Latest Articles

Why do cities get so little respect from state and national governments?

Sao Paulo, Brazil.Photo: Henrique GodoyLast week, I attended the C40 summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The C40 is a network of cities across the globe that are working to address climate change. It recently absorbed the (Bill) Clinton Climate Initiative, a story you can read about in The New York Times, and now represents enormous […]

High-fat diet may damage the brain, study finds

There have been many disturbing studies on the effects of a high-fat diet on the brain. I’m thinking in particular of the 2009 study that suggested the American diet can be as addictive to the brain as heroin. But a new study presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society is even more concerning […]

Buy new sunglasses, save someone’s sight in the developing world

Men and women probably do make passes at people who use their sunglasses purchase to provide someone in the developing world with vision surgery, eye care, or glasses. Okay, the scansion needs a little work, but the point is that buy-one-give-one shoe company TOMS is expanding into eyewear, and the concept's pretty sexy, and so […]

Bikes are now the hottest accessory

Bike lanes and bike riders may be controversial, but bikes as an image are marketing gold right now. Want to sell it? Put a bike on it! Transportation Nation found bikes for sale or used as display elements at Kate Spade, CB2, Club Monaco, Anthropologie, the Gap, Urban Outfitters, and Brooklyn Industries. Sure, those bikes […]

Solar panels to match your couch

Excited about your inevitable solar panels, but concerned they'll clash with your decor? Qsolar has you covered, you fashion victim. Their colored solar panels aren't just for the roof — they can be integrated into the design of a building as cool-looking and functional walls or (semi-transparent) windows.

An Indian boom city grows without planning, at its peril

In Gurgaon, gleaming residences, malls, and office buildings are like islands unto themselves.Photo: iamgurgaonYou hear a lot of people talking these days about small government. About letting the free market drive development. About how city planners are trying to do some kind of sinister social engineering. About how the feds and the states should just […]

Montreal has so many cyclists, it has bike traffic now

Like a shortage of bikes in a new bike sharing project, congestion in bike lanes is a problem cities should want to have, at least temporarily. And Montreal has that problem! So many people have begun using the city's most popular bike routes that more than 20 bikes often get backed up at red lights. […]

The race to build the world’s most improbably gigantic — and efficient — wind turbine

Modern wind turbines already have blades as big as the wings of jumbo jets, and the tips of them can move at up to 200 mph. Now Britain's Energy Technologies Institute wants to nearly double the generating capacity of the world's largest wind turbines by making the blades EVEN MORE PHENOMENALLY HUGE. Bigger turbines mean […]

Why you’ll soon have solar panels, in three easy graphs

The cost of silicon solar panels has been falling precipitously, with no end in sight. Naturally, falling costs mean solar installation has been exploding worldwide. By the time new coal-fired power plants come on-line in the U.S., solar will already be cheaper. If you want to understand what kind of revolution this will bring about […]

How would Herman Cain solve climate change?

Pizza magnate and Republican presidential contender Herman Cain has unveiled his plan for combating illegal immigration: a 20-foot-tall, barbed-wire-studded, electrified Great Wall of U.S., and also a moat with alligators. Man, with that kind of go-getter attitude, imagine what he could achieve! Here are our predictions for how Herman Cain would tackle climate change if […]