Tech
New Mobility Startups Give Uber a Run for its Money
While terms like "smart grid" and "smart economy" are hard to peg down, we can at least say that for "smart mobility" we're starting to see some of the bluster turning into reality.
Stories by Tali Trigg
Renewable Energy Shines (and Blows) in 2014
Looking back at 2014 through the prism of renewable energy, it's hard not to get bombastic. So many records were broken, corners turned, and with costs declining, it's hard not to wonder if 2015 will see renewable energy become nothing more than a fully competitive energy source, capturing more and more market share...
After a 350 Year Reign, Heathrow Is Dethroned as the World's Busiest (Air)port
Is it Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, or Dubai International? Both apparently. But it depends on the metric. If you go by number of flights, then O'Hare is the world's busiest airport (881,933 flights in 2014), dethroning Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (868,359) after 10 years at the top - by this way of measuring...
The Road to Paris and COP-21
As 2015 begins, the road to the crucial COP-21 summit here in Paris (where I am based) is being outlined by the French government, the UN, and a huge number of other actors and NGOs.
Sustainability
Behind the Merger of the Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room - Interview with RMI's CEO Jules Koltenhorst
Today Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), brain-child of famed energy thinker Amory Lovins, and Carbon War Room (CWR), the five-year old climate change outfit of Sir Richard Branson, merged to create a new alliance dedicated to the acceleration of a low carbon energy future...
#MapMonday: ‘Map of Life’ Shows Hemorrhaging of Species
For this #MapMonday we return to Yale's Environmental Performance group, featured previously here on #MapMonday. The newly released biodiversity map brings together a whopping amount of data to detail the state (quality not just quantity) of species around the world, and while the staggering diversity of life on our planet is breathtaking (and sometimes pretty [...]..
Sustainability
Does Uber Make Cities More Energy Efficient?
It seems you can't read an article about new mobility or the sharing economy without stumbling across Uber; the mobility service that sprung up in 2009 to only five years later become valued at more than Avis, Hertz, or Sony...
Sustainability
Global Pesticide Scorecard Maps Performance
The prevalence of pesticides may seem like something of a bygone era, one marked by Silent Spring and the Bhopal Disaster, but the grim reality is that they are unfortunately very much around...
Map Monday: Will Global Warming Drown Your Hometown?
You may recently have read about climate change and North Carolina for all the wrong reasons, entailing laws designed to forbid the mentioning of the term "climate change" as well as outright banning measurements of sea-level rise...
Sustainability
City-Scale Congestion Pricing Picking Up Steam
What is congestion charging? Congestion charging or pricing is the practice of setting up cordon tolls around the city on a large-scale to charge entrants for entering during peak hours...
Sustainability
Top 10 (Transport) Sights in Paris
Few tourists travel explicitly to see a city’s or country's mode of transportation, but I dare say that besides transport nerds such as myself, there are examples which qualify as must-see, including Japan's Shinkansen high-speed train, Lisbon's old tram system, and the streetcars of New Orleans, among others...
Fuel/Cost Savings of Improving Fuel Economy from 12->15 mpg = 30->60 mpg
Consumer tip-of-the-day: increasing efficiency of fuel economy on a miles-per-gallon scale is not linear, as more miles-per-gallon (mpg) are initially better for your wallet and the planet than you might expect, and eventually trail off with diminishing returns...
Battleship Barcelona: When Child-Like Simplicity Saves the Day
I am one of those people who always thought Barcelona would be my favorite city in the world. I visited several times, and though the weather, design, and food leave you wanting little else, there was always something about the sheer number of tourists (besides myself) and traffic that put me off the whole experience...
Sustainability
If Climate Change Was Not Real...
... there would be a lot of other environmental issues to deal with. This is no big revelation, but it's a question I've been pondering recently: What is the state of the world, not counting climate change? Or rather, what if we managed to reduce CO2 emissions to necessary levels, what would our focus be on [...]..
Map Monday: 50+ Shades of Air Pollution
In today's installment of Map Monday, I wanted to focus on air pollution as mapped by Hsu et al and The Atlantic. Go to this link to see the full interactive map, which details air pollution by country and city...
Map Monday: Economic Importance of Transport
Like most people, I am a sucker for a good map. To indulge in this nerdity, I am launching an occasional Map Monday series, beginning with one by Simran Khosla of GlobalPost who used the CIA Factbook to put together an excellent map detailing every country's highest-valued export...
Sustainability
Desire to Drive Flagging in the U.S. and Abroad
In the last post I presented results from my poll on the importance of cars to your everyday life. The results suggest, simply put, that its importance is sliding downwards.
Sustainability
SciAm Readers Prioritize MP3s Over MPGs
Thank you for your input as no less than 100 readers were kind enough to participate in my not-so-scientific survey of what is least important to them, when given a choice to give up one item ranging between a TV, vehicle, laptop/tablet, and a smartphone...
Full Frontal Nerdity
I was once caught staring at energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins' pocket protector, and without blinking he said, "Yes, it's full frontal nerdity." There was something refreshing about that sentiment, so let me similarly make my intentions clear: in joining SciAm Blogs, I hope to bring you some unnoticed news and engage you on a [...]..
