Latest Articles
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Japan’s government allowed evacuations into radiation plume’s path
In the aftermath of Fukushima, Japanese people are registering less trust in their government, and stories like this one are the reason why. The entire community of Namie evacuated out of the area surrounding Fukushima to a safe haven, only to find later that they were still in the path of radiation, and the government had tools that indicated as much.
When a large plume of something nasty — chemicals, biological hazards, or radiation — is released into the air, it doesn't stay in one place. It's not always obvious where it will go, though. Winds and air pressure systems shift. Obstacles like tall buildings, forests, and mountains can have an impact. Predicting a plume's path is sort of like predicting the path of a nasty storm, only the consequences of being wrong are a little more dire than a few wet people who didn't bring an umbrella to the office. -
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Bachmann asked the 'job-killing' EPA for money to stimulate local economy
Despite recent threats to shut down the EPA, Michele Bachmann has solicited its economic benefits for her home state numerous times in the past.
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36 million pounds of proof that our food safety system is broken
The salmonella-tainted-turkey disaster that has sickened 77 people and killed one proves that the government's approach to regulating disease-causing pathogens like salmonella and E. coli in food simply doesn't work.
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Alex Steffen on carbon-free cities [VIDEO]
I hope that everyone will watch this short, excellent presentation on the promise of sustainable cities from Alex Steffen, proprietor of the late, lamented Worldchanging and all-around smart dude.
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Trucks and buses get efficiency standards for the first time ever
President Obama has announced the first ever emissions standards for trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles. They'll be shooting for a 9 to 23 percent reduction in fuel consumption by 2018, depending on the type of vehicle. Big rigs will need to achieve approximately a 20 percent reduction, for example; garbage trucks will need more like 10 percent.
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New LCD screens will make your iPhone solar-powered
What if you could simply leave your iPhone face-up on a table or windowsill in order to trickle charge it and extend its battery? And what if the same technology that turned its screen into a photovoltaic panel also made its display significantly more efficient than current displays, leading to substantially increased battery life even if you're trapped inside a cave?
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Daredevils rowing to North Pole to draw attention to climate change
In order to draw attention to the perilous state of the Arctic, "Scottish adventurer" Josh Wishart teamed up with fiver other fellows to row 500 miles across the Arctic sea, starting from Resolute Bay in Canada. The journey should take four to six weeks, and the men will row in three hour shifts in order to stave off fatigue.
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If the ‘smart grid’ gets too smart it will destroy itself, says study
If our utility company gives us too much information about the price of electricity -- a cornerstone of the "smart grid" -- we'll probably use that information to crash the grid and cause massive blackouts, says a new study from MIT.
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Critical List: Shipping industry objects to E.U. emissions scheme; when horses act like squirrels
Like the airline industry, the shipping industry objects to the E.U.'s decisions to include it in a emissions trading system.
Will the federal government be spending less on disaster response in the future? Somehow “let ‘em drown” doesn’t seem like the best possible debt reduction plan.
Australia's carbon tax, which was so hotly disputed that people were sending climate scientists death threats, would apply to just 400 of the country's top polluters.
Hydro turbines are going into the Puget Sound by late summer 2013. -
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How to kill the Gulf's dead-zone zombie
The Gulf of Mexico's dead zone is the largest in the world, and it keeps coming back. But there are steps we could take to get rid of it.
