news

If I had a nickel for every prospective parent I know who changed their lifestyle for the better when they knew they were expecting I’d be a wealthy man indeed. But they just may be a bit late to the party. No pun intended.

And that’s because a controversial idea, called epigenetics, indicates those late nights in smoke filled rooms, that stress filled entry level job, or that apartment you rented next to that major, pollution-spewing roadway when you were young and broke may just be exacting their toll on the DNA of your child today.

Recent Comment by stradric : "It takes about 12 weeks to normalize. I don't have a link to the study but a study was..." [read]

Food & Health

It is really hard to promote the idea that people should get outdoors, be part of their community, go out to the ball game or whatever when we read things like this. At Yankee Stadium, the security guards are confiscating sunscreen. "Five hours in the upper deck with no sunscreen is crazy," said one upper deck seasons ticket holder. Fans in the bleachers point out in the New York Post that the sun may be a bigger threat than Osama Bin Laden.

"I was really pissed because, since I am Irish and I have a bald head, I need my sunblock," said Sean Gavin, 40, who had to toss his SPF 30 at the gate Saturday. "After they saw me dousing myself with it, it should have been obvious to them that it was sunblock and not some explosive."

Of course, if you need sunscreen the stadium will sell you an one-ounce bottle for five bucks. Dermatologists are quoted as saying that security concerns or not, leaving 56,000 fans unprotected from potential skin cancer is "very dangerous." "This is especially bad for children, as their younger skin is particularly sensitive," said Dr. Babar Rao, a specialist at the Skin and Cancer Center of New York. "Sunblock needs to be reapplied every two hours, even if you are not swimming in the ocean or pool."

But hey, when you have to pay Alex Rodriquez's salary, you will use any excuse to squeeze a few more bucks out of your fans. ::New York Post

news

In a sign of things that might have been, Chinese children born after the closure of a local coal plant have found themselves with 60% less development problems such as motor skill coordination than those born prior to the closing.

For with all the efforts by the Chinese government to clean up places like Beijing for the Olympics, there’s no denying that there are plenty of other places that could use the help.

Of course, the plant that was closed in Tongliang lacked basic pollution control equipment to limit the emission of pollutants like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.

news

When Walk Score recently released their ranking of the ten most walkable U.S. cities there was no doubt that folks in places like San Francisco, Boston and New York City could look with satisfaction upon their city as a paradise for bipedalism. But when we took a look at the rankings it became clear that there was quite a spread between some of the most and least friendly areas for walking in which to live. In fact, it’s not so improbable to imagine that some citizens of major U.S. cities often feel like the person pictured here when compared to their counterparts in those where walking is a way of life.

But the question is, does your city makes the list of our least walkable U.S. cities?

Following is the list, created by Walk Score, of the least walkable major cities in the U.S.

Travel & Nature

Ever Heard of These Things Called Envelopes?
HP really cares about paper. Technology site The Register received a email from Stephen Strang, one of its readers, about a delivery from HP. A large box containing smaller ones... 17 of them. All of that for 32 pieces of A4 paper (wrapped two by two in pink foam). We're not suggesting this is standard practice at HP, but if this is real, they probably should have a closer look at some of their processes.

This beats our previous over-packaging entries: Is This Too Much Packaging, You Think? (which, depending on who you ask, might actually have been justified) and Dell's big box for a USB thumb drive.

Update: We just got a comment that seems to corroborate and explain the photos. Check it out here.

Travel & Nature

photo by David via flickr

Just a brief break for discussion: China Dialogue has posted a piece where a Chinese journalist of ‘a certain age’ comments upon how her, and society’s, ‘default settings’ have changed in regards to what is considered a ‘normal’ level of consumption. While normally we tend to focus on external solutions to environmental problems, sometimes how our own perceptions and expectations shape those external solutions.

Please read the whole article “Default settings and modern lifestyles”, but here are some quotes to lure you in:

eco-travel

How are Cows and Bikes Connected?

The connection is not obvious until you know the story of The Cow Spokes. Tim Whittemore, Sam Stickney, and Noah Hoskins-Forsythe are farm boys who are trying to make their contribution to "just and sustainable development through out the world". They plan to do this by raising $10,000 in moo-lah from supporters of their marathon charity ride from Alaska to the Panama Canal. The money will go to Heifer.org, a charity which focuses on giving the gift of self-sufficiency.

For lovers of eco-travel blogs, the Cow Spokes are documenting their journey with stories and pictures. Follow the three cowspokes as they depart from Vermont for Alaska and share the stories eagerly requested by their devoted fans.

Travel & Nature

This is the first in a series of video blog posts about biking across America to raise awareness about how to stop global warming.

Hi there. We're Carson and Eric, friends and transportation consultants in Boston, where we share an office adorned by a large pirate flag. We've taken some shorter trips (Mount Washington, Death Valley, etc.), but when Carson, the endurance athlete, came up with the idea of biking across America, Eric, the planner, figured it was a good excuse for a much bigger adventure. The plan: Carson will bike the whole distance, while Eric -- who will bike some of the way -- provides support, all in the name of raising awareness about how to reduce our carbon footprint. With the nod from our bosses, and in partnership with WE ADD UP, we set out on a sunny Saturday morning from Boston, joined by many of our friends and colleagues at a cheery send-off.