EAST LANSING, Mich. - Krista and Micah Fuerst were looking near here to buy their first place together, and had narrowed it down to two houses: One built 25 years ago of standard materials, the other brand new and built to strict energy efficiency standards. [More] Popularity: 85% [?] Read More →

Americans scrapped 4 million more cars and trucks last year than they purchased, the first significant drop in the U.S. auto fleet in more than four decades, according to a new report. The United States scrapped 14 million vehicles last year while buying only 10 million new ones, dropping the nation’s fleet from an all-time high of 250 million to 246 million, according to the Earth Policy Institute . [More] Popularity: 22% [?] Read More →

COPENHAGEN–U.S. forests and soils store some 90 billion metric tons of carbon, or 50 years worth of present U.S. emissions from fossil fuels , according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey. As negotiators here at the United Nations’ climate summit continue to struggle to draft a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions –including efforts to reduce deforestation and protect natural sinks–the U.S. Department of Interior is transforming the business of public lands and waters to help combat climate change . [More] ... 

The newest batch of sentries at Naval Base Kitsap–Bangor will not have to wear uniforms. But they won’t get to clock out for breaks–and they will be paid in fish. The base near Washington’s Puget Sound is slated to receive up to 20 Navy-trained bottlenose dolphins and California sea lions to patrol the shoreline around the submarine base as part of a bolstered security initiative started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [More] Popularity: 20% [?] Read More →

NEW YORK–Overlooking the city of Stuttgart in southern Germany, a four-story modern glass house stands like a beacon of environmental sustainability. Built in 2000, it was the first in a series of buildings that are “triple-zero,” a concept developed by German architect and engineer Werner Sobek, which signifies that the building is energy self-sufficient (zero energy consumed), produces zero emissions, and is made entirely of recyclable materials (zero waste). [More] Popularity: 24% [?] Read More →

As cell phones and smart phones take over more communication, information and entertainment functions, concerns about their possible role in causing brain cancer are buzzing on the airwaves. [More] Popularity: 23% [?] Read More →

Electronic health records (EHRs) have received a lot of attention since the Obama administration committed $19 billion in stimulus funds earlier this year to encourage hospitals and health care facilities to digitize patient data and make better use of information technology. The healthcare industry as a whole, however, has been slow to adopt information technology and integrate computer systems, raising the question of whether the push to digitize will result in information that empowers doctors to make better-informed decisions or a morass of disconnected...