Articles by Christopher Mims

PSA: Irene might mess up the East Coast something good, so be ready

The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting that hurricane Irene is going to strafe pretty much every inch of the most densely populated part of America, i.e. the East Coast.

So if you live anywhere from the Carolinas to Boston, is it time to panic? It would be, if panicking actually helped! Here’s what you can do instead.

Number of electrified vehicles to increase 4,500 percent in six years

By 2017, there will be 5.2 million plug in hybrid and all-electric vehicles on the road worldwide, says Pike Research. Add in 8.7 million hybrid vehicles, and the total population of electrified autos in the world is set to increase 46-fold from the measly 114,000 that currently ply our roads. Despite this explosive growth, that […]

Taste of things to come: Texas drought to shut down power plants

Hey, you know what's wild about Texas turning into a gigantic desert thanks to climate change? I mean besides the fact that this makes it basically Kuwait-on-the-Rio-Grande? Many of the state's power plants, which rely on fresh water to produce electricity, could be shut down by the lack of water.

Russia to build $100 billion rail tunnel connecting Alaska and Siberia

Ever since Tsar Nicholas II, Russians have dreamed of connecting Siberia to North America via a rail tunnel. Now, apparently, the Kremlin has green-lighted the connection, which would be the world's longest, and twice as long as the England-to-France "Chunnel."