The Authoritarian Clock Is Running Out
The most dangerous moment for American democracy may not come when those attempting to dismantle it believe they are winning. It may come when they begin to fear they are running...

The UK government’s senior adviser on science has made an entirely sensible call for researchers and policy makers to move the climate change debate towards workable strategies and solutions. The trouble is, the models we have for assessing those strategies are deeply flawed.

Publicly owned networks in cities across the US preserve net neutrality and provide quality service. With the announcement by the FCC that cable and telephone companies will be allowed to prioritize access to their customers, only one option remains that can guarantee an open internet: owning the means of distribution.

An estimated 10,000 gallons of the coal-processing chemical MCHM, along with an unknown amount of a second substance called PPH, spilled into West Virginia’s Elk River — just upstream from a municipal water intake that serves nine counties. While government and industry have been slow to respond, some remarkable community organizing has taken place...

Meet the tenacious gardeners putting down roots in "America's most desperate town". They're not always optimistic about the future of Camden, N.J. But they're committed to it anyway, and they've created one of the nation's fastest growing networks of urban farms.

Who determines whether chemicals are safe — and why do different governments come up with such different answers? In the United States, children can drink fruit juice beverages made with Red Dye No. 40 and eat macaroni and cheese colored with Yellow Dye No. 5 and No. 6. Yet in the U.K., these artificial colorings have been taken off the market due to health concerns.
“What’s the most effective way to raise awareness of environmental issues and motivate people to take action?” While pondering this question recently, I was reminded of a talk I saw several years ago that still ranks among the most powerful I’ve ever seen.

Ever wish you could live at your CSA? Or move to a neighborhood where everyone is as excited about fresh, healthy food as you are? All over the United States people are embracing local food production in an exciting new way. Called 'agrihoods,' this new type of neighborhood serves up farm-to-table living in a cooperative environment.

All institutions are the mirror image of the motivations that make them work. So when politics and economics are based on the worst aspects of human nature, the inevitable result are societies riddled with inequality and violence.

It is an old question in social movements: Should we fight the system or “be the change we wish to see”? Should we push for transformation within existing institutions, or should we model in our own lives a different set of political relationships that might someday form the basis of a new society?

The California Fish and Game Commission voted on June 4 to grant endangered species protections to gray wolves. This is the first time the state has stepped into the issue over the species, which is losing protection and being killed in several states, and which is expanding to territories it had not inhabited for decades in others.

Raising children in today's world is much more challenging than it was in the Fifties. Many parents, whether in intact families, single-parent families, divorced families, or remarried families with stepchildren and half siblings, are crying out for help. The role of public schools needs to be expanded and revamped...

Reducing deforestation in the tropics would significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by as much as one-fifth, research shows.

Last month, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., loaded a postage stamp–sized solar cell onto a tray and placed it under a high-intensity pulse solar simulator. A new world record for solar photovoltaic efficiency had been set.

Research study compares traditional lectures with active learning in science, engineering and mathematics. Traditional lecture-based courses are correlated with significantly poorer performance in terms of failure rates and marks.

The “Meatless Mondays” campaign was originally thought up to support the war effort during World War I, but now a modern army is using it to fight an even bigger battle—the one against climate change. It's not just Norway where the military is concerned about climate change. Former United States army officer...

The majority of Americans believe that global warming is real. A fewer number believe that it is a threat and less still believe that it is caused by humans. These are really amazing numbers...

Thomas Piketty's "Capital In The 21st Century" is certainly the the biggest economic book sold in this century, having reached # 1 book status on Amazon. It may also be the most important book. No doubt it will become the book some in the "money class" most love to hate.

The newly released National Climate Assessment spans 30 chapters with thousands of references on how climate change is impacting the U.S. The report took more than 300 scientists and 4 years to prepare, including addressing more than 4,000 comments from the public. The message of the report is that climate change is already happening across the country.

Parts of ancient Antarctica were as toasty as today’s California coast, say scientists who used a new method to measure past temperatures. The study focused on Antarctica during the Eocene epoch, 40 to 50 million years ago, a period with high concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and consequently a greenhouse climate.

The fact that McDonald’s can consistently sell a Bacon McDouble burger for a dollar seems preposterous; it’s a wonder we have a large-scale meat industry at all, much less a highly profitable one.

Why did an elementary school math problem go viral? It has to do with a new set of federal education standards known as the Common Core.