Latest Articles
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Ask Umbra: Is it ‘cheating’ to ride an electric bike?
A reader thinks a motorized bicycle would make riding easier, but it feels like cheating. Umbra makes the call.
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The ‘war on coal’ is a myth
The number of coal jobs has increased in recent years; industry claims of a "war on coal" just aim to distract voters from the real war Big Coal wages on their health and the environment.
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A trip through the United States of Arugula [VIDEO]
In the Perennial Plate series finale, see some of the most memorable moments from a yearlong road trip documenting real food in America.
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Before Rio Earth Summit, let’s put pressure on world leaders to end fossil fuel subsidies
In 2009, world leaders promised to gradually phase out fossil fuel subsidies. It's time to give them a push in the right direction as the Rio Earth Summit approaches.
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Coal industry pays fake activists $50 to wear pro-coal shirts at public hearing
Apparently unable to find real activists, the coal industry paid astroturfers $50 to wear pro-coal T-shirts at a recent EPA hearing.
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You can identify poor neighborhoods from space
Tim De Chant at Per Square Mile has noted that rich urban areas have way, way more trees than poor areas in the same city. In fact, the difference is so stark that income inequality can be seen from space. The satellite images above are low-income West Oakland and high-income Piedmont, and I probably don’t […]
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Senate Republicans join House in second-guessing military leaders on biofuels
The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to prevent the military from pursuing biofuels initiatives. So much for energy security and patriotism.
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Jam session: Go unconventional with vanilla-rhubarb preserves [RECIPE]
Get ready to find a place in your heart for this sophisticated spring jam, which includes a real vanilla pod and Earl Gray tea.
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Fast-food burgers have tripled in size since the 1950s
According to this chart from the CDC, fast-food burgers have more than tripled in size since the 1950s, going from four ounces (i.e. a quarter pound) to a whopping 12. And if you think that’s bad, the average soda is six times as big as it used to be.
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Help name this ridiculous baby seal
When this seal pup arrived at the New England Aquarium, he was orphaned, underweight, and blind in one eye, and his unusual mottled coat wasn’t thick enough to keep him warm. Now he’s getting healthy and adorable (you can see him playing with a toy and kicking himself in the head like an itchy dog […]
