Articles by Katharine Wroth

Blown away

With a drop in recycling rates, Chicago is wondering: how come no one cares anymore? The city's "blue bag" program, introduced in 1995, sells bags for recyclables that are collected alongside regular trash. Last year, 90,000 tons filtered through, compared to 126,000 in 2000.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Mayor Richard Daley says it's not working because Chicagoans are apathetic. (Way to inspire 'em, Dick!) Critics, meanwhile, say the method is inconvenient, the bags break, and people think their goods -- and goodwill -- are just bound for the trash compactor. Oh yeah, and much of the waste has been recycled right into a field in Indiana.

One Chicago TV station offers an interesting comparison between recycling in the Windy City and the Big Apple. How's it going in your neck of the woods?  

Nice genes

In more strange news from nature (see: pandas peeing, bats running): It seems that plants store genetic information from generations past, and can use it to fix oddities they've inherited directly. Scientists -- who began to cotton on to the phenomenon when a weed expected to produce mutant flowers bloomed normally instead -- aren't entirely sure what to make of this news, but they think it could help fight diseases in plants, and might give a hint of human possibilities as well.

As genetics professor Gerald Fink told the Washington Post (in a quote that has made me love him), "something weird is definitely going on."

Neon lights will shine for you

Here in the Northwest, this winter's lack of rain and snow has people muttering about two things: the inevitable drought this summer, and the lack of good skiing right now. Welp, enterprising ski bums in countries including England, Japan, and the Netherlands have found a way around this exact problem: indoor slopes.

Oddly, the U.S. has managed to survive without this concept -- until now. Xanadu, an impossibly gigantic indoor theme park planned for New Jersey's Meadowlands, will include such a hill (and also a chocolate waterfall, but I digress). Despite critics who say the project will damage wetlands, increase traffic, and cause air pollution, the complex got a go-ahead permit last week.

Life is never simple in Jersey, though. A whole brouhaha having to do with nearby Giants stadium might slow things down, giving opponents another chance to howl. Stay tuned.

Like a bat out of hell

Every once in a while I like to take a break to appreciate wacky ol' nature. Last time it was upside-down pandas peeing on trees. This time: vampire bats running on treadmills.

Yes, it turns out vampire bats can run on all fours, an evolutionary trait that comes in handy as they prey on hapless victims. Being able to hop and run is useful "when you're a bat slurping cow blood, because cows are heavy and can kick or roll over and squash a bat," explains Cornell University researcher Daniel Riskin, who reported the findings in the latest issue of Nature.

What fascinates me almost more than the image of sprinting bats: the fact that people get paid to watch.