“In a sharp shift of strategy, Ford Motor Co. plans to focus less on hybrid technology and more on a wider range of alternatives to traditional gasoline-powered engines, Ford Chief Executive Bill Ford told employees of the automaker. Ford backed away from a commitment made last fall to build capacity to make 250,000 hybrid vehicles […]
“Looking for a clean beach this summer? Consider making Jetty Park Beach near Melbourne, Fla., near the Kennedy Space Center, your vacation destination. Or head to Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland. Or Point Reyes National Seashore in California. The three beaches today become the latest to be certified as ‘clean and healthy’ by the […]
“Many knew it, some just didn’t want to believe it, and others flatly denied it, but it appears that the verdict is in, and the evidence is hard to refute: The Earth is warming up. On Thursday, the National Academy of Sciences revealed the conclusions drawn from its extensive research into global temperatures over the […]
“The House voted Thursday to end a quarter-century offshore drilling ban and allow energy companies to tap natural gas and oil beneath waters from New England to Alaska. Opponents of the federal ban argued that the nation needed to move closer to energy independence and insisted the gas and oil could be taken without threatening […]
“Until it was shut down in 1993, a 10,000-ton magnetic doughnut known as the Bevatron smashed atoms under tight security for 39 years in the Berkeley hills. It was one of the giant machines that America built for physicists to continue their atomic research after the bomb ended World War II. Because it was off […]
“It’s easy to make futurists look silly. For every prediction that comes true (or that sort of comes true — Nostradamus predicted that someone named ‘Hister’ would do something terrible one day), about 20,000 more do not. Just take a look at some of these forecasts from the 1970s: an economically vibrant Soviet Union will […]
Interview/film review: “Roughly divided into two segments, ‘Who Killed’ first addresses the broad history of the electric car, from its birth in the early days of the automobile through its sudden realization and untimely demise. Leased in limited quantities beginning in 1997, the EV was developed by auto companies to fulfill California’s mandate even as […]
“Like strange, silent techno-zombies EVs keep rolling back into the public eye, earnestly appealing to us to ignore basic economics and fall under the sway of their swift, silent, non-polluting mobility. But despite the most ardent labor of various entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers; despite some of the most ingenious inventions, adaptations, modifications and applications of […]
“The Rainbow Family, an ad-hoc collective of free-spirited individuals, has made an annual spiritual pilgrimage since 1972 to various national forests. This year’s Rainbow Family Gathering is outside of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and will be held from July 1-7. The National Forest Service has determined that a permit is required this year and is arresting […]
“The New York Times had an excellent story this week about how drug and medical supply companies make large contributions to charitable foundations run by physicians. To the casual observer, these contributions look like kickbacks, given in exchange for doctors writing prescriptions for their products and also publishing favorable research findings. This is not the […]
