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World in Serious Trouble on Food Front

In the early spring of 2012, U.S. farmers were on their way to planting some 96 million acres in corn, the most in 75 years. A warm early spring got the crop off to a great start. Analysts were predicting the largest corn harvest on record. The United States is the leading producer and exporter of […]

Sally Ride pushed us to understand our climate and our world

After becoming the first American woman in space, she went on to inspire kids to learn about science and coauthor a book about climate change.

Buzzkill: EPA rejects beekeepers’ pesticide petition

In March, beekeepers and environmentalists petitioned the EPA to take the pesticide clothianidin -- a suspect in bee die-offs -- off the market. Last week, EPA said no.

Fracking research: Industry-sponsored, unclear, and misinterpreted

Science: Harder for people who aren't scientists.

Could Securitization Democratize Solar Power?

After Wall Street popularized the term “mortgage-backed securities” in their destruction of the economy in 2008, you could be forgiven for thinking “solar securities” are a pyramid scheme.  But in truth, they may hold the key to democratizing the financing and the ownership of distributed renewable energy. Right now, financing solar typically means looking for […]

Green investment pays off for basically everyone except coal-based power companies

Green investment increases the resale value of a house by 9 percent; it pays the government 10 percent on its solar tax credit.

Friday music blogging: Rye Rye

I love good hip-hop. I love good dance and club music. But as I’ve grown older (I recently turned 1,000), I’ve lost the will needed to wade through all the terrible hip-hop and dance music out there to find the good stuff. I can’t tell if it’s me or the music, but at least from […]

Why is the U.S. government so bullish on coal predictions?

The Department of Energy has a more favorable outlook for coal than virtually any other major forecasting institution.

Watch the moon landing live (with a 43-year delay)

In 2009, Jason Kottke built a site where you could watch the first moon landing as it happened, second by second, just 40 years late. Today, on the 43rd anniversary of the moon landing, you can still watch “live” coverage by Walter Cronkite, unfolding on YouTube just as it would have if you were clustered […]

Aquifer discovered in arid Namibia could yield 400 years of water — or 15

A fantastic, life-saving discovery in one of the driest countries in the world also bears a large amount of risk.