Latest Articles
-
Grist is now on WordPress
Notice anything different on Grist.org today? I hope that the answer is “no”! Even though you may not see any overt changes, today was relaunch day at Grist. We turned off our old site, and turned on a new, WordPress-based version. What we’ve done is known as a “port” — that is, we’ve taken the Grist […]
-
![Sometimes content management systems feel like this]()
![Sometimes content management systems feel like this]()
We’ve been working under the hood
Today, Grist is switching our publishing system. You shouldn't notice any big changes for now. But since this is technology we're dealing with here, glitches are always possible -- so help us out and let us know if you see any.
-
![]()
![]()
Watch an orca chase a shark out of the water
Orcas might be charismatic movie stars, but they are also killer whales. A family of beachgoers in New Zealand caught on film an orca fighting with a few sharks. One shark was so eager to get away from the whale that it beached itself in the shallow water. (That's the most interesting part of the footage, so if you've already seen Free Willy ten gazillion times, just fast-forward to 0:56.)
-
![]()
![]()
Beautiful struggle: Martin Luther King and the fight for the environment
On the anniversary of King's birthday, we search for common ground between those who fight to save wild places, and those fighting for their lives in the cold city streets.
-
Tragic death leads to energy conservation
Stray voltage can kill -- and it's costing the utility companies plenty.
-
Cap-and-trade scheme for whaling to be almost as popular as the other kind
Scientists proposed in the journal Nature that one way to save whales is to allow people to hunt them.
-
![]()
![]()
A look at the $175 in your compost
In 2009, U.S. consumers spent a whopping $32 billion on vegetables they bought, never ate, and ended up throwing away. And no, the solution is not to stop buying vegetables.
-
![]()
![]()
How a 21-year-old ended up in India with a bag full of solar flashlights
Ximena Prugue didn't know anything about India before she went there to hand out solar flashlights. All she knew was that she wanted to make a difference.
-
![]()
![]()
The age-old battle of goats versus tortoises
Before reading further in this post, ask yourself a question (and answer honestly): Which do you care about more, guiltless (if hungry) goats or the Galápagos Islands' giant tortoises?
If you answered goats, this post will make you sad.
Here was the situation on the Galápagos Islands of Española: a population of hundreds of thousands of tortoises had dwindled to a few thousand. As the tortoises' population decreased, the population of goats, introduced to the islands by humans, grew to tens of thousands. The goats were eating all of the islands' vegetation. It was not a good situation for the tortoises.
And so conservationists decided the goats had to go. -
![]()
![]()
Ask Umbra: Got any good green jokes?
A reader wonders if there are any funny environmental one-liners. Umbra yuks it up.
