Speed Racer | courtesy of Warner Brothers
tuesday, may 20
Read
Ready, Set, Green
By Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill
It's cool to be green, but that doesn't mean it's easy. This earnest primer from the hippie-chic Web site treehugger.com -- Hill launched the site; O'Neill writes for it -- tries to make it a little less difficult to reduce your environmental impact. Some tips seem impractical; most people have little control over the materials used to build their homes. But the eight-week holistic program offers plenty of steps that anyone can take. And a carbon ticker helps readers understand the consequences of their choices and see how small changes can quickly add up. -- BA
thursday, may 22
Rev
Shell Eco-Marathon
Nogaro Motor Circuit, France
When the checkered flag drops at Nogaro, some 200 college teams will rev their engines and trundle around the track at a bracing 18 mph. Clean exhaust and fuel efficiency, not speed, win at this Shell-sponsored event. Last year, St. Joseph La Joliverie College of Nantes, France, won the prototype prize for a car that clocked 7,148 mpg. (That's 1,787 times more fuel-efficient than a race car in Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix, which runs three days after Nogaro.) Philippe Maindru, head of St. Joseph's engines department, says F1 teams could learn a lot from his students: "Imagine what could be achieved if their thousands of engineers concentrated on going far rather than fast." -- TB
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