Grist List
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Critical List: Durban climate talks begin today; UK secretly supporting tar sands
This year's international climate negotiations begin today in Durban, South Africa. This round of talks is basically the opposite of Copenhagen: hopes for anything at all happening are very, very low. The British government has been supporting Canada's tar sands projects in secret. One new study found that the climate is less sensitive to carbon […]
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After-school EV club is so much cooler than yearbook
In Kansas City, Mo., high school students enrolled in the after-school program Minddrive are building an electric car. They meet three times every two weeks. They started with a decade-old Reynard Champ Car, and have turned it into an electric vehicle that will drive from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Diego, Calif., over their spring break. […]
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Prizewinning research: How to fight elephants with bees
British scientist Lucy King has won a prestigious environmental award for her research, but she should also maybe get a movie deal. The substance of her research is using bees to scare off elephants, which could make an excellent blockbuster, with the addition of a few explosions and maybe a robotic bee carapace. Also, as […]
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Great Lakes fish triumph over invaders
The story of invasive species usually goes something like a particularly dark zombie movie — the invasive species kills everything else and thrives, changing the planet forever. But in the Great Lakes, a different story is playing out, one in which the natives win. In addition to evil zebra mussels, transatlantic shipping has brought a […]
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Uganda’s electric car is super cute
Meet the Kiira. It was built in Uganda, from parts mostly sourced in Uganda. It's a triumph of "African Science," a phrase that reminds this reporter of "gay parking," but whatever. And it is adoooooooorable. The Kiira is a two-seater that can go 50 miles on a charge, with a top speed of around 60 […]
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Super cute video of penguins released after oil spill cleanup
If hanging out with the people who know just what a profoundly alone, naked ape you are has got you down, ThinkProgress has the cure for your post-Thanksgiving blues. Since a cargo ship leaked 350 tons of oil in New Zealand — marking the nation’s “most significant environmental maritime disaster” — more than 2,000 seabirds have […]
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Pardoned turkeys go to Disneyland
Did you know that the turkey pardoned by the president then gets shipped off to Disneyland or Disney World to lead the Thanksgiving parade? (It seems like short notice — maybe they only pardon turkeys who can already twirl a baton.) I didn't, but that's because I haven't thought about turkey pardoning nearly as deeply […]
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Don’t look now, but some turkey has antibiotic-resistant superbugs
Not to put a damper on your Thanksgiving or anything, but there are two new studies showing that drug-resistant bugs like MRSA are showing up in farmed meat, including turkey. Farm animals get fed a cocktail of antibiotics, which can create resistant strains of bacteria. It's been hard (though not impossible) to determine whether that's […]
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XKCD illustrates the cost of electricity
The webcomic XKCD usually has pretty stripped-down images, and saves its complexity for the jokes. But when creator Randall Munroe gets his hands on some data, he can make an infographic you could get lost in. The above (click to embiggen) is just a tiny section of his epic chart comparing how much money gets spent […]
