Search results for

The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge asked engineers to dream up a replacement for the antiquated flush toilet. Michael Hoffmann and his team at Caltech responded with a solar-powered toilet that disinfects waste and reuses wastewater to flush. Better yet, it pumps out hydrogen gas for use in fuel cells.

A few years ago, it was rare to hear of assaults by men in Afghan security uniforms against NATO troops. But this year, such shootings account for more than 10 percent of the deaths among coalition troops in Afghanistan. Some are carried out by Taliban infiltrators; but others appear to stem from personal disputes.

Actors in period garb are the usual denizens of the Strawbery Banke Museum campus in Portsmouth, N.H., which spans 250 years of history. To make ends meet, though, the museum has lured more modern dwellers — renters for the upper levels of its historic homes.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney discarded his increasingly inert better-safe-than-sorry campaign strategy Saturday when he named budget hawk and Democratic bete noire Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. But the pick has handed Democrats a trove of material to use in an effort to weaken the GOP ticket's appeal among independent voters, women and senior citizens.

Mitt Romney and President Obama contrasted their economic visions in dueling Ohio events Thursday. In Cincinnati, Romney attacked Obama's record on the economy and talked about his own plan to lower taxes and cut regulations.

After a robust start to the year, job growth in the U.S. has slowed. Many employers want to add more workers, but they say uncertainty about how Congress will handle the nation's fiscal crisis and financial troubles in Europe have left them reluctant to hire.

Hollywood studios are dealing with big budget flops and the release of G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been postponed until March. Kim Masters, host of The Business, and editor at large for The Hollywood Reporter, talks to Renee Montagne about the summer woes at movie studios.

When the Philadelphia Orchestra first visited China four decades ago, it was a prestigious, well-funded institution performing in a poor, underdeveloped nation. Now the orchestra is emerging from bankruptcy and hoping that an increasingly wealthy China can provide new streams of revenue.

While Congress debates food stamp cuts, the government should disclose where the program's costs are going and how much retailers and banks are profiting, says a new consumer watchdog report, Food Stamps: Follow The Money.

A House committee meets to consider a report holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Wednesday. Holder failed to turn over subpoenaed documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, a botched gun-trafficking operation. Rep. Darrell Issa met with Holder Tuesday in an effort to resolve difference over his panel's subpoena for the documents.