Articles by Grist staff

iPhone rideshare app coming soon

It’s the 21st century, folks — text with your hitchhiker’s thumb. An iPhone application called Avego will soon be available to hook up drivers with those who need rides, helpfully suggesting a safe place to pull over and calculating the split cost between driver and rider. No word on how it’ll go over in Ontario, […]

BLM opens land near Alaska’s Bristol Bay to development

Some 2 million acres near Alaska’s Bristol Bay will be opened to development for the first time under a plan released Friday by the Bureau of Land Management. The agency’s decision to throw the door open for mining and drilling in the area, which is home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, is opposed […]

Gulf War syndrome exists, says scientific panel

Gulf War syndrome, an umbrella term for a batch of neurological disorders experienced by nearly a quarter of the 700,000 veterans of the 1991 war, is attributable to “neurotoxic exposures,” a scientific panel told Congress on Monday. The report specifically points to a pesticide and anti-nerve-gas drug commonly used by the soldiers. The federal government […]

Utilities ponder big buy of electric cars

In a move to support flailing automakers — and potentially boost their own bottom line — several big U.S. utilities are considering putting in orders for thousands of electric cars.