Latest Articles

Surreal, weirdly beautiful photo of planetary destruction seen from space

Some things that look awful up close can look kind of beautiful from space. Like this enormous open-pit copper mine in northern Chile.

Apple and Greenpeace trade blows in data-center grudge match

Apple and Greenpeace recently traded blows over how much clean power is used by one of Apple’s data centers. Calculating the energy use of the state-of-the-art center proves elusive.

Obama may blow off the Earth Summit

World leaders will gather in June to discuss the future of the planet. Will the president be a no-show?

287 coastal energy facilities at risk from sea-level rise

Sea levels are rising, which means that there’s a greater risk of floods that reach well over the high tide mark. By 2030, the risk that coastal floods will go four feet or more over high tide will have doubled, Climate Central reports. And in that zone lie 287 energy facilities — power plants, natural […]

Critical List: Climate bill passes Mexico’s senate; Bill Clinton tells enviros to ‘chill out’

The Mexican Senate passed a climate change bill that’s all set to become law. Reuters reports it was “non-controversial.” No wonder Republicans are so set on keeping Mexican immigrants out of the country — they might bring in science. Bill Clinton has a message for sustainability advocates: “Chill out – sometimes this stuff takes years.” […]

Poop dreams: A farmer on why we should care about manure

Waste not, want not: A chat with the author of the No. 1 book on the No. 2 business.

Happy Earth Day, Mitt!

Mitt Romney might be the country's No. 1 brownwasher, trying to cover up past greenery and blend in with the GOP crowd.

Paper asks: Does high-fructose corn syrup contribute to a rise in autism?

New science suggests that the ubiquitous sweetener may interact with environmental factors -- such as exposure to heavy metals and pesticides -- to impact childhood development.

Plants are secret geniuses

Annalee Newitz at io9 has collected 10 pieces of evidence that plants are smarter than you think, and it might make you look at your potted ficus in a new light. It turns out there’s reason to believe that plants can communicate, remember, recognize related plants, and measure time. Let’s hope nobody finds out they […]

Website shows you your place in the universe (and yes, you are very very small)

The Scale of the Universe is a web-based Total Perspective Vortex that will make you feel very very small — or very very large — with the swipe of a mouse. You start at the scale of humans/dodos/giant earthworms, and from there you can zoom up to galaxies and down to quarks, or you can […]