Latest Articles
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In a depressing sort of way.
I'm depressed. But, "Blog something funny," says my editor. So here goes.
China's toxic rivers are still toxic! Ha ha!
We don't know why (wink, wink) but there's so little snow this winter that the infamous "they" are canceling snow sculpting contests and putting detours in sled dog races! Ho ho ho!
Rumor has it that the Asia-Pacific climate pact will not reduce emissions at all! Oh, my splitting sides!
There's a possibility that organic produce has more pesticides than regular produce! Ah, you slay me!
Soy and bug spray might negatively affect reproductive organs! Stop it, I'm crying!
Welp, the environment isn't funny, so it's a damn good thing Jack Handey is.
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It’s a Floor Wax and a Dessert Topping!
Algae being harnessed to combat climate change and other eco-woes Consider the algae. Three years ago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology rocket scientist Isaac Berzin had an idea: use the slimy plants to clean up emissions from power plants. Today, at a power plant next to MIT, tubes of healthy algae slurp up 40 percent of […]
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Croak and Dagger
Mass frog die-offs linked to global warming The mass disappearance of colorful harlequin frog species in Central and South America has long puzzled biologists, but research published in the latest issue of Nature fingers a culprit: global warming. (When in doubt …) The deadly chytrid fungus that’s killing off the tiny amphibians is flourishing in […]
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Damn You, Bush!
Plants are major methane producers, new research says Methane: it’s not just from cow farts anymore. Apparently, ordinary plants emit significant amounts of the potent greenhouse gas. Clearly, all cows and plants must be killed. For the health of the planet! Ahem. Writing in Nature, German researchers suggest that the never-before-noted phenomenon — which they […]
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Doin’ What Comes Dastardly
Not-Kyoto climate pact meeting ends with much hot air The U.S. and Australia today marked the end of the Asia-Pacific climate summit in Sydney by pledging $127 million to support technology projects that would lower greenhouse-gas emissions. Climate activists derided the commitment from the two big polluters as laughably small; the Kyoto Protocol, which both […]
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OK, We’ll Just Drill Over Here Instead
Bush administration opens up Alaska wildlife habitat to drilling The Bush administration’s lust for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge having gone unrequited, it’s going to stick its derricks in some sloppy seconds: The Department of Interior is opening up hundreds of thousands of acres of other Alaskan wildlife habitat to drilling. The land around Teshekpuk […]
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The local-food movement may bring red and blue together
Last week, The New York Times ran a feature by Marian Burros on New Seasons Markets, a grocery store chain in Portland that's banking on consumer interest in local, sustainable food -- as opposed to simply organic.
The chain recently completed an inventory of the origins of its stock and has labeled everything grown in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California "Homegrown." They've already got six stores and three more on the way, but remain adamantly opposed to expanding beyond the Portland suburbs -- a testament to their commitment to being grounded in the local food economy.
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Environmentalism = bias
Seems Grist is connected, in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon way, to the ongoing efforts of Bush defenders (I won't call them "conservatives" any more) to free the administration of any responsibility for the Sago mine tragedy -- and many other mining accidents that preceded and followed it.
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Ha ha, stupid hippies and their, uh, markets!
Want to see what happens when the substance of libertarianism runs up against the prejudices and stereotypes held by libertarians? Read this thread on Hit & Run about Whole Foods recent move to buy wind-power credits. Deeply incoherent.
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Ants are as smart as you
Anyone who had a childhood as
boringidyllic as mine probably won't be surprised to hear the latest news from the world of science: Ants can teach each other by leading one another to food, etc.But you might be surprised to know that it's the first proof of teaching among non-human animals. Really? I dunno, my dogs always seemed like they were up to something, the way they giggled and whispered in the corner.
