Washington, DC, USA. State governments so far are using almost all of their stimulus transportation dollars to build and improve roads and highways, while devoting only about 6 percent to public transit systems, according to a 50-state study released this week by a group seeking to improve urban planning.

Smart Growth America criticized the $6.6 billion that states have allocated for building new roads while providing relatively little for public transit projects that could create 31 per

Reflecting on the idea of a journey, John Pilger wonders if the unsuspected and tragic can change everything.

Sydney, NSW, AUS. T. S. Eliot wrote that the point of any journey was to find out where you came from. As I bore my bulging canvas bag to the wharf at Circular Quay, not far from where my Irish great-great-grandparents had landed in leg irons, I hoped the point of my journey would become clearer once my ship had sailed. The Bretagne was my ship; it was white with blue stripes alo

Fairfax, VA, USA. Current research shows that both human and salamander tissues retain the a kind of "memory" when they regenerate. With few exceptions, the new regenerated tissue is the same type as the original.

Salamander regeneration is legendary: the creatures are able to replace lost limbs, damaged lungs, sliced spinal cord — even bits of brain. It had been assumed that "pluripotent" cells, like human embryonic stem cells, were the soure of an have the uncanny

Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Scientists have shown a high rate of chromosomal abnormalities following conception that may explain comparatively low fertility rates in humans.

Researchers showed for the first time that such abnormalities are present in more than 90% of embryos, even those produced by young, fertile couples, often lost through miscarriage.

Genetic variations are expected among humans: animals subject to evolutionary pressures and quality control issues that affect manufac