One night in 2014, parents at the Citizens of the World Charter School in Brooklyn, NY, were cataloguing their school’s woes. The kids didn’t have a playground. There was no stop sign at the intersection leading to the school. In the park down the block, the pavement was so shattered that a wheelchair couldn’t navigate it. One mother who lives...

The global trend toward decentralization is opening government and the political process at every level. From registering to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles to using a city’s smartphone app to report potholes, political leaders are finding their work is easier, more effective and more satisfying the more that individuals are involved.

Scientists in Singapore have grown a tiny version of a portion of the human brain. These “organoids,” grown from human tissue and small enough to fit several on a fingernail, replicate functions of the human mid-brain. The mid-brain is an information-transfer hub that controls the senses, physical movement and produces dopamine, a key to fluid physical movements. Parkinson’s Disease is...

The confluence of technologies such as CRISPR-cas 9 gene editing and 3-D printing allows science to build living-organ models not only to replace failing original equipment, but also to study disease and treatments on human organs without risking human lives. While this promises to extend humans’ health span, the danger of rogue uses will grow.

Among the jobs being eliminated by advances in information technology are jobs in – information technology. In September, 142,000 low-level, front-line IT jobs disappeared. These tended to be in call centers, product manufacturing and similar jobs that don’t require a high level of creativity or judgment. Software and systems design are still growth areas, as is the tech sector overall...

Artificial intelligence is squeezing the job market from both ends. Routine work is being automated among clerical and warehouse workers, but also for lawyers, accountants and pharmacists. The safest jobs will be those requiring creativity and problem-solving. Hands-on services such as plumbing, hairdressing and yoga teaching also will be refuges for employment.

Businesses that specialize in healthy living, green building, ecotourism and natural products are the new takeover targets. This year, about 7 percent of those companies have been in the gunsights of corporate giants seeking a piece of the US’ $290 billion annual market for things eco-friendly. Unilever, the European consumer-products conglomerate, just paid more than $600 million to gobble up...

Big corporations have been late to the booming market for environmentally oriented products, for which consumers have shown a willingness to pay a 20 percent premium. Buying green companies lets major corporations outsource risk and still harvest the rewards while also putting a green tinge on their brands. The pace of acquisitions will remain steady, if not increase, through 2017.

Scientists in Spain and the UK have combined two effective influenza vaccines to create a new formula that should be effective against more than 90 percent of present and future flu strains. One vaccine has been effective against 88 percent of flu viruses known globally; the other works against 95 percent of flu strains that have afflicted the US. The...