Cancer and CAFOs, Baby Right Whales Bring Hope, and Indigenous Wisdom in Science.

Living near more large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs may raise cancer risk, according to a study from Yale researchers. With thousands of cows, pigs, or chickens packed in small spaces, CAFOs produce a lot of waste that pollutes air and water, which may explain the cancer association, though the study does not prove causation. Also, North Atlantic Right whales were once so thoroughly hunted they nearly went extinct. When hunting these mammals was outlawed, they slowly started to bounce back, but today Right whales are dealing with newer deadly threats, such as fishing gear entanglement and warming in the Gulf of Maine. So, it’s a relief to advocates to have a successful calving season like this year with 23 new calves, the most since 2009. And in accounts of scientific expeditions into the remotest parts of our world, indigenous people can often be depicted as mere backdrop—part of a quote “exotic” landscape, or at best, helpful sidekicks. But for Dr. Rosa Espinoza, a Peruvian chemical biologist and conservationist, the traditional knowledge and worldviews of indigenous people could be the key to unlocking some of nature’s greatest mysteries, if scientists are willing to listen—and collaborate. Her 2025 book is called The Spirit of the Rainforest: How Indigenous Wisdom and Scientific Curiosity Reconnects Us to the Natural World. -- Find photos, transcripts, links to more information about these stories, and much more at the Living on Earth website, loe dot org! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Cancer and CAFOs, Baby Right Whales Bring Hope, and Indigenous Wisdom in Science. is an episode from PRI: Living on Earth by World Media Foundation.

This episode is 51:54 long.

This episode was published on May 22, 2026.

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