Scientists have figured out how drug-resistant bacteria use a protein to build their “defensive barriers,” and thus, how that protein could be inhibited. This is big news in the war on bacteria.

Fledgling projects seek to fight Islamic extremism by introducing critical thinking and the scientific method to Arab societies. They may already be influencing education and government-run media.

Argentina tried to play fast and loose with a Supreme Court ruling this week, but a New York judge smacked it down.

A team from Cornell University has designed a microchip that can be inserted directly into plants to tell farmers exactly when their crops need watering. This is very good news for Gaia.

Good afternoon, TAI readers! We hope you’ve had a restful weekend. As you gear up for the week ahead, take a look at what you may have missed on the site during the week we’ve left behind:

The religious news out of the Middle East isn’t unrelentingly bad this week. Our Lady of Arabia, the first Catholic cathedral in Bahrain, is slated to be built on land donated by the country’s king himself.

Financial service jobs are growing at a faster rate in the Sun Belt than in traditional financial powerhouses like NYC. Telework and high quality of life at a cheaper cost of living are drawing workers to new places.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, published 66 years ago this week, is indeed shocking, but as much for its simplistic and pessimistic account of inherent human evil than for its courage in facing up to reality.

The free higher education plan Starbucks is offering employees isn’t the great act of munificence that some seem to have expected, but it will largely benefit all parties involved.

China grows much of its crops in its driest provinces, according to a new report. That’s a very water-intensive practice, in a country that can’t afford to be profligate with that precious resource.