Happy Wednesday {{first name | my friend}},

Today we’re covering a funky tenrec, and recognizing yesterday’s World Asthma Day by discussing the importance of air quality – which cannot be overstated.

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The lowland streaked tenrec is a spiky little critter (mammal) from Madagascar that looks totally punk-rock (looks like my days of frosted-tips and hair gel). When it feels threatened, it raises these quills and may charge, but its strangest power is how it uses sound. It can rub special quills together to make high-pitched warning noises, what they call “stridulation” that is rare in mammals. If you want the weirdest details in one quick read, click into this piece on the tenrec’s sound-making quills.

It spends its time hunting mostly worms and insects with its long snout. These animals are small and easy to miss, which is part of why they feel so mythical. If you want the simple overview on habitat, behavior, and daily life, this species profile is a solid click.

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We mostly think of health through the lens of food. What are we eating? What oils are we cooking with? Is it organic? And those are all really great questions, but in the order of priority…should air come first? We can go weeks without food, days without water, and only a few minutes without air. In that sense, air may be the most commonly “consumed” thing in our lives, and yet most of us barely think about it until something smells weird.

I care deeply about air pollution, because breathing is at the foundation of all life. Every breath is an exchange between your body and the environment around you. And if the air is loaded with smoke, chemicals, synthetic fragrance, mold, traffic exhaust, or other irritants, then your lungs and nervous system are dealing with that all day long, whether you notice it or not.

This week is a fitting moment to talk about it. World Asthma Day was yesterday on May 5, 2026, and Air Quality Awareness Week runs May 4 through May 8. Both are reminders that respiratory health is not just a niche issue for a small group of “health nuts” or environmentalists. It’s an for you, me, your friend, your neighbor… because the quality of the air affects every one of us.

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