How Gmail saves energy

There are a lot of benefits to cloud computing. For instance, if you believe the commercials, it lets you replace...

Biden doesn't support China's one-child policy, and neither does any other American with power

Gaffe-prone Joe Biden put foot firmly in mouth last week while talking about China's one-child policy. Top Republicans jumped all over his goof, but they were just grandstanding.

Red states, green jobs

It's too bad conservative lawmakers want to shut the South's booming clean economy down, since green jobs fight poverty in the region.

World population could just keep on expanding, says expert

"Leading demographers, including those at the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau, are projecting that world population will peak at 9.5 billion to 10 billion later this century and then gradually decline as poorer countries develop. But what if those projections are too optimistic?"

U.S. government gives food speculators the thumbs up

Since the housing crash, food prices have been at the center of Wall Street speculator's games. Can government regulation make a difference?

Separating fact from fiction on the Keystone XL

Both sides of the oil sands debate exaggerate their arguments. The oil sands are neither a climate catastrophe nor an energy security bonanza.

Poll results handily explained by what bloggers think

First things first: Another week of waiting for details of Senate legislation left little public grist this week. The Economist...

Food Studies: Post-communist pork, the Goat Whisperer, and other stories from the field

Mangalica pigs in Hungary. Food Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and...

Two Stories of Disease: Smallpox and Polio

Smallpox plagued humanity for thousands of years. In the 18th century, smallpox killed one out of every ten children in...