Climate Technology

Wind turbines don’t harm health, says study

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental protection has released a 164-page report finding no ill effects.

Army’s newest drone will be ‘green’

The Army is increasingly aware that the only way for its war machine to keep turning is for it to eliminate the long, vulnerable supply chain currently required to get energy to its soldiers. That’s one reason why it just awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build a flying drone, light enough to be carried […]

Tea Party mayor gets spanked for rejecting public transit

Last fall, the mayor of a leafy Detroit suburb led the fight against that darkest of evils: trains! But when the local business community lashed back, the Tea Partiers beat a hasty retreat, raising more questions about their ability to lead.

How plug-in cars can face up to winter’s challenges

Plug-in and hybrid vehicles face particular challenges in cold weather. But new technologies in the works could help those cars cope.

Africa’s first green, locavore, gluten-free beer

In Mozambique, home brewing is big -- not because the country is full of mustachioed, fixie-riding expats from Portlandia, but just because it's less expensive. So when brewing giant SABMiller wanted to figure out how to sell beer to people who are already making their own, they had to do it on the cheap.

Here are the potential Solyndras of 2012

Hey makers of right-wing talking points! Pay attention to these solar companies. They might fail this year, and as we all know, when a solar company fails you can repurpose its hide into a political hobby-horse and ride it forever.

Turning your teeth green — in a good way [VIDEO]

Is this America's Greenest Dentist? He can't make getting your teeth cleaned more fun, but he can make it greener. Find out how he does it.

‘Passive House’ documentary is the last word on zero-energy buildings

Passive Houses are homes so well insulated that they require no heating at all, even in winter. They're super popular in Europe, because it’s a magical land where everything is made out of chocolate and any sexual encounter that ends in fewer than three orgasms is immediately reported to the happiness police.

Journalist Charlie Hoxie realized that most people in America have never heard of the Passive House (or Passivhaus in the original, economical German) building movement, so he embarked on a documentary to spread the word. What follows are a series of excerpts from that film.

Weird new all-electric cars debut at Detroit Auto Show

Volkswagen E-Bugster

Hitting the "on" button on this car (because in the future, all cars will be started the same way you start up a laptop) makes the interior flash blue like you've just stepped into a light cycle from TRON. Check the video, below, for the full effect.

This electrical socket spits out your power-sucking plugs

The PumPing Tap does not like wasted power. It's an electrical socket with a spring-loaded ejector seat, which pops plugs right out if they're slowly sucking energy when not in active use.

The idea is to combat vampire power, the massive amount of energy slowly sapped by idling gizmos, like microwaves that aren’t cooking or chargers that aren’t charging anything. The PumPing Tap (which is still in the design stage, sadly) monitors the flow of energy, and if you don't use a device for 10 minutes -- ptooie! -- it's unplugged.