Climate Culture

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  • Who’s got the greenest house on the planet?

    It’s pretty easy to determine the biggest pie, or longest fingernails, or fattest twins. But what about the greenest house? AOL’s consumer finance site, of all places (they’re into journalism now!) has a nice roundup of what, exactly, it means to have a green home. There are a number of buildings that have claimed or […]

    Jess Zimmerman Culture

  • Ask Umbra: Is there such a thing as an environmentally friendly cigarette?

    Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I’m a smoker. So, is it better to smoke organic tobacco? Will I put less of a strain on the planet by smoking e-cigarettes? Or can you make a case from a sustainability standpoint for why I should quit? Thanks,GregPotomac, MD Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.Photo: SuperFantasticA. […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Beware, moms-to-be: Insecticides could make your kids dumber

    No raid for you.Photo: Dhini van HeerenStop huffing the Raid, moms: In other “sh*t that makes kids dumber” news, toddlers’ brains developed more slowly if their mothers inhaled a lot of a common insecticide ingredient while pregnant, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. Reuters explains: On average, women breathing the highest […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Use your smartphone to become a ‘citizen scientist’ with Project Noah

    We all know people who seem to spend more time gazing into their smartphones than they do looking at the reality in front of them. But one app is trying to reverse the trend, and make your iPhone (or Android) into a tool that encourages you to dial into the biodiversity around you. It’s called […]

    Sarah Goodyear Culture

  • Tell Grist: What’s your favorite green hot spot in Portland?

    You know you love it.Photo: megaulYo Portlandia! We’re compiling a guide to the perfect green Portland weekend and we need your help! So you have an out-of-town visitor — where do you take ’em for great local food or beer? What’s the can’t-miss farmers market, bike shop, or organic cupcakery — or is the octopus […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Care about population? About women? Then you should care that GOP is taking aim at family planning

    Deficit-peacock Republicans in the House don’t want to make any cuts at all to the budgets of the Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security, but they’re delighted to completely eliminate funding for a family-planning program that serves low-income Americans. No matter that the move would actually increase long-term costs to taxpayers. The House Appropriations […]

    Lisa Hymas Culture

  • How do you sell a city without selling out?

    The Super Bowl ad for the Chrysler 200 didn’t bother trying to sell you a car. It was selling a city, because these days, that’s what sells. That city, of course, was Detroit. In the two-minute spot, which was cheered by Monday morning marketing quarterbacks as one of the game’s most successful, Eminem drives through […]

    Sarah Goodyear Culture

  • Lady Gaga’s boyfriend writes binge-drinking health book ‘The Drunk Diet’

    You and me could write a bad fromage.Photo: Drunk Diet Beer for breakfast! Lord Gaga (real name: Lüc Carl) lost 40 pounds by binge-drinking — and his sound weight-loss tips will be featured in forthcoming book The Drunk Diet, reports The New York Observer. His blog has some great previews of health tips: On life […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Silly science: Animals make friends too

    As anyone with cats already knows, animals can be buddies. Now scientists have caught up with the rest of us: “At least five types of animals maintain relationships that are comparable to human friendships,” says Discovery News. So which animals have BFFs? In addition to bats, the newest animal discovered to make long-term relationships, “elephants, […]

    Holly Richmond Culture

  • Why do states break down?

    They can’t stop what’s coming.Photo: Al Jazeera EnglishUprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and across the Middle East at the start of 2011 have reminded the world just how politically fragile some countries are. But the focus of international politics has been shifting for some time now. After a half-century of forming new states from former colonies […]

    Lester Brown Culture