A Blast from Our Past and Plans for a Petrochemical-Free Future

We’re looking at our reporting—from 100 years ago. In 1924
Scientific American’s pages were bemoaning traffic, waste
management and pests. They were also praising the by-products of
coal tar and those substances’ use in household items. While the
record is clear on the toxicity of fossil fuels to our environment
and our health, demand for fossil-fuel-based “petrochemical”
products such as plastic is only increasing. Host Rachel Feltman
advises on how to avoid petrochemicals in our everyday products.
Plus, we take a lighthearted look at a telepathy study also
featured in one of our 1924 issues.  Recommended reading: The
Gas Industry Is Gaslighting the Public about Climate Change
Renewable Power Set to Surpass Coal Globally by 2025 E-mail us at
sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every
day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in
Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by
Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and
Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show
is edited by Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and Anaissa
Ruiz Tejada, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron
Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more
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