Latest Articles

The ‘hellish’ 7.2F warmer World of Tomorrow

Humanity is pumping out record amounts of greenhouse gases, and people are probably in more of a lather about the American Idol results than the fact that we’re well on our way to turning the planet into something not seen since the age of the dinosaurs. Sounds like the future is a whole bunch of […]

Deadliest E. coli outbreak ever

The E. coli outbreak in Europe has sickened more than 1,800 people, according the World Health Organization. But that's just cases drawn from hospital records. More people could be sick. And 18 have died, making this the deadliest recorded E. coli outbreak. If that's not unnerving enough, only two antibiotics have a real chance at […]

Watch a ridiculously adorable kid encourage the world to ride a bike

This kid just learned to ride a bike, and it made him feel happy of himself! You can do it too! He knows you can believe in yourself!

The biggest, baddest bikeshare system in the world: Hangzhou, China [VIDEO]

A couple of weeks ago, I rode the Capital Bikeshare system in Washington, D.C., and I was some impressed. With 1,100 bikes, it’s currently the biggest in the nation, and it makes getting around Washington much easier than it has ever been before. But the bikeshare in Hangzhou, China, a city of 6.77 million, blows […]

Critical List: EPA gives chemical industry a pass; Rolls-Royce owners snubs EVs

The EPA could ask chemical companies to report on Americans' exposure to their products, but it's not. "Where's there's coal, there's opportunity": The energy industry funds brainwashing — sorry, "education" — for students. The Grand Calumet river ferries about 200,000 cubic yards of toxic crap into Lake Michigan each year. The federal government is cleaning […]

What a hoe! — and other secrets of an orderly garden

Lookin’ sharp!Can you keep a secret? I think I’m in love. The object of my affection is about 5’4″, slender, and she’s the sharpest tool in the shed. Did I mention she’s a redhead? I’ve taken her out twice now, and we danced around the garden like we were made for each other. I’m talking, […]

Great places, great food (and beer): part two

You can’t have a great place without great beer.In part one of my musings on food and “great places,” I painted a bleak picture of the U.S. food landscape: one in which a handful of companies churn out mountains of low-quality food, competing not to see who can put out the best product, but rather […]

Is pro-nuke enthusiasm in the U.S. waning?

This is the fourth and final post in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and three. Fukushima gave many Americans a sense of déjà vu: In 1979, a threatened explosion at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania caused by venting an explosive gas mixture was just […]

Mushroom hunting and banjo pickin’ in the Ozarks [VIDEO]

I find a lot of the stories for The Perennial Plate by searching the internet — but when I stumbled upon banjo-playing mushroom farmers Curly Miller and Carole Anne Rose, I immediately fell in love. Then I learned that their operation is all organic, which gave me all the reason I needed to make the drive […]

States fight back against nuclear power, even as the feds remain in its thrall

This is part three in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and four. Although Democrats and Republicans in Congress feed at the nuclear industry’s trough in equal measure, Republicans in particular have been trying hard for years to bring about a renaissance of nuclear power in the United States. […]