Climate Culture

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  • Traffic-snarled LA goes bike-wild with 1,600 miles of lanes

    The Backbone Bikeway Network proposed by the L.A. Bike Working Group was incorporated into the city’s master plan for 1,680 miles of new bike lanes.Graphic: LA Bike Working GroupThe cab driver who cut off Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa when the mayor was riding his bicycle last year may have done the city a huge […]

    Sarah Goodyear Culture

  • Are rich Americans having more kids?

    “Soon we’ll have our own lacrosse team!”In Tina Fey’s recent piece in The New Yorker, she writes that elite Manhattanites seem to be trying to outpopulate the rest of us:  I thought that raising an only child would be the norm in New York, but I’m pretty sure my daughter is the only child in […]

    Lisa Hymas Culture

  • TreeShagger: Finding love on public transportation

    Public transit is an aphrodisiac.Photo: Martin StroblWelcome to TreeShagger, our column on green dating. If you’ve got green dating questions, send ’em our way! Did you hear about Patrick Moberg, that dude who found the girl of his dreams on the New York subway? Like a twee Wes Anderson hipster-man, he drew a picture of […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Move over, Banksy: Candy Chang’s art might actually save the world

    Photo: Cesar HaradaCan art save our cities? If it’s Candy Chang’s crowdsourced fantasy urban planning, then yeah, probably. Chang’s “I Wish This Was” project challenges New Orleans residents to project their ideal neighborhood onto the still-struggling post-Katrina landscape. The installation is simple: just a bunch of blank “my name is”-style stickers that say “I Wish […]

    Jess Zimmerman Culture

  • Natalie Portman: Oscar winner, green darling, and mad scientist

    So take your beaker …Original photo: John MiraThe Intel Science Talent Search has been the Mickey Mouse Club of science for almost 70 years, identifying the Justin Timberlakes of high school research long before they go on to win Nobel Prizes and MacArthur “genius” grants. So anyone familiar with Natalie Portman’s stint at Harvard won’t […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Climate activist Tim DeChristopher goes to trial in Salt Lake City [VIDEO]

    Climate activist Tim DeChristopher’s trial began Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah. He spoke with Grist recently about facing jail time, his fears, and how to make a difference through nonviolent direct action. Here’s the exclusive video interview: Monday morning, Terry Tempest Williams, Daryl Hannah, and other allies rallied to show their support. Peter Yarrow […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Colin Firth’s wife wins Best Lady in a Recycled Gown in our personal Oscars

    Photo: Davidlohr BuesoGreen-minded folks in the know about celebrity stuff — i.e. not me — have been on tenterhooks waiting to see what Colin Firth’s wife Livia would wear to the Oscars. That’s because she’s attempting the Green Carpet Challenge again this year, and has sworn to wear nothing on the red carpet that isn’t […]

    Jess Zimmerman Culture

  • Ask Umbra on turning plastic garbage into gasoline at home

    Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Not long ago, I saw a video of a Japanese scientist who had created a small machine that converted discarded plastics back into fuel. He was demonstrating it to schoolchildren. Is something happening with this technology? If it is true it could certainly help to save us […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Check out Helsinki’s underground shadow city

    Itakeskus underground swimming complexPhoto: Lewis Martin From the country that brought you the world’s spookiest children’s series, please meet the underground city. Helsinki, Finland’s capital, has decided to defeat sprawl by building down instead of out. Incised into the city’s bedrock are a swimming pool, a shopping area, a church, a hockey rink, and a […]

    Jess Zimmerman Culture

  • They just don’t build virtual cities like they used to

    In the NYC Panorama, the Empire State building is only 13cm tallPhoto: John Pavlus The Panorama of the City of New York is one of a kind: Built under Robert Moses himself for the 1964 World’s Fair, its 9,335 square feet encompass “every single building constructed before 1992 in all five boroughs,” or 895,000 individual […]

    Christopher Mims Culture