An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.

Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.

Howe has left R. thrausta in the genus Alectoria, where it was placed by Acharius; the filamentous cortex is Alectorian in character, and fruits are unknown.

“[…]the Navy's supposed to give me a ship that goes, and a captain that fights—— That's what all this muck is for, isn't it?” “Look, it's an old story by now. We're stuck with a lemon. Misfortune of war.[…]”