suggests that a path forward will also necessitate shifting the way consumers think about certain waste management strategies like composting.Composting turns organic material, like food scraps, into a nutrient-rich mixture that can be used to fertilize new plants and crops. It can be considered a form of recycling food, although its end product technically cannot be eaten. This important detail means consumers must learn to view composting, despite its potential environmental benefits, as a form of food waste, says Kakadellis.Its really thinking about the best use of food, which is to eat it, she said.Although its been touted as a great alternative to chucking your moldy bananas in the trash, composting is indeed classified as a form of food waste by the United Nations and the European Union. In 2021, the EPA updated its definition of food waste to include composting and anaerobic digestion both of which can take inputs like uneaten food and turn them into fertilizer or biogas, respectively.In updating its guidance, the EPA published a food waste hierarchy which shows the best way to reduce food waste is to prevent it. This includes things like adding accurate date-labels to food products, so consumers arent confused about when something theyve purchased has gone bad or is no longer safe to eat. Its also preferable to find another use for unsold or uneaten food like donating it to food banks or integrating into animal feed, where it can be used to raise livestock (assuming that livestock will also eventually feed humans).Composting will always have a role to play in diverting food waste from landfills because those operations can accept spoiled or rotten food, which food banks, for example, cannot. Its not an either/or. They have to go hand in hand, said Kakadellis. But were skipping all these other steps and were going straight to the recycling too often.Leonard agrees, pointing out the high costs associated with ensuring the nations sprawling, complex food system runs smoothly: from the farm where crops are harvested to the trucks and cold storage that handle packaged goods. Theres a tremendous amount of energy thats gone into producing that food, she said. We dont do that to create compost. You know, we do that to feed people.Composting, of course, serves more than one purpose and has environmental benefits beyond lowering food loss and waste. For example, it replenishes soils. But Leonard notes that if more work were done on the prevention side like, making sure farms arent overproducing food then soils wouldnt be so depleted in the first place and wouldnt need so much remediation.Both Leonard and Kakadellis emphasize that no one tool for avoiding sending food to landfills should be off the table. Leonard, who previously worked with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, once did research on organics bans in other states.I asked them if they were encouraging businesses or households to move up the EPA hierarchy and find other, better uses for their food scraps? And they said, no, no. What were really trying to do is just get people to do anything on the hierarchy. That includes composting.Until there are more options for both pre- and post-consumer food waste, composting may be the best, most accessible option for many people. It is the easiest thing to do, said Leonard. And its probably the safest thing to do until we have better protocols in place.This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/food-and-agriculture/the-us-wants-cut-food-waste-in-half-were-not-even-close/.Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org

A study of Paleolithic skeletons from Central Europe suggests people's teeth were worn down and crowded together because of cheek piercings.