Angel >> Anti-death penalty rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court Two decisions by the American Supreme Court in the last week have bolstered the spirits of capital punishment opponents. The first, last Thursday, stated that the mentally retarded could not be sentenced to death. The second, delivered Monday, declared sentencing laws in five states—Arizona, Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado and Montana—unconstitutional, as they allow judges, not juries, to hand down a sentence of death. It is estimated that up to 168 death sentences could be overturned

Insect >> Human avarice

According to a new study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it would take 15 months for the planet to regenerate the natural capital humans use in a year, and the gap is widening. The authors say humans are borrowing against the Earth’s future ecological production, and are heading for “ecological bankruptcy.” The estimate, which is said to be on the conservative side, points out that human consumption overtook the planet’s biological productivity in the 1980s.