Latest Articles

Third-World problems in the First World: We need family planning to fight poverty in the U.S. too

A big article in The New York Times examines single motherhood and poverty, but fails to mention birth control. That's quite the omission.

7-11’s mashed potato Slurpee machine in action

I’ve often said that the only real problem with mashed potatoes is that you can’t get them extruded out of a machine in a 7-11, in the form of a spookily liquid glop with gravy. I mean, what even is the point? Luckily, 7-11s in Singapore are finally making this right, with Slurpee-style machines that […]

The right gets mad about the carbon tax, as everyone knew they would

On Friday, we predicted outrage over a right-wing convening on the carbon tax. It happened. We're basically psychic.

Amazing tiny apartment has a bathtub under the dining table

This Barcelona flat might be our favorite tiny apartment yet.

Like a bad gambler, TransCanada promises it will have Nebraska’s money next time

Pipeline operator TransCanada paid 60 percent less in taxes to Nebraska than it promised. But the company says it'll pay more next year!

Mayor Stubbs, cat, celebrates 15 years in office

Talkeetna, Alaska, isn’t going to the dogs. It’s going to the cats — or really, one cat, which has been mayor of the town for 15 years. Mayor Stubbs was voted in by a write-in effort when locals got fed up with their human rulers.

Oil industry dumping crap in North Dakota. Um, literally.

The oil industry is diversifying the ways in which it pollutes. Hold your nose.

The Department of Defense wants to put out fires by yelling at them

Much to pundits’ disappointment, you can’t solve most environmental ills just by yelling at them. But, as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has discovered, it does work for one thing: fires. DARPA’s “Instant Fire Suppression” program uses sound to put out flames — and it doesn’t even need to be that loud.

This truck travels the country collecting stories about seeds

Seeds are natural beginnings for stories: From a small start, they grow into a larger world and eventually end. They’re also good subjects of stories: Where did they come from? Who loved them enough to keep them around? How’d they reach the person who planted them in the ground? What happened when they went viral […]

Umbra’s second helpings: Planning dream vacations

A reader wants to see the world without destroying it. Umbra shares some green trip tips.