5@5: CDC links lung disease, THC vaping | Johns Hopkins to study psychedelics

CDC finds ties between mystery lung disease and vaping products that include THC

The New England Journal of Medicine today reported that of 53 patients in Illinois and Wisconsin, 84% said they had used a vaping product that included THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. With a lung-disease-related death in Indiana announced on Friday, three people of died of the illness that seems to have recently developed. Read more at Bloomberg …

Johns Hopkins to study ‘psychedelic medicine’ including LSD and mushrooms

The city of Denver, Colorado, decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms in the spring, and now Johns Hopkins is opening the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research to see if psilocybin, LSD and other compounds can treat such mental health problems as depression, addition and anorexia. The facility is the first in the United States and, most likely, the second in the world. Read more at The New York Times …

Should synthetic chemicals be part of regenerative agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a hot topic, but the role of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers hasn’t been a big part of the conversation. Friends of the Earth U.S. wants to change that, as pesticide use can damage the microbes that trap carbon in the soil—a key factor in mitigating climate change. Read more at Civil Eats …

Solar executives: Non-renewable energy is out of luck

Renewable energy makes up 70% of new energy generation, and as the technology becomes more affordable, electric, oil and gas companies won’t be able to catch up, says Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower in California. His comments, and other that echoed his sentiments, were made Thursday at Fortune’s Global Sustainability Forum in Yunnan, China. A flexible grid and innovation in energy storage and distribution will resolve current concerns about a lack of power on cloudy or windless days. Read more at Fortune …

‘We need a place for it to go’: Farmers share the effects of tariffs, tweets on trade and trust

What is the trade war between the United States and China doing to the country’s farmers? Hear it directly from them, in this video recorded at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. Watch at The Wall Street Journal …