At India’s TV Repair Shops, a Worker Discovers Technology’s False Promises

Is the ‘Use-and-Throw-Away’ Consumer Ethos Keeping Us Dependent on Corporate Giants?

In a repair shop in South India, an employee was sitting next to me, trying to figure out what was wrong with the circuit board on his worn blue work table. The board was from a large, expensive flat-screen television lying face-down in front of us; the customer was due to return in another day or two.

As he prepared to examine the circuit board under a bright magnifier lamp, the power cut out across the service center. The soldering iron, the lamp, the shop’s overhead lights, and the ceiling fans …

Could Drinking Seawater Be Good For Us?

How Desalination Could Solve California's Drought and America's Water Needs

It might sound crazy, in the middle of a drought, to suggest that California can have a water-independent future. But I’ve come to believe that this is possible.

My studies and …

Throw Out the Baby. Keep the Bathwater.

Strategies for Surviving a Water Shortage in California and Beyond

The water situation in California is not good and shows no signs of improving any time soon. In fact, the entire state is now in the most severe stage of …