Deep inside a 70-year-old water-treatment plant, drinking water for Iowa's capital city is cleansed of harmful nitrates that come from the state's famously rich farmland.
Without Des Moines Water Works, the central Iowa region of 500,000 people that it serves wouldn't have a thriving economy. But after decades of ceaseless service, the utility is confronting an array of problems: Water mains are cracking open hundreds of times every year. Rivers that provide its source water are increasingly polluted. And the city doesn't know how it will afford a $150 million treatment plant at a time when revenues are down and maintenance costs are up.
Drinking water systems imperiled by failing infrastructure
Is the GOP Clown Car a Volkswagen? It should be.
China marked its President's visit to the US by announcing a cap and trade program on the burning of carbon starting in 2017. Now the Right Wing Nut Jobs really can call Obama's Cap and Trade proposal a Commie Plot with some small measure of truth.
China's economic problems are likely to get somewhat worse, but it's hardly the global disaster the short sellers would like you to bet on. Literally bet on, Wall Street has instruments to sell you that will cover you against China's collapse for a small fee. Check out their Brooklyn Bridge penny stocks while you're at it.
Supermassive black hole bigger than scientists thought was possible
Astronomers in England have discovered a supermassive black hole many times larger than should be possible.
In astrophysics, very few rules are hard and fast. There are mostly just loose parameters, theories and informed expectations -- expectations that are constantly being subverted by newly discovered phenomena.
FDA: Start-up's cancer blood test may be harmful
A San Diego company selling an early cancer detection test was notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration it can find no evidence the test actually works, and is concerned it could prove to be harmful for some people.
Pathway Genomics debuted its CancerIntercept test in early September with claims it can detect cancer cell DNA in the blood, picking up mutations linked to as many as 10 different cancers. The goal is to catch cancer early in people who are "otherwise healthy" and not showing symptoms of the disease.
Brain-computer connection helps paralyzed man walk
A man's ability to walk using direct brain control of his legs was restored after years of being paralyzed, researchers reported in a proof-of-concept study.
The system uses electrical signals from the man's brain, sending them to electrodes placed on his knees, allowing him to voluntarily move his legs.
Previous research has shown paralysis patients can be made to move their legs with noninvasive treatments, however this study used virtual reality training and a harness system, rather than an exoskeleton to help the man support his weight.
Caterpillar says it could cut 10,000 jobs to reduce costs
Caterpillar is planning another round of job cuts that could exceed 10,000 people through 2018, as the construction and mining equipment maker adjusts to downturns in key markets that it serves.
That could amount to more than 8 percent of the 126,800 employees it had globally as of June.
The Peoria, Illinois, company said Thursday that it will cut as many as 5,000 people mostly by the end of this year from its salaried and management workforce. It then could cut thousands more, raising the total cuts above 10,000, as it figures out which factories and manufacturing sites to close through 2018.
Turing Pharmaceuticals decreasing Daraprim drug price after outrage
Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, announced he will reduce the price for Daraprim, a drug used to treat toxoplasmosis, after an earlier 5,000 percent price increase that generated mass criticism and accusations of drug-price gouging.
Shkreli, 32, told NBC News the new price would be determined in the coming weeks. He said lowering the price was a decision taken in reaction to the outrage over Daraprim's price surge.
The pope at White House: Climate change action can't wait
Jumping into the issues of the day, Pope Francis opened his visit to the United States with a strong call Wednesday for action to combat climate change, calling it a problem that "can no longer be left to a future generation." President Barack Obama, in turn, hailed the pontiff as a moral force who is "shaking us out of our complacency" with reminders to care for the poor and the planet.
The White House mustered all the pageantry it had to offer as the pope arrived at the White House before an adoring crowd of thousands and a nation that seemingly cannot get enough of the humble pontiff who is rejuvenating American Catholicism while giving heartburn to some of its conservatives.
Clinton comes out against Keystone XL
Hillary Clinton says she opposes building the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, made the announcement Tuesday after years of pressure from environmentalists to oppose the project.
“I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline, as what I think it is, as a distraction to the important work we have to do on climate change,” Clinton said Tuesday at a campaign event in Iowa. "And unfortunately, from my perspective, on that interferes with our ability to move forward with all the other issues."
Page 208 of 1143
