Articles by Christopher Mims

Thanks to the recession, recycling is booming

A few years ago, the only people who came in to Alliance Recycling in Emeryville, Calif., were were pushing shopping carts. Now, the same center is seeing people pull up in late model cars.

Half of all geothermal energy is left over from birth of solar system, say scientists

Well, hello there, enormous quantities of heat that's just beneath our feet and could potentially be tapped to provide enormous amounts of base-load electricity! Where'd YOU come from? The birth of the planet, you say? No sh*t!

Using this gigantic underground, water-filled neutrino detector, scientists have finally gotten a better idea of exactly where the Earth's heat comes from:

North Korea runs on wood-burning trucks

If you've ever wondered what we'll do after we've run out of cheap oil, other than eat each other, you have only to look to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a.k.a. North Korea. Ever since the shipments of crude from the USSR and China dried up, they've had to improvise.

NYPD puts 50 Chevy Volt cruisers on the streets

The next time you're sitting in the bus lane, humming "Don't pull me over Mr. Officer" as NYC's finest ambles up to your window to ask for your license and registration, check your rear-view mirror. If you're lucky, you can take solace in the fact that you've just been nabbed by an officer driving one of the city's 50 brand new plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt cruisers.