Archive: Apr 2012
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Houstonians want walkable neighborhoods
Car-centric Houston tends to be one of our go-to examples for everything that can go wrong with a city, ever. But we may not be able to use the city as a whipping boy much longer. According to a new survey, Houstonians are seeing the light on walkable and transit-accessible neighborhoods. More than half of […]
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Deadly tree disease could wipe out California’s citrus industry
Hide ya’ lemons, hide ya’ limes — a deadly disease is coming for California’s citrus trees. State ag experts recently found a tree that tested positive for Huanglongbing–and yes, it is way more serious than its sing-songy name suggests. The bacteria, also known as citrus greening or yellow dragon disease, attacks a trees’ vascular system […]
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Climate denier campaigns have zero impact on belief in global warming
It’s hard sometimes to ignore climate deniers: They’re so wrong! About everything! But the biggest impact they seem to be having is just that: annoying environmentalists. Denialist campaigns have had little influence on the 30 percent of people who are skeptical about climate science, ABC News reports. The one thing that does change those people’s […]
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Singapore’s giant supertrees: The ultimate vertical gardens
Singapore is in the middle of a project that looks like a Miyazaki movie come to life. The city’s 18 “supertrees” do everything that normal trees do, only better. They will stretch up to 164 feet tall, grow 200 species of flowers, ferns, and epiphytes, collect solar energy, harvest rainwater, and work as a natural […]
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In India, solar-powered ATMs use as much energy as a lightbulb
In urban America, getting money out of the bank means walking a block to the ATM. In rural India, the nearest bank branch might be a day’s journey away. But now a company called Vortex Engineering is using solar power to bring convenient banking to out-of-the-way villages. The key: The company’s ATMs are energy efficient. […]
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Texas college turns football field into awesome urban farm
If your football team can’t hack it on the field, perhaps they can grow some kick-ass kale. At least that’s the sentiment from Dallas’ Paul Quinn College. After the university cut its football program, President Michael Sorrell decided to transform the unused field into a working farm. The WE Over Me Farm, which covers 57,000 […]
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Critical List: Snow comes in April this year; Obama campaign seeks environmentalists
New York and Pennsylvania are getting hit with an April blizzard. The United States and Britain are going to collaborate on offshore wind development. Lithium air batteries could extend an electric vehicle’s battery life by a factor of 10 … if anyone could figure out how to make one.
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Four foods you probably waste — and how to stop
Are these fresh ingredients languishing in your kitchen as we speak? Stop the food waste madness with these tips and recipes.
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A call for a new economics: It’s time to redefine success
The old measures of prosperity are all washed up. We need new tools that create true, lasting wealth for everyone, not a dishonest economy that only serves to advance the ambitions of the lucky few.