Articles by Grist staff

Don't Put This in Your Pipe and Smoke It

Meanwhile, British researchers announced on Tuesday that they had genetically engineered tobacco plants to make them capable of removing explosives from soil. The plants, which can break down unstable ingredients in explosives such as TNT and nitroglycerin, could be used to clean up areas around weapons factories and munitions dumps, according to an article in […]

Scientists Poo Poo Chemical Threat in Water

U.S. water supplies are seriously threatened by microbes, warns a report from the American Society for Microbiology, but efforts to control water pollution have concentrated on chemical risks rather than microbial ones. The report claims that dangerous organisms such as E. coli O157, cryptosporidium, giardia, hepatitis A, and pfisteria pose a greater risk to human […]

Fig Leaf Bill: Let's Hope It Wilts in the Heat

Senators opposed to the Kyoto climate change treaty introduced a bill yesterday that would forego mandates for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in favor of voluntary, market-based programs. Sponsored by Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Larry Craig (R- Idaho), and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the measure would allot $2 billion over 10 years to create a research, development, […]

Village People Go on Tour

Women, men, and children from the remote Mexican village of Ejido Pino Gordo this month walked 36 hours to the Chihuahua state capital to stage a sit-in at the governor’s palace and protest the illegal logging of forest land surrounding their village. Government officials were caught off guard by the protest and the ensuing media […]