Archive: May 2012

Born to bee wild: How feral pollinators may help prevent colony collapse disorder

Some scientists believe that crossbreeding with wild bees may be key to preserving the domestic honeybee. But will anyone pay attention in time?

Where the Rio action is: Behind the Earth Summit bureaucracy

While international bureaucrats dicker endlessly with their “zero document,” bands of stalwart scientists and diplomats are fighting to address massive issues that impact us all -- starting with our oceans.

Why aren’t women’s issues on the agenda at Rio+20?

Including family planning and reproductive health in the Earth Summit agenda should be a no-brainer.

U.S. coal lobbies frantically to save its doomed-ass self

The U.S. coal industry is going down the crapper, and even Dale Earnhardt Jr. can't save it.

Grist’s psychotronic climate billboard generator

Can't get enough of Heartland's nutso climate billboards? Neither can we. So we made our own magic billboard with an endless supply of pure truth and homespun wisdom from more notorious killers, tyrants, and psychos. Give it a spin!

The most beautiful illegal treehouse you’ve ever seen

OK, I had always understood that Canadians build tree forts with little tiny fridges in them if, and only if, they have a million dollars. But Vancouver-area software developer Joel Allen built his insanely beautiful HemLoft when he went financially bust. And because he was broke, he built it by hand, illegally, on government-owned land.

Rap battle: Save us from ourselves [VIDEO]

Dawg, we're cursed, this $#*! is wack -- gotta speak in verse, so we're spittin' rap. Now we don't mean to put on the squeeze, but we need your help to earn some G's.

Brooklynites distribute handmade artisanal parking tickets

Woe betide you if you decide to drive your ironic vintage Yugo in Brooklyn instead of your fixed-gear bike with detachable mustache. Park Slope residents have had enough of those bullshit half-spaces that show up in front of cars when someone moves an SUV and it gets replaced by a compact. They’re so pissed off, […]

City-dwellers’ allergies are so bad because they don’t have enough bacteria

This allergy season has been terrible. It seems like everyone I know has been running around with leaky eyes, even those of us who aren’t typically pollen-sensitive. Granted, there was an unusual amount of tree sperm in the air this year, but it seemed strange that everybody — really, everybody! — was afflicted. But a […]