About 60 percent of homebuyers who have money for a down payment and can find an affordable house seek the old-fashioned neighborhoods with a new twist: walkable with no cars. A new $140 million development named “Tempe,” a 1,000-person rental community in Arizona, allows scooters and bikes, but cars will be banned outright.  The renter lease terms forbids cars to...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has found that the vast majority of children in aged 11-17 do not meet even the most minimal requirements of physical activity. The organizations findings were recently published in the esteemed medical journal, The Lancet.  The study includes data from 1.6 million children. Much of the problem is the addiction to video games, a subject...

The Population Reference Bureau predicts that aging Baby Boomers could cause a 75 percent increase in the number of Americans ages 65 and older requiring nursing home care, from 1.3 million in 2010 to an estimated 2.3 million in 2030.  The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report this year revealing that reported incidents of resident abuse increased from 430...

At the University of Sheffield, plant biologists have looked into what they call “the beating heart” of photosynthesis – the process by which plants live and grow.  The researchers deciphered the workings of a protein that manages the electrical current flowing between two components of chlorophyll which convert sunlight to energy. The breakthrough makes it possible for scientists to genetically...

UBQ Materials, an Israeli start-up, is claiming a revolutionary process that turns household garbage – rotting fruit, cereal boxes, plastics, old bones – into new plastic ready for manufacturers to use. The proprietary process heats the waste to about 750°F and breaks down organic materials. Fibers in the organics blend with the plastic to strengthen the result, which emerges as...

Don’t go to the doctor. Go to the bathroom. Human urine is a treasury of health data. It can offer clues to more than 600 illnesses and health conditions; testify to a person’s exercise habits, sleep patterns, and other issues; and spot changes quickly to flag danger signs. But how to capture those sudden hints of illness? Leave it to...

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs this week, with the Dow jumping more than 200 points, continuing its four-week run.  Could they be rising because economies are contracting around the world? The U.S.-China trade war? The unrest in the streets in every hemisphere? The real answer was found in a survey that polled investors with a combined worth...

Despite having dropped interest rates to record lows plus record stimulus efforts, South Korea’s economy is failing to generate growth.  “We have expected fiscal spending to play the supporting role in adding vitality to the private sector, said Hong Nam-ki, South Korea’s finance minister. “However, it is not working well with limited spillover effects, making us worried.”  South Korea’s economy,...

Last week, Moody’s, the American credit rating agency, lowered its outlook for India to negative. With their GDP dropping to 5 percent, a six-year low, Moody’s forecast a worsening economic climate and a lack of government action to reverse the trend.  Key factors for the negative outlook were the worsening liquidity squeeze, which was exacerbated by India’s enormous shadow banking...

Japan, the world’s third largest economy, grew 0.2 percent in the third quarter, down sharply from a 1.8 percent expansion the previous quarter.  Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Japan’s first stimulus package since 2016, which includes a 2019 budget running through March 2020 and spending plans to boost the economy into 2021.  Finance Minister Taro Aso said 50-year...