North-Country Matters

06/06/2026

To***co companies helped the global spread of ultra-processed foods
Every morning, parents pack lunches, zip backpacks, and send their children off to school. It is a routine so familiar that few people stop to think about where those foods came from or who helped create them.
Yet two studies reveal an unexpected connection between some of the world’s best known processed foods and the to***co industry.
Researchers found that major cigarette companies did more than buy food brands.
They brought their expertise, technology, and marketing strategies into food development, helping shape products that still fill grocery stores and lunchboxes today.
The research suggests that the history of ultraprocessed food is closely tied to the same corporations that spent decades selling ci******es.
Between the 1960s and early 2000s, America’s largest to***co companies expanded far beyond ci******es.
Philip Morris acquired Kraft and General Foods. RJ Reynolds purchased brands including Del Monte and Nabisco. These acquisitions were not side investments. Food became a major part of their business strategy.
Laura Schmidt, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, examined thousands of internal corporate documents to understand how these companies operated after entering the food market.
Her research showed that Philip Morris placed to***co executives in leadership positions within food companies and established systems that encouraged collaboration between cigarette and food divisions.
This structure allowed knowledge and resources to move freely between industries that appeared unrelated on the surface.
“For Philip Morris, its food business, for a substantial period of time, generated sales comparable to its to***co business – roughly a 50-50 split,” said Tera Fazzino, associate professor of psychology at the University of Kansas. “A significant portion of those food revenues came from international markets.”

Researchers found that major to***co companies transferred technology, research methods, and marketing strategies to food brands they owned.

06/06/2026

The Best Exercise Combination for Longevity, According to a 30-Year Study
New research indicates that a moderate amount of weekly strength training may be associated with the greatest longevity benefits, especially when paired with regular aerobic exercise.
For years, exercise advice has focused heavily on getting enough cardio. But a major new study suggests that what you do with your muscles may be just as important as what you do with your heart.
After tracking more than 147,000 adults for up to three decades, researchers found that a relatively modest amount of strength training, about 90 to 120 minutes per week, was associated with the lowest risk of death. The benefits were even greater when resistance training was paired with regular aerobic exercise.
The findings, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, add to growing evidence that maintaining muscle strength as we age may play a key role in long-term health and survival.
Aerobic activities such as walking, running, and cycling have long been associated with lower risks of heart disease, cancer, and premature death. Strength training, however, has received less attention despite its well-known benefits for preserving muscle mass, maintaining mobility, improving balance, and supporting metabolic health.
Adults naturally lose muscle mass and strength over time, a process known as sarcopenia. Loss of muscle has been linked to frailty, falls, disability, and a higher risk of chronic disease. Researchers wanted to better understand whether resistance training could also influence the risk of dying from major illnesses.
While strength training alone was associated with benefits, the strongest results came from combining it with aerobic activity.

New research indicates that a moderate amount of weekly strength training may be associated with the greatest longevity benefits, especially when paired with regular aerobic exercise.

06/06/2026

AI search tools may be stripping the internet of its humanity
There’s something that happens when you ask a question on the internet and get a clean, confident answer back in seconds.
It feels like progress. You got what you needed without wading through a dozen blog posts, forum threads, and personal testimonials of varying quality.
A new study from University of California, Riverside (UCR) suggests that what gets filtered out in that exchange is more significant than it might seem.
Moreover, as AI systems take over more of how we find information online, the web may be quietly losing something it took 25 years to accumulate.
The researchers compared how large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini respond to subjective, opinion-based questions.
They then compared this to how humans respond to the same questions. The difference turned out to be both consistent and meaningful.
To classify the different types of reasoning, the researchers turned to Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle.
The framework divides persuasion into three categories: logos, which relies on logic and factual consistency; ethos, which appeals to authority or personal credibility; and pathos, which draws on emotion and shared human experience.
The team used these categories to compare how humans and AI systems construct arguments and answer questions. When the team analyzed responses from ChatGPT and Gemini alongside web results from Google and Bing, they found a stark divergence.
Human-authored web content drew on all three modes of reasoning, mixing factual arguments with moral concerns, personal experience, emotional appeals, and storytelling.
“What we found is that humans essentially use all three of those, whereas LLMs essentially only rely on logos,” said co-author Kevin Esterling, a professor of public policy and political science at UCR.
https://www.earth.com/news/ai-search-tools-may-be-stripping-the-internet-of-its-humanity/

06/06/2026

June 11: Clifton Fine Rabies Clinic
Town of Clifton Highway Dept., 66 River Rd. Newton Falls, NY 13666
Time: 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Pre-Registration: https://apps2.health.ny.gov/doh2/applinks/cdmspr/2/counties?OpID=49EEC27CB5CB009AE0631403580A4643

06/06/2026

Night hunter and owl pellets – June 7
MASSSENA — A free "night hunter and owl pellet dissection" program will be offered Sunday, June 7, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Nicandri Nature Center. The nature center is located at 19 Robinson Bay Rd., Massena.

Insect netting – June 8
MASSENA — A free "insect netting" program will be offered Monday, June 8, from 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. The nature center is located at 19 Robinson Bay Rd., Massena.

06/06/2026

AI & Cybersecurity: What Everyone Should Know
Thursday, June 11, Noon-1 PM at the Potsdam Public Library
Whether you are curious, excited, skeptical, or concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in our lives today, this session will help you to better understand the technology.
Join cybersecurity expert Dr. Kambiz Ghazinour, Chair of Cybersecurity and Professor of AI and Cybersecurity at SUNY Canton, for an engaging and accessible community talk exploring the exciting opportunities — and real risks — of artificial intelligence in everyday life.
This presentation will cover:
• What AI actually is (in plain English)
• The minimum everyone should know about AI today
• Helpful ways AI can improve daily life
• Ethical concerns surrounding AI
• How to recognize AI-generated images, videos, and content
• AI-related scams, privacy concerns, and cybersecurity risks
• How AI can impact personal data security
• Live audience Q&A
https://potsdamlibrary.org/event/ai-cybersecurity-what-everyone-should-know/

06/06/2026

Invasive species week observed June 8
BRASHER FALLS – The St. Lawrence Eastern Lake Ontario Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management, or SLELO PRISM, announced New York Invasive Species Awareness Week will be observed June 8-14.
The statewide outreach campaign raises awareness about invasive species and their environmental, economic and health impacts.
SLELO PRISM and partners will host free public events across the region, including field sessions, guided walks, webinars and art showcases.
A Forest Stewards Guild SAP-Ne Demonstration Site Tour will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 11 at 118 Vice Road, Brasher Falls.
The guided tour will focus on black ash stewardship and emerald ash borer management. Registration is available at www.sleloinvasives.org/event/nyisaw-in-slelo/.

NYISAW returns June 8–14, 2026! NYISAW is a statewide campaign coordinated by DEC and PRISM partners to raise awareness about invasive species and their environmental, economic, and health impacts. Events […]

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

Supreme Court’s Limitation on Wetlands Protection Will Make Flooding Worse
The destruction of wetlands in the United States has increased the amount of flood insurance claims by $10 billion over the past 40 years, a phenomenon expected to worsen in tandem with climate change, according to new research.
The peer-reviewed study, conducted by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund, was published June 1 in the journal Nature Water.
The scientists used federal flood insurance claims data to calculate the dollar value of wetlands in reducing river flooding. They considered other factors as well, such as rainfall amounts and upstream changes in impervious surfaces, like parking lots and roofs.
Quantifying the flood control benefits of wetlands is crucial in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rollbacks of wetlands protections under the Clean Water Act, said Adam Gold, senior manager for coasts and watersheds science at the Environmental Defense Fund.
“Wetlands provide benefits to people, and it’s important that we protect them,” Gold said.
Wetlands ease the severity of flooding. They store water, slow the velocity of its flow and reduce runoff. In 2023, the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision, Sackett vs. EPA, narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act and redefined wetlands to include only those with a continuous surface water connection with other waterbodies.
The ruling stripped protections from millions of acres of wetlands that intermittently flood or whose hydrological connection with other water bodies is below ground. The value of flood-mitigation benefits from unprotected wetlands is an estimated $177 billion, according to the study.

A new study calculates the dollar value of wetlands in reducing river flooding. But in Sackett vs. EPA, the high court rolled back protections for nature’s first line of defense.

06/06/2026

Trump’s Ed. Dept. Backs Away From Addressing Civil Rights for Black Students
For generations, the federal government enforced civil rights laws with an eye toward remedying historic, systemic discrimination against Black people and other people of color. The Justice Department pressed schools to desegregate. The Education Department worked to promote equal opportunity and held schools accountable for racial bias.
But under the Trump administration, efforts to address deep-rooted inequities for students of color are being cast as discriminatory against white students. Programs that have long withstood legal scrutiny are now quick to be deemed “illegal DEI”—diversity, equity and inclusion—by the White House. Schools that do not comply have faced threats to their funding, and in some cases, lost federal grants.
Civil rights attorneys describe the administration’s actions as a complete inversion of legal history.
“It’s literally flipping the purpose of civil rights law on its head, not just harming Black students and students of color, but entire school communities,” said Michael Pillera, director of educational equity issues at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “It’s unmoored from the actual history of our country and untethered to the reality of life in this country.”
The U.S. government has opened investigations or joined litigation over a wide range of efforts to address racial inequality. The Justice Department is investigating programs to increase the number of teachers of color in Rhode Island and Iowa. And grants to districts to train teachers or recruit school mental health workers have been discontinued for mentions of diversity in recruitment.

Civil rights attorneys describe the administration’s actions as an inversion of legal history.