News and Options

Software company Opower thinks it can get consumers to use less electricity by instigating some friendly neighborhood competition.

For every tropical fish that becomes a pet, four are killed. Joan Holt wants to take the violence out of their world.

Medellín, Colombia’s “library parks” — built for its poorest residents — are bringing sanity and community to one of the world’s most violent cities.

How community activists are taking city planning into their own hands and creating pedestrian-friendly blocks via pop-up urbanism.

U.S. soldiers work to undo some of the damage done to Afghanistan's agricultural communities from decades of war.

Facing high unemployment rates, returning U.S. veterans are finding work on the farm.

Tattoo remorse is leading many of the painted masses to rethink their ink, which is fueling a burgeoning business: specialty tattoo removal shops.

Researchers across California are working to bring medical microscopes to our cellphones — and vastly improve field medicine.

A growing body of research reveals myriad benefits — for employers and employees alike — when company policies promoting work-life balance are offered to low-wage workers.

Now that modern militaries accept that war creates psychological trauma, therapists wonder about its toll on the spirit.

Trained celebrants — often with backgrounds in psychology, social work, acting and other professions that emphasize writing or public speaking — are helping families create personalized ceremonies to honor loved ones who've passed on.

A San Diego innovator pays $3 a pound for cigarette butts. But whatever can you recycle them into?

Advocates look to expand programs that address a legacy of the Pol Pot era: an epidemic of heart disease, diabetes and stroke among Cambodian-Americans.

Doppler radar helped save the Texas forests where millions of migrating birds rest each spring.

Outside the U.S., biological labs follow few if any security regulations. A Sandia National Laboratory team works to help those labs prevent deadly microbe releases, accidental and deliberate.

At The Farm School, students learn the nuts, bolts and economics of organic farming, and the spiritual side isn't ignored, either. Garlic plantings may get blessed.

The canine-handler teams produced by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation are the gold standard in their field. All the foundation needs now are some fake disasters the dogs can sniff.

When they beg for alms, are Senegalese "talibés" supporting Quranic schools — or being exploited? The government begins a fitful program of regulation.

Turning foreclosed commercial properties into park networks could put people to work, raise real estate values and promote wise redevelopment.

How the life and death of the Chicago painter known as Hilgos helped bring art — and a better quality of life — to Alzheimer's patients.

Is Canada's use of "traditional ecological knowledge" in resource planning an environmental advance or just a political sop to native tribes?

Melting glaciers yield evidence on new theories of Asian migration to the Americas. Underwater robots search the sea bottom, looking for more.

Emerging research suggests kids' social network postings reflect their real-life behavior. Should that information be used in their medical care?

Amid a rush of political scandals and missteps, we figure that some citizens are more embarrassed for their state than others. We look at the shameful headlines and determine where these states would rank on the citizen embarrassment level.