To prove that electric cars are just as bad-ass as run-of-the-mill, gas-powered, souped-up race cars, Nissan entered the Leaf in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. This race is not for weenies: It requires drivers to cover 12.42 miles  and navigate 156 turns while ascending 4,720 feet in altitude at an average grade of 7 percent. Nissan made minimal changes to the factory-floor version of the car, putting in racing tires and some safety equipment but nothing too fancy. And the Leaf won! Its division. In which it was the only car competing. But still! The fastest car at the …

According to federal investigators, Massey Energy -- the folks who brought you the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed 29 -- has been deliberately misleading inspectors about safety conditions at its mines. That's the Mine Safety and Health Administration's conclusion, based on 84,000 pages of documents and 266 interviews.  Massey literally kept two sets of books, like a Twin Peaks villain or something. The official, legally-mandated books didn't record safety problems or accidents; those all went in the secret books, which officials never saw. Having duplicate books in itself is pretty normal, but having a "clean" book for …

Here's what the new normal looks like. Once a decade, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration updates its definition of "normal" temperatures, based on the average temperatures of the previous 30 years. Here's how the 1981-2010 "normal" compares to the 1971-2000 "normal." Basically, it's a lot hotter. WHY COULD THAT BE?? Since NOAA's last normal-temperature assessment, minimum temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin increased by nearly a full degree, with Maine, Vermont, Michigan, and Arizona not far behind. On average, normal temperatures increased by half a degree.

When mulling over that eternal 4th of July question, Mountains v. Beach, consider that mountains are never closed because of bacteria that transmit rashes, pink eye, respiratory infections, meningitis, and hepatitis. Beaches, on the other hand, are closed for exactly that reason. And last year the number of beach closings and advisories, most of which were connected to bacteria, reached the second highest level in the past two decades, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. What's worse is that the tests for bacteria levels take 24 hours. Swimmers might be enjoying a dip in what seems like cool, clean …

After months of drought, the federal government declared 213 counties in Texas natural disasters. Even if wildfires stay clear of Los Alamos, burning trees and heated soil contaminated with residual radiation from old nuclear tests could be a problem. Here's the scientific explanation for why extreme weather can be connected to climate change. California will push back its cap-and-trade program to 2013. San Francisco composts. San Francisco banned plastic bags. San Francisco is just the greeeeenest, isn't it? What to do with a four-legged Israeli chicken?

Bike seats may contribute to erectile dysfunction -- and it's no surprise, when you consider where you shove 'em. “When you sit on a regular bike saddle, you’re sitting on your penis,” says reproductive physiologist Steven Schrader. If that didn't just make you cross your legs, don't get comfortable, ladies: More than 60 percent of you will experience genital pain, numbness, or tingling from sitting on a bike seat. According to this New York Times article, at least, bike seats are the worst threat to your junk since America's Funniest Home Videos. Regular bike saddles put pressure on your perineum …

Get off your high horse, New Yorkers! City dwellers might do some environmental good by driving less and living in smaller spaces. But living in a city doesn't affect a person's carbon footprint as much as the amount that he or she buys. It's simple: living in a city is just another consumption decision. City dwellers consume less, generally, when it comes to things like daily transportation and home climate control. But if they splash out on other things -- clothes, plane trips, expensive sushi -- they can easily cancel out the dent their location puts in their carbon footprint. …

Some flights out of JFK International Airport were delayed today as officials scrambled to clear runways of turtles. Apparently the diamondback terrapins, which live in nearby Jamaica Bay, were all "oh yeah, buiding a runway next to our habitat? That's how you're gonna play it? Fine, WE F*CK ON YOUR RUNWAY. DEAL WITH IT." Still, if there's a cuter reason to get stuck in the airport than turtles putting baby turtles inside other turtles, we don't know about it. This is not even the first time that the JFK runways have been the site of a chelonian sex-fest. In 2009, …

Madagascar's tortoises are being wiped out by a "tortoise mafia" that authorities are powerless to stop. One reason: their shells are prized as an aphrodisiac in some parts of Asia. You might ask, "well, what hasn't been touted as the hidden folk-medical secret to letting old men impregnate everything in a five-mile radius?" The answer is: hardly anything. Here are four more animals endangered by the myth that some part of their bodies contains the secret to irresistible tumescence:  Tigers and their penises Is this a tiger penis being smuggled into New Zealand? You be the judge. All five remaining subspecies …

Google set out to discover the effects of technological breakthroughs, and in the process discovered that strong government policies are key to accelerating their penetration into the market. Radical new battery technology and solar panels are great, but regular consumers don’t pick them up unless they're nudged in the right direction. In other words, the internet’s most successful capitalists say that the free market is all well and good, but we really need government regulation. Here are some other things Google discovered in their analysis of cleantech breakthroughs: 1. By 2030, electric cars will have the most profound impact of …