Latest Articles

How do you sell a city without selling out?

The Super Bowl ad for the Chrysler 200 didn’t bother trying to sell you a car. It was selling a city, because these days, that’s what sells. That city, of course, was Detroit. In the two-minute spot, which was cheered by Monday morning marketing quarterbacks as one of the game’s most successful, Eminem drives through […]

How to bury nuclear waste for the next 100,000 years

A scene from Into Eternity, a documentary that looks at Finland’s plans to store the country’s nuclear waste for 100,000 years. Yep … 100,000. Photo: PosivaThis piece was written by Lewis Beale. The first documentary that Netflix might slot into their science fiction category, director Michael Madsen’s Into Eternity, is an eerily fascinating look at […]

Lady Gaga’s boyfriend writes binge-drinking health book ‘The Drunk Diet’

You and me could write a bad fromage.Photo: Drunk Diet Beer for breakfast! Lord Gaga (real name: Lüc Carl) lost 40 pounds by binge-drinking — and his sound weight-loss tips will be featured in forthcoming book The Drunk Diet, reports The New York Observer. His blog has some great previews of health tips: On life […]

Republican congressmen vote away scientific facts

Rep. Upton wrote the bill with his trunk.Photo: Eric MolinaCross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Barry Goldwater famously said, “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” Maybe so, but extremism in the defense of fantasy is a tougher sell. Still, that doesn’t stop some members of Congress from trying. Exhibit A this […]

‘Piecycle’ makes it OK for hipsters to eat dessert

Max Kraushaar has ridden his fixie right out of an episode of Portlandia to bring you some lemon meringue. It’s like a hipster Mad Lib: Skinny guy with [handlebar mustache/fedora/giant glasses] delivers [pie/cupcakes/pot brownies] on a [bicycle/bicycle/bicycle]. In this case, the skinny dude is a University of Washington student named Max, the cranial accessory is […]

The yuppies of the future live in yurts

It’s no longer enough for your Futuristic Future Dwelling of the Future to be eco-friendly, alternative-powered, and 100 percent recyclable. You also have to furnish a portfolio of computer-rendered yurt-porn, showing the glamorous lifestyle available in your tiny pod home. “Lifepod” is a small, sustainable prefab that can be packed up and shipped anywhere in […]

Silly science: Animals make friends too

As anyone with cats already knows, animals can be buddies. Now scientists have caught up with the rest of us: “At least five types of animals maintain relationships that are comparable to human friendships,” says Discovery News. So which animals have BFFs? In addition to bats, the newest animal discovered to make long-term relationships, “elephants, […]

How to milk goats in freezing weather — and make chevre [VIDEO]

On the coldest day of the year (-25 degrees F), I went milking goats with my friend Lisa Ringer from Two Pony Gardens. The milk froze to the side of the pail in an instant, but the rest came inside for cheese making. Milking on that cold morning, I never thought that holding the warm […]

An arts district brings life to Syracuse — and it’s green, too

Photo: SALT District Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Coauthored by Aaron Welch. Take one part Paducah (arts-driven revitalization), one part Old North Saint Louis (incremental restoration of abandoned historic properties), mix in some serious winter weather, and you might just come out with something a lot like the Syracuse (NY) SALT District, an […]

Why do states break down?

They can’t stop what’s coming.Photo: Al Jazeera EnglishUprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and across the Middle East at the start of 2011 have reminded the world just how politically fragile some countries are. But the focus of international politics has been shifting for some time now. After a half-century of forming new states from former colonies […]