U.S. scientists say they can turn E.coli, a strain of bacteria present in the human digestive tract, into a fuel that is twice or three times more efficient than ethanol. The scientists, attached to theUniversity of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) managed to create a strain for the first time that generates alcohol with five carbon atoms per molecule instead of the regular two or three.

Every year around this time, I get the itch to move far away from the cold, gray streets of Baltimore. It's not that I dislike Charm City, but when the mercury falls below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the lure of warmer climates becomes overwhelming. So to ease the pain of last week's cold snap, I decided to browse the real estate listings in California. What I found blew me away.

Nearly one-fifth of the world’s coral reefs have already succumbed to the combined onslaught of global warming, water pollution, and overfishing. Without immediate measures to mitigate climate change and reduce the local pressures on reefs, the world is set to lose another 15% of coral reefs over the next 10−20 years and 20% over 20−40 years. Those are the main conclusions of a new report, produced jointly by a handful of government agencies and nongovernmental organizations from around the world, including the U.S.