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On natural gas, green groups can’t make up their minds
The natural gas boom has big green groups wrestling with whether to support regulated gas extraction as a cleaner alternative to coal.
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How sea otters are saving the oceans
Sea otters are not only cute, they are important to the health of the ocean. This is how it works: When there are too many sea urchins, there is not enough kelp. When there is not enough kelp, there is more CO2 in the ocean, and that means that fish die and basically all hell breaks loose. […]
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Another day, another animal stuffed down a man’s pants
The slender loris has endured a mighty struggle to survive. This struggle generally involves things like poaching by crazy people who think lorises can cure things like impotence and asthma, but on Monday, that struggle involved a lone loris’ attempt to breathe while inside of a man’s pants. The man in question was attempting to […]
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Larry Gibson
Fr. Dan Berrigan once wrote a poem, “Some,” that I thought of after hearing of Appalachian hero Larry Gibson’s death two days ago: Some stood up once and sat down. Some walked a mile and walked away. Some stood up twice then sat down. It’s too much, they cried. Some walked two miles then walked […]
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Climate change could make summer crime waves worse
When temperatures go up, crime often does, too -- which means that as our summers get hotter, more cities could see the kind of violence Chicago experienced this year.
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Giant daddy long-legs invade Seattle
Arachnophobes, beware: A science illustrator adorned the roof of the Seattle Center Armory with monstrously large photorealistic daddy long-legs.
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Global warming-related bottle shortage threatens Oktoberfest
If anyone wants real proof — or at least some very good anecdotal evidence — that the planet is getting incrementally hotter, they need look no further than the beer bottle shortage in Munich, in southern Germany. As Oktoberfest approaches, brewers are finding they don’t have enough bottles to supply the festival. And why is […]
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Crowdfunding helps community power become reality
The JOBS Act may finally allow thousands of regular folks to make a modest return by investing in local renewable energy projects.
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This surreally beautiful fruit is the world’s shiniest living thing
Pollia condensata looks like it’s wearing holographic nail polish, but it’s a real living fruit that grows that way — in fact, it’s the shiniest living thing in the world. The principle behind P. condensata‘s gorgeous finish is basically the same as behind an iridescent beetle’s wings. The cells in the fruit’s husk contain layers […]
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The mountains weep for Larry Gibson
“Hey buddy!” Like so many others, I always got this warm greeting from Larry Gibson, followed by a big hug. Like so many others, I saw mountaintop removal coal mining with my own eyes for the first time on Larry’s mountain in southern West Virginia, Kayford Mountain, and I’ve been fighting to end the devastation […]
