Latest Articles

Smarter than a Smart car: A Smart e-bike

Quick, what’s smarter and cuter and more awesome than a Smart car? We’re going to go with a Smart bike, the tiny car’s even-tinier electric bike sibling. The bike’s won all kinds of design awards, and it’s no surprise. It actually still resembles a bike, instead of a cyborg bike with a tumor-looking motor attached, […]

Future California surfers are advised to hang zero toes over acidic waves

One of the lesser-known but still widely feared effects of an atmosphere chock-full of carbon dioxide is that it makes the oceans more acidic. The process, as described by Science magazine: About one-third of the carbon dioxide (CO2) humans pump into the atmosphere eventually diffuses into the surface layer of the ocean. There, it reacts […]

New Soot Pollution Standard Benefits Americans, Saves Lives

Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a draft pollution standard for soot that will reduce one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution, saving thousands of lives and preventing tens of thousands of heart attacks every single year. Unfortunately, it is sure to come under attack by big polluters, so we will need […]

Why GMOs aren’t romantic

Today’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is a VERY REALISTIC AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE cautionary tale about genetically modified organisms.

Swarms of robots could replace tractors on farms

Most farm machinery right now consists of huge machines. But in the future, farm machinery could be “a swarm of planting, tending, and harvesting robots running game theory and swarm behavior algorithms to help optimize every inch of arable space in a given field,” Popular Science reports. That’s one Iowan’s vision, anyway, and he’s created […]

New York court backs greenhouse gas initiative, draws Sauron’s eye

And by Sauron, we mean an enormously powerful actor that holds the world in the grip of its wizened hand. The Kochs.

Vanguard state: California might just lead the way on GMO labeling

Golden State residents will cast a vote on GMO labeling this November. Here's what it would mean for farmers and consumers if the measure passes.

9-year-old’s lunch blog gets banned by politicians, then unbanned by internet outrage

Local politicians tried to ban Martha Payne's blog documenting her pathetic school lunches. The 9-year-old and her legions of internet fans, including Jamie Oliver, fought back and won.

These elderly fatality statistics may spoil your affection for big-box stores

Obviously, everyone loves a nice strip mall. The parking lot, the low-slung, cheap-looking buildings, the pedestrian walkways that no drivers pay attention to. And big-box stores! The lots! The long walks down busy parking lanes! The Brutalism-meets-Brady-Bunch aesthetic! What’s not to like? So it pains me, truly,  to be the bearer of this bad news. […]

Say it ain’t soil: What’s the true value of organic farmland?

A Maryland organic farm's battle against development raises big questions about the future of food and farming in this country.