Latest Articles

Wind-powered autonomous artificial life

A friend of mine showed me this video last weekend, and I just wanted to show you all how freaking cool it is. It's a ongoing work of Dutch artist Theo Jansen, who's literally creating artificial creatures that can move on their own and survive autonomously on a beach. Wind-powered and updated using simulated genetic evolution ... well, just look!

A review of six eco-chocolate brands, for your Valentine’s pleasure

The connection between chocolate and Eros runs deep. How do I love thee? Let me taste the ways. Photo: iStockphoto In southern Mexico — where chocolate cultivation probably originated — the treat figured among the wedding rituals of the ancient Maya. By the time it became popular in Europe in the 18th century, a Venetian […]

Elk populations getting out of control in some national parks

Forget hungry, hungry hippos — here come the hungry, hungry elk. Three national parks in Colorado and the Dakotas are awash in antlered gluttons, at some places more than twice what’s considered a preferable population. “Willow and aspen stands are declining [and] that deprives other species of habitat they need,” says a spokesperson for Colorado’s […]

New studies show salmon farms destroy wild stocks

Responding to collapsing wild-fish stocks worldwide, the World Bank has hotly promoted "aquaculture" — essentially, large-scale, industrial fish farms. Photo: Simon Bisson The Bank has directed serious resources at promoting fish farming. Such projects make up a significant chunk of its "portfolio of over US$1.2 billion in fisheries, aquaculture, coastal and aquatic environmental management and […]

Sea-level rise could be double IPCC projections

Last year, Nature Geoscience and Science (PDF) published major articles suggesting that the consensus projection for sea-level rise this century was far too low -- and could be as high as five feet. Now the Journal of Glaciology joins in with a remarkable analysis, "Intermittent thinning of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age" (PDF).

The lead author, Beata Csatho from the University of Buffalo, explains implications of this work for the traditionally very simplified ice sheet models, such as those used by United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to make projections of sea-level rise:

Midwest refineries source more crude from tar sands; emissions will rise

Emissions from Midwest oil refineries are expected to jump by up to 40 percent in the next 10 years, thanks in large part to an industry-wide trend of sourcing crude oil from Canada’s tar sands. The sands produce petroleum of such poor quality that it requires more energy — and thus more pollution — to […]

Hillary Clinton touts her green cred in an Us Weekly spread

Us Weekly, Feb. 18 In an effort to humanize and humorize her image, Hillary Clinton gamely went along with a four-page spread for the latest issue of celeb rag Us Weekly, offering comments on some of her fashion misses of yesteryear. Explaining a huge, garish coat she wore in 2000, she says, “I’m a big […]

White pine underthings more natural than they sound

This post goes out to all the ladies: If this hottie respectable underwear model could talk, I bet he’d be telling us all about his wood. About how it’s so sustainable and never loses its shape. It has "the feel of cashmere and the coolness of linen," he’d say. Plus, it’s antibacterial, thermally regulated, and […]

Jewelers join campaign against proposed gold mine in Alaska

Psst — Valentine’s Day is coming up. If you’re now rushing out the door in a panic to buy your sweetie a trinket, keep this in mind: A group of prominent jewelers has joined a campaign against the Pebble Gold Mine, an environmental monstrosity that would be sited in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, at the headwaters […]

Abe Lincoln’s summer home goes green

Does this building look LEED certified to you? Well, look again. This is part of Abe Lincoln’s summer home complex near Washington, D.C., and after a seven-year restoration, it’s the first-ever historic monument to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The National Trust for Historic […]