For Science, & The Planet!

Norway Turns Ocean Forests Of Seaweed Into Weapons Against Climate Change

Written by Matthew Russell

Off Trøndelag’s coast, long lines of kelp now do double duty. They grow fast. They also lock away carbon. A new pilot farm near Frøya aims to turn that promise into measurable removal of CO₂ from the air, according to DNV.

The site spans 20 hectares and carries up to 55,000 meters of kelp lines. First seedlings went in last November. The goal is proof of concept, then scale.

Underwater view of vibrant seaweed swaying in clear blue water.

How the Pilot Works

The three-year Joint Industry Project, JIP Seaweed Carbon Solutions, brings SINTEF together with DNV, Equinor, Aker BP, Wintershall Dea, and Ocean Rainforest, with a total budget of NOK 50 million, Safety4Sea reports.

Researchers expect an initial harvest of about 150 tons of kelp after 8–10 months at sea. Early estimates suggest that biomass could represent roughly 15 tons of captured CO₂. This is a test bed for methods that can be replicated and expanded, DNV explains.

There’s a second step, as kelp becomes biochar. That process stabilizes carbon for the long term and can improve soils on land, SINTEF’s team told Safety4Sea. The project is designed to test both the removal and the storage.

Serene coastal landscape with rocky shores and calm water under a cloudy sky.

A Long History, A New Mission

Seaweed isn’t new here. Norwegians have cultivated kelp since the 18th and 19th centuries for fertilizer and feed. Scientists advanced modern methods in the 1930s, laying the groundwork for today’s farms, according to SeaweedFarming.com. Cold, nutrient-rich waters support species like Laminaria and Saccharina. They grow quickly and draw down dissolved carbon and nitrogen.

The country’s aquaculture backbone also helps. Norway already runs one of the world’s most advanced seafood sectors. That expertise now extends to macroalgae.

Policy, Permits, and Ecosystems

Commercial cultivation began receiving specific permits in 2014, and activity has expanded across several coastal counties, according to a study in Aquaculture International. Researchers detailed the risks that accompany scale: genetic interaction with wild kelp, habitat impacts, disease, and space conflicts. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, where seaweed grows alongside finfish, can recycle nutrients from farms and reduce eutrophication pressures.

Vibrant yellow seaweed covers dark rocky surfaces near shallow water.

Engineering for Open Water

Getting beyond sheltered bays is crucial. One path is the “Seaweed Carrier,” a sheet-like offshore system that lets kelp move with waves in deeper, more exposed water. It supports mechanical harvesting and industrial output without using land, Business Norway explains. The same approach can enhance water quality by absorbing CO₂ and “lost” nutrients.

The Frøya project is small in tonnage but big in intent. It links Norway’s long kelp lineage with new climate tech: fast-growing macroalgae, verified carbon accounting, and durable storage as biochar. If these methods prove reliable at sea and on shore, Norway will have more than a farm. It will have a blueprint for ocean-based carbon removal that others can copy.

The Incalculable Cost Of The Gaza Genocide

Abby Martin joins the program to discuss her new film, Earth’s Greatest Enemy which exposes the U.S. military as the world’s largest polluter. Live-streamed on November 6, 2025.

Music For Peace

Two from Bee; she participates in the blog strike on Thursdays, for Gaza. Both excellent pieces; one from Pink, one from Alicia Keys, each with some info about the artist and her music.

Peace Song November – What About Us?

Peace Song November – Holy War

Here’s my selection for today:

ICE Barbie and ‘Lover’ Hatched Bonkers Plan to Buy Fleet of Jets

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbie-fails-to-turbocharge-deportations-in-wild-scheme/

Kristi Noem is feeling the heat from the White House—so she’s pushing to militarize ICE.

Laura Esposito

Breaking News Reporter

Updated Nov. 9 2025 3:33AM EST Published Nov. 8 2025 12:06PM EST

Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her alleged lover Corey Lewandowski ordered 10 Spirit Airlines jets before realizing the planes had no engines.

Officials warned the pair that purchasing the jets—which they said would be used to increase deportations and for their own travel—was impractical, and that simply hiring additional flight contractors would be far less costly, The Wall Street Journal reported

Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem, who are both married, deny reports that they are having an affair.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

But Noem and Lewandowski went ahead and blew through the funds allocated by Congress. Officials realized the pair’s blunder when they looked deeper into their spending spree and realized that Spirit—which has filed for bankruptcy twice—didn’t own the planes in the first place, and that the engines would have to be purchased separately, according to the Journal.

Noem and her shopping partner then purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200 million. However, shortly after, DHS notified the Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee that the project to increase deportation flights had been paused.

Noem looks pensive after a press conference held to discuss the “Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images

Lewandowski—whose alleged relationship with Noem has been described as D.C.’s “worst-kept secret”—has been referred to as Noem’s “gatekeeper,” operating as a special government employee who travels with her, weighs in on personnel, and shapes enforcement.

He has also spearheaded efforts to replace ICE leaders across the country with Border Patrol veterans to impose a more heavy-handed, military-style approach to Trump’s immigration crackdown, such as the hostile situation dubbed “Midway Blitz,” unfolding in Chicago.

Gregory Bovino has a background in chasing migrants and drug smugglers through border terrain.Chicago Tribune/Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Led by Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, the operation’s militarized enforcement tactics and aggressive approaches have sparked public outcry. Footage and testimony have shown federal officers firing pepper-ball rounds and tear gas—even near children—while clashing with protesters. ICE agents have also been spotted roaming quiet neighborhoods, questioning landscapers and decorators.

Still, the militant approach hasn’t appeased the White House or met its steep daily deportation quotas.

ICE and Border Protection agents had made 3,000 arrests in Chicago over two months as of late October—the same number the White House has demanded they make in a single day, the Journal reported.

Noem’s methods—and the mounting pressure from the White House—have sparked infighting among DHS officials as they grapple with Lewandowski’s informal authority.

Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino visit the ICE facility in Chicago in October.DHS photo by Tia Dufour

Border czar Tom Homan and ICE Director Todd Lyons favor an old-school, less hostile approach, including using police research to develop target lists and focusing on those with criminal histories, sources told the Journal. But while Homan is influential in the White House, Noem has the final say.

Trump, however, is on the side of aggression, saying in a 60 Minutes interview last week that ICE officials “haven’t gone far enough” in Chicago.

The Daily Beast has reached out to DHS and ICE for comment. A spokesperson for DHS denied there were divisions in the department in a statement to the Journal, adding that Trump’s administration is on pace to “shatter records and deport 600,000 people by the end of Trump’s first year.”

Noem’s shake-up comes even as a federal judge on Thursday accused Bovino, 55, of lying to her in court as she imposed sweeping limits on a hardline anti-migrant crackdown in Illinois.

Bovino previously claimed he was hit in the head with a rock before he lobbed gas at anti-ICE protesters in Chicago—a claim he later admitted was false after DHS could not produce evidence to support it.

In an oral ruling, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis said, “I find the government’s evidence to be simply not credible,” after weeks of tear-gassings, pepper-ball strikes, and hard takedowns against journalists, clergy, and residents during “Operation Midway Blitz,” with excessive violence that, she said, “shocks the conscience.”

Laura Esposito

Breaking News Reporter

laura.esposito@thedailybeast.com

“Whiskyjack”

Canada Jay

Wednesday Music For Peace

Bee posted a couple of versions of a wonderful peace song. I’m going to re-post them underneath the reblog, because this song should be heard, and it’s very beautiful in another language. I recall the English version during the runup to and invasion of Iraq by the US, but never heard the German version until last night. Enjoy! ☮

Peace Song November – Das Weiche Wasser Bricht Den Stein

A Couple From Waging Nonviolence

WNV linked each of these. Here are the original pages with snippets.

After No Kings, It’s Time to Escalate by Eric Blanc

We need bigger—and more disruptive—nonviolent campaigns that can go viral and peel away Trump’s pillars of support Read on Substack

American democracy is on the ropes. Trump and his billionaire backers are doing everything possible to transform our country into an authoritarian state like Hungary or Russia, where the trappings of institutional democracy mask brazen autocratic rule.

Our president’s sinking popularity numbers might not matter so much if his administration is either able to ignore electoral results or to distort the electoral map so badly that there’s almost no way to vote Republicans out.

Far too many Democrats and union leaders naively hoped that the courts would save us. But the Supreme Court has given a green light to Trump’s power grab, and it appears poised to overturn Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last major legal roadblock to prevent Republicans from disenfranchising millions of Democrats and Black voters across the South.

Are we cooked? Trump would certainly like us to believe he’s unstoppable. Faced with the administration’s relentless offensive against immigrants, free speech, public services, and majoritarian rule, it’s normal to sometimes succumb to despair. But there’s no need to throw in the towel — and there are concrete next steps we can all take to win back the country through nonviolent resistance. As Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Stacy Davis Gates reminds us, Trumpism “won’t be stopped just in the courts or at the ballot box.” (snip-there is MORE on the page linked at “Read on Substack” above)

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The introvert’s guide to fighting for democracy by Protect Democracy

Six ways to protect democracy — without attending a protest Read on Substack

If you’re reading this, you’re concerned about our democracy’s slide into authoritarianism — and you want to do something about it. Wahoo! You’ve taken the first and most difficult step: committing to action.

Now come the fun parts.

I want to be really clear on a couple things to start out. First, there is no one-size-fits-all best way to exercise your First Amendment rights of speech and association. Every successful social movement has employed a wide variety of tactics and repeatedly adjusted to respond to facts on the ground. Opt for action over agonizing about optimal tactics.

Second, be realistic. We are all busy. Reflect on the commitments you can actually sustain with room to grow. It is far better to regularly move the ball forward on a smaller effort than to dive into and never complete an ambitious one.

Third, be unique! You have unique talents, skills, and passions. Let those guide your advocacy. Focus on projects that bring you joy, things you actually look forward to engaging with week after week. Lean into the comparative skills and expertise you bring to the movement.

With all that in mind, here’s a short list of six ways everyone can protect democracy — even (especially) if going to a protest or some other more public form of engagement isn’t for you.

1. Check in with your local library

Local libraries are the backbone of an informed democratic citizenry, and they provide crucial resources for underserved communities. But their funding is under attack by the administration, which has cut critical funds nationwide.

So, give the library in your neighborhood a call. See how they are doing in relation to funding cuts and if there are ways you can support them. Do they take book donations? Need volunteers? See if there are teach-in or reading groups you can join — or even lead. Offer to help curate pro-democracy reading lists for various ages. Many libraries are open to suggestions for books to add to the collection — here are some recommendations from our team.

2. Fill the gaps left by government programs

Taking care of one another is essential movement building. Check in on your food pantry and community kitchen — many of which have faced funding cuts — to see how you can help. (snip-MORE at the page linked above: “Read on Substack”)

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And more from Waging Nonviolence.org

It’s Here! It’s Halloween!

Beware of the “November Witch!”

The freighter, The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, sank from this brutal system of storms that scream across the Great Lakes from Canada every autumn. Listen to the haunting song by Gordon Lightfoot and learn more about “The November Witch.” -by Jaime McLeod

The November Witch, sometimes phrased as “the Witch of November,” is a popular name for the frequent and brutal system of windy storms that come screaming across the Great Lakes from Canada every autumn.

Though termed “lakes,” North America’s Great Lakes are each large enough to create their own weather systems, making them, more accurately, inland seas. In fact, collectively, the Great Lakes chain makes up the Earth’s largest system of freshwater seas.

November gales on either side of a witch representing fabled witch storms.

Each year, right around mid-November, violent gales occur when the low pressure from the frigid arctic air north of the lakes comes into contact with warmer fronts pulled up from the Gulf of Mexico.

These storms can be so severe that their force is equivalent to a low-level hurricane, with winds above 80 miles per hour and towering 20-foot seas.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The term “Witch of November” was famously used in the song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, a poetic tribute to one of the most well-known Great Lakes shipwrecks in recent memory.

On November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a massive ore freighter that had once been the largest in its class, sank to the bottom of Lake Superior during a particularly violent autumn gale, killing all 29 of its crew members.

*SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1971 – Photo from wikimediacommons.com*

Though one of the most infamous, Edmund Fitzgerald was far from the only ship to succumb to the Witch of November. The floors of all five Great Lakes are littered with thousands of wrecked vessels.

More than 6,000 ships were lost on the Great Lakes between the years 1878 and 1897 alone. Over the last 300 years, an estimated 25,000 mariners have lost their lives on the Great Lakes, with the vast majority of those casualties occurring within the icy grip of the November Witch.

Watch the following tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald, with real news footage, set to Gordon Lightfoot’s famous tune:

For Science!

Cosmos Magazine has changed its online presence, while still providing the informational and neat articles they’re known for. Here are a couple for this week.

Extinct Arctic rhino found in Canada

October 29, 2025 Evrim Yazgin Content Sub Type: Focus Topics:

Animals Palaeontology

A near complete fossil rhinoceros has been found on an Arctic Canadian island, making it the most northerly rhino species ever.

Epiatheracerium itjilik [eet-jee-look] is described for the first time in a paper published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The “Arctic rhino” lived about 23 million years ago during the early Miocene epoch.

The new species was found in fossil-rich lake deposits in Haughton Crater on Devon Island which is part of the northern-most Canadian territory of Nunavut. Devon Island lies at a latitude of about 75°N, well within the Arctic Circle. It is also the largest uninhabited island in the world. (snip-MORE)

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Milestone image maps the Milky Way as it’s never been seen before

October 30, 2025 Imma Perfetto Content Sub Type: Focus Topics: Space

The largest low-frequency radio image of the Milky Way ever assembled has captured an unprecedented view of the galaxy, enabling astronomers to study the life stages of stars in new ways.

The data was captured by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia.

“This low-frequency image allows us to unveil large astrophysical structures in our Galaxy that are difficult to image at higher frequencies,” says Associate Professor Natasha Hurley-Walker from the International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). “No low-frequency radio image of the entire Southern Galactic Plane has been published before, making this an exciting milestone in astronomy.”

Hurley-Walker is principal investigator of one of the extensive surveys used to construct the image, the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) survey. (snip-MORE, and it’s interesting)