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"What will a warmer, drier climate do to the legendary quality of Swiss cheese? To address this and other questions, researchers from EPFL and Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil had small flocks of sheep graze below plastic greenhouse tunnels in western Switzerland, near Yverdon. The main focus of the experiment was to study the effects of droughts on mountain pastures and their forage production. On Wednesday, September 12th, the organizers are holding an open day to present the campaign to members of agricultural institutions, researchers and the public."

As I read both Carr and Shirky over the past couple weeks-who both seek parallels between the rise of the internet and digital social media and the invention of the printing press in the 16th century-I couldn't help thinking about medieval manuscripts. Since the early 1990s, both medievalists and electronic media theorists have pointed to the hypertexted quality of medieval illuminated manuscripts in making complementary claims: medievalists to continuing cultural relevancy and electronic media theorists in continuity to literary tradition. The medieval books we admire so much today are distinguished by the remarkable visual images, in the body of a text and in the margins, that scholars have frequently compared to hypertexted images on internet "pages."

Parallels to our information overload problems in past times. Henry Jenkins is a leading scholar in comparative media studies who currently teaches at USC.

Cornell researchers are calling on their colleagues around the world to focus on how aging global populations will intersect with climate change and calls for environmental sustainability.

Perhaps lost in the recent debates related to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is that natural disasters and not nuclear energy should be the focus, says Oak Ridge National Laboratory's John Sorensen, an emergency preparedness expert.

The current focus on assessment means the public debate is overlooking how schools are engaging young people and preparing them for the future, according to Lyn Yates, Professor of Curriculum in the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education.

he car of the future could be propelled by a fuel cell powered with hydrogen. But what will the fuel tank look like? Hydrogen gas is not only explosive but also very space-consuming. Storage in the form of very dense solid metal hydrides is a particularly safe alternative that accommodates the gas in a manageable volume. As the storage tank should also not be too heavy and expensive, solid-state chemists worldwide focus on hydrides containing light and abundant metals like magnesium.

People who look at the past through rose-tinted glasses are happier than those who focus on negative past experiences and regrets, according to a new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. The study helps explain why personality has such a strong influence on a person's happiness. The findings suggest that persons with certain personality traits are happier than others because of the way they think about their past, present and future.

Active efforts are required to preserve biodiversity in the seas - that far most people are in agreement. But in our enthusiasm to save uncommon species, we sometimes miss the common species that form the basis of marine ecosystems. 'Change strategy' is the challenge to the authorities from researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.