Articles by Grist staff

NASA Lapso

NASA deletes planet-protecting phrasing from mission statement The phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” was quietly deleted from NASA’s mission statement in February; the agency’s mission now is “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research.” NASA’s 19,000 employees were neither consulted nor informed ahead of time of the […]

Come Fry With Me

Heat wave causing deaths, power outages North America and Europe are suffering under a sweltering heat wave that’s caused deaths, widespread irritability, and a powerful thirst. So far, some 21 deaths are reported in France, two in Spain, and at least 29 in the U.S. In southern England, they’re facing what may be the worst […]

How Much Wood Would a Woodpecker Peck If a Woodpecker Existed?

Judge halts irrigation project that could harm ivory-billed’s habitat A federal judge has temporarily halted a $319 million Army Corps of Engineers irrigation project in Arkansas, pending further study of potential impact to the habitat of the ivory-billed woodpecker — which may or may not be extinct. The last confirmed sighting of the bird in […]

ELF Sacrifice

Three plead guilty to eco-motivated arson in the West Three people pleaded guilty yesterday to being part of a group that set fire to ranger stations, wild-horse corrals, a ski resort, and lumber mill offices in the Western U.S. in recent years. The 16 attacks harmed no people, but caused more than $20 million in […]