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Google patents a new eye implant. Farmers look to trap excess carbon. And amateur astronomers prepare to watch Mercury's transit across the Sun. It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly segment on science and Earth-related news! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Science-themed gifts for your loved ones! An elevator to the heavens! And fixing the world with geoengineering! It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly take on science and Earth-related news from around the world. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

This week on Earthy Thursday we take a look at the world of plants, fungi, and other non-animal organisms. We often think of these seemingly "vegetative" lifeforms as less alive than animals but I think you'll agree that after seeing the stories we've gathered that's far from the truth. Additionally, we've got a few extra stories, including one about the Yellowstone supervolcano.

Log burner lit and slippers ready warming, I put on my coat and step out into the fading light of a November afternoon. The cold air bites my nose and I pull my hat down further over my ears and head off up the lane. The days have been bright with winter sunshine, but the blue of the sky has somehow lost its vibrancy giving way to more sleepy, muted tones with a touch of greyness about them. But, at this time of day, Sunset, the skies are aglow with the fiery palettes of burnt oranges, deep soulful amber and blood reds.

I wend my way along the lane and turn toward the woods where I am met with a veil of tumbling brambles hung from the hedgerow like the dripping architecture of a gothic cathedral.
In an instant I am cocooned in a swirl of leaves blown from their branches and whipped into an encircling frenzy by the wind. I struggle to pull my collar up, tuck my scarf in and hold on to my hat. What a Blessing to be surrounded by such colour, such energy and yet in all the warmth of the shedding colours of Autumn, I feel the chill of Winter.