Landmark lawsuit over glyphosate (Guardian): A California state judge cleared the way for trial to begin on June 18 in a lawsuit that alleges Monsanto suppressed evidence of the risk of its weedkiller glyphosate — the first time the allegations have gone to trial.
Weedkilling robots (Reuters): Inventors and artificial-intelligence investors see the future of weed control in field-prowling robots that spot and zap weeds one at a time, potentially ending the need for farmers to spray fields with herbicides and buy expensive GMO crops that tolerate pesticides.
Cashier-less checkout grows (Progressive Grocer): Leading grocery chain Albertsons is exploring technology that would allow customers to purchase products from their stores without going through a traditional checkout line.
Clovis and the FBI (CNN): Former USDA official Sam Clovis, who was co-chair of the Trump presidential campaign, said on Iowa radio shows that he met an FBI confidential source before the 2016 election, and that the meeting seemed so uneventful that he took no notes.
CRISPR rice with higher yields (Purdue): Researchers from Purdue University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used gene-editing technology to develop a vastly higher-yielding rice variety, an achievement that would have been virtually impossible with traditional planting breeding methods.
Congress closes the door to lawsuits (E&E News): Increasingly, lawmakers pass legislation that bars judicial review, including on issues that range from water rights and consumer protections to the California’s “twin tunnel” project.
Climate changes sends fish packing (Pew): Many North American species of fish and shellfish will shift northward, some by hundreds of miles, if oceans warm by 2-3 degrees Celsius due to climate change, says research published in the journal PLOS ONE.