Science & Technology

The Wall Street Journal reports that new-generation nuclear power plants are going to end up costing quite a bit more than estimates. Not just a few percents, but double to quadruple, or $5 billion to $12 billion a plant.

Fossil fuels are getting more expensive too, and this increase in cost might partly be explained by high demand from Asia, but it still is quite a big chunk of change and it is eroding the pro-nuke argument about lower overall costs.

For our part, the only nuclear we are excited about right now is Thorium. If it can deliver on its promises, that is. We wish that more R&D would go into it rather than in Uranium-powered plants that have well-known downsides (including the fact that taxpayers usually subsidize their insurance). Some of the benefits of Thorium are listed here (and there's a whole blog about it here). ::New Wave of Nuclear Plants Faces High Costs

TH Exclusives

:: Assemble flat-pack furniture for a minimalist home.

:: Get down with green musicians.

:: Donate your old duds with help from our resident eco-fashionista, Summer Rayne.

:: Ramp up plain old pasta with Kelly’s wild leek salad recipe.

:: Learn about peak electricity and what you can do to help.

Cars & Transportation

Not so long ago we had some photos of the Mitsubishi i MiEV electric car at the New York Auto Show. It's quite cute and 100% electric. Mitsubishi plans to sell it globally around 2010. More details and specifications here.

But still photographs don't always give you the full effect. If you have iTunes on your computer, you can click on the following link to see a video (either in normal resolution or HD) of the i MiEV electric car driving around New York. Via ::i MiEV on iTunes in HD

Business & Politics

Finally, an Endangered Species Act listing decision has been made on the Polar Bear. Spun, of course. Today, Wednesday, the US Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species, saying "it must be protected because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming."

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses. These declines, he told a news conference, mean the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future...Kempthorne also said, though, that it would be "inappropriate" to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.

Design & Architecture

Back in the day when one would specify freestanding pedestal desks for secretaries, they would have an optional "modesty panel" so that visitors and co-workers couldn't look at their knees or worse. I wonder how one acts when the whole upper body is encased in this wonderful shed/office/house on legs designed by Soojin Hyun. You certainly won't go to work in your bathrobe. Or perhaps it is the reverse of that Anchorman joke, where you wear nice pants but don't need a top.

Recent Comment by MarlboroTestMonkey17 : "Topless is the new freedom!..." [read]

Fashion & Beauty

Welcome to SustainStyle, a weekly digest from the writers at 1plus1, a blog dedicated to eco-friendly fashion. SustainStyle runs every Wednesday.

Not just another holiday, its officially Bike to Work Week!

Chris Jordan has us infatuated with images full of facts.

Lara Miller's Kyra dress can be anywhere and anytime.

Micro Cotton is onto something with extra absorbent towels that also converses water and energy.

Unwind with an organic tea powered by wind and wrapped up in recycled packaging.

Learn how to do laundry right from the Laundress and their biodegradable, phosphate and sulfate-free products.

Clothmoth's Negative Energy T-shirt has us laughing at lightbulbs.

xo.

Science & Technology

Image courtesy of NOAA

Will the next large-scale manifestation of global warming prove to be just another blip in time or, as Mike Tidwell put it in a recent Orion piece, a violent "snap" -- signaling a fundamental shift in our planet's climate? The idea, also advanced by noted environmental writer Fred Pearce in his latest book, has everything to do with what scientists call "abrupt" climate change.

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program, which is currently seeking public comments for revision of its synthesis and assessment report, defines abrupt climate change as: "A large-scale change in the climate system that takes place over a few decades or less, persists (or is anticipated to persist) for at least a few decades, and causes substantial disruptions in human and natural systems."

Design & Architecture

Modern Mechanix calls them "golf tees" - Wright called them lily pads. The building inspectors called them illegal under the codes because of tapered shape, and required a test where they were to be loaded with twelve tons. They piled on sixty tons before it broke, falling and cracking a watermain 30 feet underground. He got the building permit.