In a larger sense, nobody wins in the war in Afghanistan. But Marine sergeant Brian Nelson is hoping that in one particular instance -- encouraging Afghans to convert some of their crops to biofuel -- everyone can win. Marines win because they can help meet their alternative energy goals. They want to cut fuel usage by half in the next 14 years, because fuel runs are unusually vulnerable to attack. (Perhaps preferable: Not f*cking being at war in 14 years. But I digress.) Afghans win because instead of opium poppies -- which have put money in the hands of insurgents …

Finally, we are starting to get answers to that universal question: Who would win in a fight, cats or wind? If the fight is "who can kill the most birds," the cats are way ahead, says a new study in the Journal of Ornithology. For sheer avian death tolls, wind turbines can't even hold a candle to the feline contingent -- they kill 440,000 birds a year, to cats' 500 million. Even with expanded wind power over the next 20 years, turbines are only expected to kill a paltry million of our feathered friends. I've bumped off that many in …

Remember tar balls? Those were just an appetizer. The scary new oil formations washing up on Louisiana’s beaches sound like you’d get them at Whole Foods -- “emulsified oil,” “oil mousse.” Um, yum? This comes right on the heels of the government approving deepwater exploration plans for the first time since last year’s disaster. Sure, I guess we’re ready to start deepwater drilling again! What’s the worst that could happen? Emulsified oil? I’ll put it on my arugula! If “oil mousse” doesn’t strike you as tasty enough, what about penguin toast? Okay, maybe that is not a real food, but …

Hans Rosling's little fable about "the air people, the wash people, the bulb people, and the fire people" addresses some pretty big questions about wealth, economic growth, and energy use. For Rosling, it all centers around the humble washing machine. In the end, says Rosling, washing machines mean a more intellectual society -- people use more electrical energy, but less human energy, which they can then put into reading. Is that worth the environmental tradeoff? What does it mean to make that choice? And if your grandma heard you disparaging washing machines just for using too much energy, would she …

This projection, based on fuel efficiency standards that are currently on the books, shows that -- absent radical legislative action, or everyone in the U.S. suddenly coming over all French -- American cars' fuel economy is primed to suck out loud for the foreseeable future. Anyone complaining about overly stringent regulations can therefore bite it forever.

The New York magazine article we wrote about yesterday -- the one about how New Yorkers are getting all het up about bike lanes and how they are akin to 9/11 -- has prompted a response from the NYC mayor’s office, penned by deputy mayor Howard Wolfson. Apparently Wolfson is pro-terrorism, because he seems to think bike lanes are pretty nifty. Here are a few of the tasty, tasty facts in his memo, which bike lane opponents (judging by the article) are immediately going to wave off as lies and fabrications: Bike lanes improve safety. Though cycling in the city …

Easily Add 13 Terawatts to the Longevity of Your Energy Supply! Prolong Your Planet’s Pleasure! Get The Long Lasting Energy She Craves, Cheap! Power One Million Homes Harder, Longer, and Faster! Wait, don’t hit delete, this is good news. Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (nerdiest Law and Order spinoff EVER) has brought down the world’s largest spam network, Rustock. Killing this one network may decrease worldwide spam output by 39 percent -- and give us back 13 million terawatt hours of energy. Rustock’s matrix of churning computers had the capacity to send out 30 billion pieces of spam EVERY DAY. Now, …

Looking for a place to plug in your electric car? Now you can find it the same way you find everything else: Google Maps. The Goog has reached out its electronic tentacles and absorbed the Department of Energy's master list of U.S. electric vehicle charging stations (there are over 600, at least one for every Volt sold in the country this year).

The sound you just heard was my ovaries exploding. Ewan McGregor knows the cool way to get around town: On a bike, with an absurdly adorable dog, in a little tweed cap, being as hot as possible as fast as possible without stopping for any reason. Fashion bloggers Tom and Lorenzo are on to him: It's like Ewan McGregor got up yesterday and said to himself, "Self? What is the absolute cutest possible thing I can do today? Shall I hold a naked baby to my chest? Swim with the otters at the zoo? Sing a solo backed by a …

Photo: Kyle Gradinger"Share the Road" has one potential fatal flaw: It involves sharing, which a lot of purported adults haven't really mastered. Matthew Shaer's exhaustive history of the NYC bike lane struggle, in this week's New York magazine, shows just how much people have to mature before a community -- even Brooklyn -- can become truly bike-friendly. Step one: Stop calling bike lanes "homegrown terrorism." Basically, the pro side says that bike lanes have increased the number of people who bike to work, decreased bike accidents, and calmed down traffic. The con side says that safer streets are slower streets, …