Savings Rate in U.S. at Highest Point in 15 Years - NYTimes.com

Tax cuts and increases on Social Security checks lifted personal incomes in May, but it appears that many people are putting that money away instead of spending it.

Study shows 1 in 25 deaths worldwide attributable to alcohol

Research from Canada's own Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) featured in this week's edition of the Lancet shows that worldwide, 1 in 25 deaths are directly attributable to alcohol consumption. This rise since 2000 is mainly due to increases in the number of women drinking.

BBC NEWS | Business | China argues to replace US dollar

China's central bank reiterates its call for a new global reserve currency to replace the US dollar.

Apocalypse Not: Behind the Swine Flu Hysteria
See the latest multimedia and applications including videos, animations, podcasts, photos, and slideshows on Wired.com

Why are There 60 Minutes in an Hour? | Scienceray

We are all familiar with dividing our days into 24 hours and our hours into 60 minutes. But why do we use these particular units for measuring time?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Web slows after Jackson's death

The net was sorely tested as news of Michael Jackson's death spread with both Twitter and Google reporting outages.

YouTube - Alcoholic Vervet Monkeys! - Weird Nature - BBC animals

In the Caribbean, Vervet Monkeys have developed a taste for alcohol and can regularly be spotted stealing cocktails from humans on the beach. Brilliant wildl...

Debunking Canadian health care myths - The Denver Post

Debunking Canadian health care myths

Technology Review: New Drug Kills Cancer with Few Side Effects

A personalized therapy targets the molecular mechanism behind a specific kind of tumor.

Book Review - 'The Industrial Revolutionaries - The Making of the Modern World 1776-1914,' by Gavin Weightman - Review - NYTimes.com
This engaging study of the figures behind the global rise of industrialism overflows with fascinating human portraits.

G.M., Detroit and the Fall of the Black Middle Class - NYTimes.com

The Powell family left the South in the 1960s, seeking better opportunities up North in the auto industry. Now the life they built is in danger of slipping away.

Why Saints Sin and Sinners Get Saintly

(PhysOrg.com) -- To many, New York Gov. Eliott Spitzer's fall from grace seemed to make no sense at all. But a new Northwestern University study offers provocative insights that possibly could relate to why the storm trooper of reform -- formerly known as the Sheriff of Wall Street -- seemingly went ...

Culligan lobbies hard as water softeners become a drought issue - Los Angeles Times

Government bureaucrats want your water softener.

Honduran President Is Ousted in Coup - NYTimes.com

President José Manuel Zelaya was ousted by the army on Sunday in the first military coup in Central America since the cold war.

Plan Won’t End Louisiana Erosion, Report Says - NYTimes.com

A large area of marshlands will be lost despite a plan to restore the flow of muddy water, scientists reported.

'Infomercial King' Billy Mays Found Dead in Home - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment - FOXNews.com
'Infomercial King' Billy Mays Found Dead in Home , Television pitchman Billy Mays � who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets � died Sunday, MyFOXTampa.com reports.

YouTube - Feynman and the Train

Physicist Richard Feynman explains how a train stays on the tracks... From BBC TV 'Fun to Imagine' (1983)

Madoff may not have benefited most in scam - Small business- msnbc.com

Charles Ponzi himself was the biggest beneficiary of his scams. But it now appears that Bernard Madoff may not have benefited the most from his version of the scheme. It may be Jeffry Picower.

TheStar.com | Canada | Tories call in Mounties over mint's missing millions

The Toronto Star

BBC NEWS | Technology | Pirate Bay starts video streaming

Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay lifts the lid on a proposed video streaming service.

The Girlfriend Experience - The Globe and Mail
Sex, lies and the credit crunch

A meal that never gets old

Wally and Andre take their seats, eat dinner and talk. That’s it. But the nature of the conversation

World wheat production threatened by fungus

Scientists in Canada and around the world are racing to find a way to stop a destructive fungus that

Bonnie Bassler on how bacteria "talk" | Video on TED.com

TED Talks Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning implications for medicine, industry -- and our understanding of ourselves.

Zoo Installation Shows Trouble In Wildlife Paradise : TreeHugger

Photo courtesy of Steinbrener-Dempf Trouble in Paradise--an art installation at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo--shows the troubling impact of modern civilization on wildlife habitat. The installation is the work of Austrian artists Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf who have set up six

Iraq Oil a Big Draw for Chinese - NYTimes.com
China is showing increasing interest in oil fields that had seemed until very recently to be firmly in the American sphere of influence for natural resources.

Findings - Calculating Consumer Happiness at Any Price - NYTimes.com

Could it be that humans are not quite as gullible as advertised? Researchers can’t always sway diners with the lure of a bargain.

Scientists create first electronic quantum processor

A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer.

First step to converting solar energy using 'artificial leaf'

An international team of researchers has modified chlorophyll from an alga so that it resembles the extremely efficient light antennae of bacteria. The team was then able to determine the structure of these light antennae. This is the first step to converting sunlight into energy using an artificial ...

Pirate Bay Unveils YouTube-Like Site | Threat Level | Wired.com

This is not your parents' YouTube. This is VideoBay, a YouTube-like service without the worries and hassles of those annoying copyright takedown

There, I Fixed It.

Why boys will pick Bob over Barbie - children are genetically programmed, say scientists | Mail Online
Tests involving children as young as three months suggest biological differences and not social pressures dictate which toys children like to play with.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Evolution faster when it's warmer

The climate could have a direct effect on the speed of "molecular evolution" in mammals, according to a study.

FORA.tv - Jon Kamen: Mass Urbanization and 19.20.21 Project

@radical.media CEO Jon Kamen presents 19.20.21, an initiative to research and document the first 19 cities to reach 20 million inhabitants during the 21st century.EG is the celebration of the American entertainment industry. Since 1984, Richard Saul Wurman has created extraordinary gatherings about learning and understanding. EG is a rich extension of these ideas - a conference that explores the attitude of understanding in music, film, television, radio, technology, advertising, gaming, interactivity and the web - The Entertainment Gathering

Alcohol worries kept hand sanitizer from flu-hit reserves
Federal officials spent days debating whether to send hand sanitizers to First Nations communities struggling

Plastic Irrigation Trays Make The Most of Dew and Weeding Obsolete : TreeHugger

They don't look pretty, and not what you'd imagine when you skip through an apple orchard but new plastic irrigation trays make the most out of limited water resources. We've already posted on fog and dew collectors. Here's something

Russia to be Particularly Screwed by Climate Change : TreeHugger

Yes, this is an actual photograph of Moscow. Via Wold Front Page According to a new report from the World Bank, Russia is screwed. And in case you hadn't inferred, that's not quite a verbatim quote from the report.

Deep in Bedrock, Clean Energy and Quake Fears - NYTimes.com

AltaRock Energy will drill near San Francisco using a method that has caused earthquakes elsewhere.

Cartographic treasures show little change in city life

(PhysOrg.com) -- A unique collection of rare Manchester maps reveals how worries about congestion and binge drinking were just as prevalent 100-years-ago as they are today.

A new approach to engineering for extreme environments (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Composite materials such as fiberglass, which take on a mix of properties of their constituent compounds, have been around for decades. Now, an MIT materials scientist is taking composites to the nanoscale, where entirely new properties, not found in any of the original compounds, can ...

Prehistoric flute in Germany is oldest known
(AP) -- A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved some 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture.

Obesity May Have Offered Edge Over TB - NYTimes.com

A controversial hypothesis suggests that by revving up the immune system, excess fat may have provided a now-outdated survival tool.

Hidden Whale Culture Could Be Critical to Species Survival | Wired Science | Wired.com

Though it sounds at first like a marine biologist's take on political correctness, respecting the cultural diversity of whales may be essential to saving

Washing machine that uses one cup of water - Telegraph

An environmentally-friendly washing machine developed in Britain that uses
only one cup of water to clean clothes could be on sale next year.

5 Documentaries You Must See to Understand the Water Crisis : TreeHugger

Photo via Randy Son of Robert @ flickr There's a lot to know about the world's water crisis--as you can tell from the month of posts we've been doing on just this one topic. But if you're new to

Melting German Glacier Gets Sunscreen, Again : TreeHugger

Germany gives its national treasure, the Zugspitze, the deep freeze. Photo via flickr by Stephen A A couple weeks ago, Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, got dressed in a sun shield to protect its melting glacier during summer. The

As Factories Close, Graduates Focus More on College - NYTimes.com
Teenagers in suburban Dayton, Ohio, are heading to community colleges after manufacturing plants closed.

Probing question: What is 'Talk and Die' Syndrome?

Ah, summer! Season of baseball, bike rides, barbecues -- and head injuries. There’s nothing like warm weather to get people outside and active, and nothing like activity to fill up an emergency room.

BBC NEWS | Business | Gazprom seals $2.5bn Nigeria deal

Gazprom signs a $2.5bn deal with Nigeria's NNPC, which could boost Russia's control over European energy supplies

The food's cheap. Just don't ask where it came from - The Globe and Mail

Director Robert Kenner had to spend half his production budget for Food, Inc. on lawyers

Can hot water freeze faster than cold? - The Globe and Mail

It can happen. But scientists have yet to figure out exactly why

Supreme Court Shock: Ruling Says Lethal Mining Waste Can Be Dumped in Lakes : TreeHugger

Photo via Flathead Basin In a ruling that will shock and dismay environmentalists everywhere, the US Supreme Court decided that the Clean Water Act shouldn't prevent mining companies from dumping their toxic waste into lakes--even with full knowledge that

Tech Is Too Cheap to Meter: It's Time to Manage for Abundance, Not Scarcity
Get Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene including IT, media, mobility, broadband, video, design, security, software, networking and internet startups on Wired.com

In Australia, Drying Lakes Means Acidic Dust, Potential Health Threats, and Major Bioremediation Efforts : TreeHugger

Photo via aloshbennett As water levels drop in two Australian lakes, the threat of pollution from sulphuric dust arises. Officials are starting to worry that as the artificial pumping of freshwater into two protected lakes at the mouth of

Technology Review: Computer Clusters That Heat Houses

A novel water-cooling system makes it more efficient for computers to heat buildings.

Ball Mill from mainly recycled parts

This is my first instructable and I will be showing you how to make a ball mill for grinding chemicals from some recycle...

Well - How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains - NYTimes.com

A recipe for indulging: salt, sugar and fat, mixed many ways. But we can fight it.

Television Review - 'NYC Prep' - Rich Kids on Bravo, Your Teenage Angst Is Showing - NYTimes.com

The kids in “NYC Prep” roam New York unsupervised by parents or teachers, tethered only to the strict rules and unyielding clichés of a Bravo reality show.

New research discovers link between smoking and brain damage
New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), have found that a compound in tobacco provokes ...

Feed your crop, not the weeds

If you have weed problems in your cropping system, will adding nutrients just feed the weeds?

Basics - When an Ear Witness Decides the Case - NYTimes.com

In ways that researchers are just beginning to appreciate, we humans are beholden to our ears.

WAP will re-open with 2 shifts, Laporte says

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Chrysler's Windsor Assembly Plant will re-open June 29 as a two-shift operation, CAW

U.S. Navy tracks N. Korean ship

The United States is monitoring a North Korean ship for weapons and has deployed anti-missile assets

Food, Inc.: Plenty to swallow

Film Review: Food, Inc. (3 stars): The film, in a nutshell (and a corn husk, and a cowhide), is an examination

Gallery | Photos | Multimedia | National Post

Establishing a Food Forest DVD "Promo"

Learn how to establish your own Food Forest with International Permaculture teacher Geoff Lawton as he takes you through the essential stages of designing and b ...

Crackdown in Iran as anger rages over vote - The Globe and Mail

When we stopped, an officer grabbed me, pinned my arm behind my back and led me into the bowels of the Interior Ministry headquarters - where so many Iranian dissidents 'disappear' Mistaken for a protester in Tehran, Globe freelancer George McLeod was captured and beaten by riot police. This is his story.

BBC - Earth News - The plant that pretends to be ill

A plant that feigns sickness to stop it being attacked by insect pests has been found growing in the rainforests of Ecuador.

Jalopnik - TARDEC Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder 2-Cycle Diesel Engine - 2-Cycle

Talk about a gee-whiz motor, TARDEC is showing off its Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder Engine (OPOC) here at the 2008 SAE World Congress and we were impressed enough to take a couple of minutes to find out more. The engine is the result of a DARPA initiative to shrink the overall powertrain package in ground vehicle military applications. The horizontally opposed, twin bore four piston engine is an evolution of the shared bored opposed crank concept developed by the Nazis and swiped by the Russians for tank applications. This particular unit, while far from production ready, is capable of 320 HP, redlines around 3800 RPM. and tips the scales at only 380 lbs.

Are Labor Unions 'Greenmailing' Solar Power Companies? : TreeHugger

Photo via Sustainable NY Call it the seedy underbelly of green business--reports have been surfacing that solar power companies who start projects without agreeing to hire unionized labor are finding themselves in a suspicious bit of trouble. They're suddenly

Technology Review: Wikipedia Gets Ready for a Video Upgrade
The online encyclopedia is poised to let users find, edit, and embed clips.

Art Review - 'Pen and Parchment' - At the Met, Proof That Medieval Monks Could Draw - NYTimes.com

A show at the Metropolitan Museum reveals medieval drawing to be vital, evolving, remarkably diverse and essential to the medium’s Renaissance blossoming.

Observatory - Getting Mosquitoes to Poison Their Own Larvae - NYTimes.com

With so many potential breeding sites, spreading pesticide can be a painstaking, door-to-door activity, so why not let the mosquitoes do the work?

Canada proposes six chemicals ban in toys, new lead limits

Canada's Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq on Friday proposed banning six commonly-used chemicals in soft vinyl toys and child-care articles, as well as new strict limits for lead in products.

'Milking' microscopic algae could yield massive amounts of oil

Scientists in Canada and India are proposing a surprising new solution to the global energy crisis —“milking” oil from the tiny, single-cell algae known as diatoms, renowned for their intricate, beautifully sculpted shells that resemble fine lacework. Their report appears online in the current issue ...

Old People May Be Immune to Swine Flu | Wired Science | Wired.com

Just having been alive for a while could protect you from getting the novel swine flu circling the planet. In 1977, a type of H1N1 virus, commonly known

In hard-hit Windsor, city workers strike rubs salt into the wounds - The Globe and Mail
With high unemployment rates and a shrinking economy, municipal employees fighting to preserve benefits at a time when many residents face a future with no benefits at all

USF dean Abdul Rao to resign over stolen bicycle flap - St. Petersburg Times [via claudio]

Abdul Rao plans to leave his $384,280 job after he's accused of stealing a bike. TAMPA — The University of South Florida administrator accused of taking a graduate student's $100 mountain bike announced Tuesday that he will resign.

War-Time Fungus Joins Elephant Dung to Make Biofuels (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

When the U.S. Army fought in the
Pacific during World War II, it discovered a fungus eating
soldiers’ cotton tents. Six decades later, scientists have
genetically engineered the organism to make cheaper biofuels.

Louisiana to See Biggest Levee-Busting Operation in North America : TreeHugger

Photo via University of Maryland And that's a good thing, believe it or not. Mentioning levee-busting and Louisiana in the same breath may seem like a faux pas, even vulgar, with repercussions of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy still afflicting

Recycled Tire Logs Say to Pressure Treated Lumber, “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better...” : TreeHugger

Photo via: www.EricCastro.biz “I Can Do Anything Better than You!” RTP Re-Tread Products is in the testing phase of a series of recycled rubber tire products designed to one day take the place of some of the applications where

Gallery: Antique Windmills Go About Their Daily Snuff Grind | Underwire | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >> ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Most windmills today are used to generate

Toxic molecule may help birds 'see' north and south
Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration. The molecule, superoxide, is proposed as a key player in the mysterious process that allows birds to 'see' Earth's magnetic field.

Competition may be reason for bigger brain

For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change, ecological demands and social competition. ...

Extreme Life Thrives Where the Livin’ Ain’t Easy | Wired Science | Wired.com

<< previous image | next image >> Once upon a time, scientists routinely found life in places where

How Botulism Paralyzes Nerve Cells: New Details Revealed

(PhysOrg.com) -- New structures of a botulism toxin interacting with a mimic of the nerve-cell protein it destroys suggest new ways to block this often-fatal interaction. Indeed, the mimic molecules have such high affinity for the toxin and bind to it so tightly that they themselves could possibly serve ...

Ananova - Student wakes up in 150ft crane cab

An Austrian student woke up in the cab of a 150-foot-high crane after a night boozing with friends.

A troubled week in Iran - The Big Picture - Boston.com
The Big Picture - News Stories in Photographs from the Boston Globe