Latest Articles

Could you use the internet to heat your house?

Servers generate so much heat that they have to be kept in super-cooled rooms, lest the entire Cloud collapse. People's houses need heat, at least in the winter months. Two great tastes that go great together?

A dress with a built-in air purifier

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion's "catalytic clothing" strips pollutants out of the air and breaks them down harmlessly. Here's an atmospheric (ha) video of an air-purifying dress, but they've also got jeans, which significantly improves the chances of getting enough people wearing catalytic clothing to actually make a difference in air quality. (None of this is available for purchase or anything crazy like that, but in theory, if it were, you'd probably want the jeans.)

26 DeChristopher supporters arrested

Peaceful Uprising's Joshua Kahn Russell reports from the scene of the sentencing of Tim DeChristopher and subsequent arrests of 26 supporters.

Why China's winning the cleantech contest

One Block Off the Grid, a company that organizes collective purchasing for green home improvements, put together a very loooong infographic about, in their words, "Why China is Kicking Our Ass in Clean Tech." Fast Company very helpfully chopped that infographic up into digestible pieces. But here is the only picture you really need to understand:


 

Manchester turns a disused building into a vertical farm

We know that some people don't think much of the idea of urban farming, in part because it takes up space that could otherwise be used to house people more densely. But what if an urban farm was a) vertical and b) using an otherwise abandoned space?

That's the plan for Alpha Farm, to be built in the Wythenshawe area of Manchester, England

How do you design a bike that will make people give up cars?

Oregon Manifest is a challenge, sponsored in part by Levi's, to bike designers and constructors to build "The Ultimate Modern Utility Bike." The bike must have features like built-in anti-theft devices, fenders, lighting, load-carrying capability, and kickstand. Bikes entered into the contest will be tested on a 50 mile course that covers city and dirt roads, asphalt, gravel, hills, and stairs. The winner receives a $3,000 prize.

Billionaire carves his name on island

Hamad bin Hamdan al Ahyan is a real-life Chairface Chippendale. He owns a private island near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, but what fun is that if everyone doesn't know it's yours? So he wrote his name on it, in letters a third of a mile long that are visible from space.

Critical List: DeChristopher gets two years; cities are screwed by climate change

A Utah judge sentenced climate activist Tim DeChristopher to two years in prison. A few people were a bit pissed off by this, and 26 protesters were arrested.

A new NRDC report concludes that cities are going to be screwed by climate change.

The Department of Energy is funding a $85 million project to study carbon sequestration in an underground rock formation called Kevin's Dome. Injecting CO2 into the porous rock could be a way to store it harmlessly.

Va-va-vintage: An a-Dior-able find

Somebody call the Antiques Roadshow! I found a vintage designer piece in my mom's closet. Blouse goddess, indeed.

Don't dam Atlantic fisheries to extinction

Removing abandoned river dams across the Northeast will revive Atlantic fisheries, boost East Coast economies, and help bring the ocean back to life.