Archive: Jun 2012

Tar-sands oil spills should scare the crap out of you

InsideClimate News has published an in-depth series on a million-gallon-plus spill of oil-sands crude near Kalamazoo, Mich. Here are the good bits.

Three ways robots can help us deal with environmental catastrophes

Since natural disasters will only increase as the planet warms, engineers are focusing on how to use robots and other mechanical gadgets to aid in disaster response.

Congress passes terrible transportation bill, hits the road

Final transportation bill is a major letdown for advocates of transit, bikes, and other car alternatives.

Friday music blogging: David Mayfield

Earlier this year, a friend of mine casually mentioned that he’d been enjoying the David Mayfield Parade album. This friend happens to be a professional music critic, so I tracked it down, despite having never heard a thing about it (and I keep up with new music pretty well). And damn! The album quickly became […]

WTO doesn’t want you to know where your meat was born

Mystery meat is about to make a comeback, now that the WTO has slapped down a rule requiring country-of-origin labels.

Cities outpace the ‘burbs for the first time in almost a century

Between-year census numbers suggest that many of our largest cities are growing more quickly than the shriveling suburbs. But it’s not just because cities are awesome.

Texas GOP officially comes out against critical thinking

Who needs book larnin': The Texas GOP’s platform is explicitly opposed to critical thinking skills in education.

Here’s why the prettiest tomatoes taste the worst

It turns out it's genetic -- the gene that makes tomatoes ripen uniformly also ruins their taste.

Raw deal: Maine residents’ fight for unregulated food draws crackdown

Official "food sovereignty" ordinances in eight Maine towns haven't stopped local officials from suing an area farmer for selling raw milk.