Articles by Jess Zimmerman
Jess Zimmerman was the editor of Grist List.
All Articles
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Watch an entire country lose its sh*t for a bullet train
This surprisingly emotionally affecting video was shot in Japan right before the recent tsunami. It's a commercial for a new bullet train line, which completed a network running nearly the full length of the country, connecting all of Japan in a way that people clearly found deeply meaningful. The tsunami hit the day before the line […]
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The Pope gets down with climate change
Is climate change a serious problem that requires drastic action? Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Finally, these two questions go together for reasons beyond heavy sarcasm. The Vatican's scientific advisory panel, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, has issued a report calling for an urgent reduction in carbon emissions. "We appeal to all nations […]
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The most danceable fracking explainer you’ll see today
"My Water's On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song)" is "Why Does The Sun Shine?" for fracking. ("Your groundwater is a mass of incandescent gas …") It explains enough about hydraulic fracturing — what it's for, how it works, where it can go wrong, why your sink just went up in flames — for you to […]
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In memoriam: Douglas Adams, environmentalist
Douglas Adams, who died 10 years ago today, was the best writer of humorous science fiction who ever lived. (Note that I did not say "arguably," all objective-journalist style. I will hear no argument. The best.) If, like me, you can recognize and recite parts of the passage on the towel he's draped himself with […]
