Grist List

'Carbon recycling' makes fuel directly from air

At Sandia National Laboratories, a giant array of mirrors heats rings of metal oxides to 2,550 degrees F, allowing a beer-keg-size reactor to produce carbon monoxide or hydrogen gas out of CO2 or water. The result is known as syngas, and it can be further processed into the kind of hydrocarbon-based fuels (think gasoline and diesel) upon which our transportation infrastructure depends.

Hundreds of miles of new pipelines to carry Pennsylvania gas

How big is natural gas in Pennsylvania? This big, according to the Associated Press:

More than half of the interstate natural-gas pipeline projects proposed to federal energy regulators since the beginning of 2010 involve Pennsylvania — at a cost estimated at more than $2 billion.

Florida is the worst state for pedestrian safety

If you live in Florida and don't have a car, you may want to invest in a heavy steel overcoat. Florida is home to four of the top four most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians -- Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami. In the wake of the Raquel Nelson case, the New York Times has turned its reporting eye on pedestrian fatalities, and the scene on Florida streets is pretty depressing:

Sidewalks are viewed as perks, not necessities. Crosswalks are disliked and dishonored. And many drivers maniacally speed up when they see someone crossing the street.

Your can of tuna has a dirty secret

Canned tuna, a "magical wonder fish," is sooooo cheap. Just ignore that "shadowy multinational corporation" behind the curtain, and the bloodlust of Chicken of the Sea's creepy mermaid mascot:

Watch a city grow from a tiny sprout in this beautiful video

"Lilium Urbanus" envisions the city as a botanical, flowering from seed to sprout to village to metropolis. Its creators, Anca Risca and Joji Tsuruga, told Scientific American that their daily observation of urban growth in their home city of New York inspired the comparison: We embraced the idea of urban growth and saw it as something […]

Critical List: A second leak in Shell's North Sea rig spurting oil; Chinese protest chemical factory

A second leak at the Shell oil platform in the North Sea is proving harder to stop than the first.

A Chinese protest against a chemical factory was one of the largest in three years -- at least 12,000 people -- and may herald a shift towards more public action in the country.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is exchanging ideas with leaders in Rio about greening their cities.

Dolphins take Manhattan

New York is becoming quite the haven of wildlife! There's the pigeons, the giant monkey on the Empire State Building, and now dolphins have been spotted in New York Harbor. The frisky sea critters haven't gotten into an empire state of mind in two years, so this is a big deal — it means the […]

New trend: Going produce shopping in abandoned gardens

Most cities these days are chock-full of foreclosed properties. Some foreclosed properties are chock-full of fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and other sources of fresh produce. That adds up to a lot of tasty plant matter going to waste -- unless people take it upon themselves to harvest food from abandoned houses, either for their own use or to distribute to shelters. That's not legal, but as a New York Times piece makes clear, that doesn't mean it's not a good idea.

Solar-powered bulb brings both light and commerce to developing countries

Steve Katsaros, inventor of the Nokero solar-powered lightbulb, recently told CNN that he decided to sell his bulbs rather than give them away even though it runs counter to the traditional model of aid to the developing world.