Even if people used bikes to run short errands than half the time, it could save more than 1,100 lives a year in 11 Midwestern cities, thanks to reduced air pollution and improved health. That's the word from scientists at the University of Wisconsin, who figured people would bike 4 months out of the year.

No one can guarantee that the rice crisis of 2008 won't happen again. A lot of damage remains from the disaster that sent rice prices soaring even while there was plenty of rice. And there's still some of the fear that produced the crisis in the first place.

A personhood amendment on the state ballot would declare that life begins at conception. There is support for the measure in the conservative state but opposition from groups that say its broad language could limit contraception and threaten fertility treatments.

The Stuxnet computer worm successfully damaged centrifuges at a nuclear facility in Iran. Now, officials responsible for defending U.S. infrastructure fear that Stuxnet may have provided a blueprint for adversaries who may want to sabotage industrial operations in this country.

As the world's population tops 7 billion people, population experts are worried about inevitable increases in cars, computers, bigger homes and a drain on resources. In an effort to combat this, one California company is producing small, energy-efficient homes — some as tiny as 300 square feet.

Electromagnetic field detectors measure signals from faulty wiring and radio waves — but some paranormal investigators say they can also sense spirits. Temperature guns to track cold air in haunted sites are another key component in a ghost-hunter's toolkit. Scientific sense can be made of it all.

Plugging in an electric car — or parking it on a charging mat — may soon be a thing of the past. Robert Siegel talks to Rachel Kaufman of Scientific American about the new developments to boost car batteries on the go.

A new program is teaching university researchers how to make their promising new technologies a reality. They're mentored by entrepreneurs who help them rethink their strategy, and are told to treat everything they think they know about business as nothing more than a hypothesis.