DL Chang 3/30/26 DL Chang 3/30/26

Can Kelp Forests Teach Our Immune System to Chill?

Allergies are everywhere in our house, but the solution might not be another pill. Research on brown seaweed suggests the ocean could help retrain, not just suppress, the immune system. This piece traces a line from everyday allergies to the chemistry unfolding beneath the surface.

DL Chang 3/6/26 DL Chang 3/6/26

Losing Mako to Xylitol and Why I’m Speaking Up

I thought it was just a normal soccer day. I left Mako at home for a match, not knowing he would get into a container of Ice Breakers gum. I didn’t know xylitol was deadly. We spent two days fighting for him in the hospital, but we lost him. I’m sharing this so other dog owners know the danger and so more people push Congress to require warning labels. If you live in California, you can help by contacting your representative and our two senators. It only takes a minute, and it could save someone else’s dog.

DL Chang 12/27/25 DL Chang 12/27/25

Searching for Hope and Finding It in a Cone Snail

I went looking for hope in the middle of all the typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and landslides hitting the Philippines, and I found it in a cone snail and the scientist who studied it.

DL Chang 11/5/25 DL Chang 11/5/25

New Bizarre Species Discovered in the Antarctic Ocean

Meet the Death Ball Sponge. Yes. That’s its real name.

Deep beneath the icy swirls of the Antarctic Ocean, researchers stumbled upon a creature so strange it sounds like a villain from a comic book: the death ball sponge. This carnivorous puffball doesn’t just sit pretty…it traps unsuspecting prey in its spiny embrace. And it’s not alone. From glowing worms to gelatinous oddities, over 30 bizarre new species were discovered during just two expeditions.

Image courtesy of the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census, featuring the carnivorous “death ball” sponge discovered in the Southern Ocean aka Antarctic Ocean.