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150 MPG, if You Pedal Hard

A Hungarian firm called Antro has been showing off a prototype hybrid car that takes the notion of high gas mileage to new extremes. The car, called the Antro Solo, is billed as getting 150 miles a gallon on the...

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June 25, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (13)

"The Rocket NASA Won't Talk About"

In 2004, after the Columbia disaster, President Bush ordered NASA to retire the space shuttles and go exploring. He said they should build a new ship, launched by new rockets -- simpler, cheaper and safer than the shuttles. They have...

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June 24, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (15)

Ice on Mars

The Phoenix Mars Lander dug a trench in the soil of the Martian arctic, and showed, in an image sent four days ago, little white chunks at the bottom. Now they're gone. "It must be ice," said Peter Smith of...

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June 19, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (46)

Take-Your-Bus-to-Work Day

The American Public Transportation Association has declared this "Dump the Pump day," hoping you'll save on gas money, reduce pollution, and enjoy the ride if you leave your car at home and commute instead by bus or train. They say...

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June 19, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (37)

The Ends of the Earth

Drilling for oil offshore, or in the northernmost reaches of Alaska, have been the kinds of environmental battles guaranteed never to end. President Bush has proposed opening the outer continental shelf, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska --...

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June 18, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (40)

The 800-pound Gorillas of Cyberspace

Let's pretend for the moment that I write a blog -- I obviously don't, but let's pretend -- and I want to quote a story from the Associated Press, or, for that matter, from ABCNews.com. I'll probably copy and paste...

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June 17, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (36)

The Ghost of the HMS Ontario

On Halloween night in 1780, Lake Ontario must have been a fearsome place. The storm that blew across was enough to sink the HMS Ontario, a British sloop only five months old. It's estimated that 120 people died, though the...

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June 16, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (10)

The Creation of Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana, has a lot of people who would like to see him as John McCain's running mate in November. He's described by some of his fans -- see Rush Limbaugh's take on him -- as...

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June 13, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (37)

'Plutoid'?

Two years ago the International Astronomical Union did Pluto the indignity of demoting it from the list of planets in the solar system. Now it's rearranged the language. For the last two years Pluto and other like bodies have been...

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June 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (37)

On the Demise of Species

Nobody has confirmed seeing a Caribbean monk seal since 1952, we're told, and now, after a five-year review, NOAA's Fisheries Service has called off the search. As far as the government is concerned, the seals are extinct. NOAA blames hunters,...

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June 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)