In the late 18th century, the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier radically changed how we understand the physical world. He was perplexed by the fact that when metal rusted, despite becoming more brittle, it actually gained weight rather than losing it. Why would metal weigh more when it was decomposing? It weighed more, Lavoisier came to
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The Trust for Public Land has released its 2023 edition of ParkScore, which rates and compares park systems for cities across the country. Philadelphia is pretty much where it was in 2022, ranking 31 out of the 100 most populous cities in the country this year versus 32 last year. Behind that ranking are several
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The fourth annual #BlackBirdersWeek 2023 will take place nationwide May 28 through June 3, with events intended to raise the visibility of Black birders and build community. #BlackBirdersWeek took flight in 2020 as a result of social media discussions within the #BlackAFinSTEM community following an incident in New York City’s Central Park in which a
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The renovation of the Cobbs Creek Golf Course hit a small hurdle on May 10 as the Cobbs Creek Foundation sought approval from the Philadelphia Art Commission of the next phase of its construction, a pumphouse and reservoir for irrigating the golf course, with the commission asking the foundation to return at a future meeting
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Today’s the day! Philadelphians are taking to the polls to choose party candidates for mayor, City Council, judges and other elected posts. (It’s also the last day — until the next election cycle, anyway — for the robo-texts, campaign flyers and attack ads. Hooray!) Grid has endorsed Helen Gym in the Democratic mayoral primary race,
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On May 11 the EPA proposed carbon emissions standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. If adopted, the standards would reduce total carbon dioxide (CO2) by 617 million metric tons — the equivalent of reducing the annual emissions produced by 137 million passenger cars — through 2042. The rule would also reduce particulate emissions
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Plastic is both an incredibly useful and an incredibly harmful material. Plastic is found everywhere – in the guts of up to 9 out of 10 seabirds, at the bottom of the ocean’s deepest trench, and even in our own blood. While plastic can at times be necessary, around four tenths of it is used
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On April 15 the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education announced that it had parted ways with executive director Michael Weilbacher. Reached by Grid for comment, Weilbacher, who had run the organization since 2011, responded by email with a statement. “I am so proud of what the Schuylkill Center’s staff accomplished over the last 12 years
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Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) is slated to spend $6 to $8 billion by 2058 to replace leak-prone gas mains, all while expanding its service network and dragging its feet on a transition to renewable energy sources, according to a report released by HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team), which describes itself on its website as “a
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We’re stuck in an ever-growing quagmire under a gridlocked government with no clear solution in sight. As a voting American citizen, I’ve rarely had the opportunity to vote for the person I actually wanted to win. By the time I get to the polls, I’m typically presented with a small number of top candidates. If
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Several weeks have passed since Philadelphia was in a panic over the specter of contaminated drinking water. But while concerns over the March 25 chemical spill at a Trinseo Altuglas plant in Bristol have faded into yesterday’s news, hazards still swirl for both people and animals in Lower Bucks County. In an email to Grid,
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