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In urban communities, less than 1 in 100 inhabitants died from Spanish flu in 1918, but in isolated communities up to 9 out of 10 died. An important explanation for the differences is due to different exposure to influenza in the decades before the Spanish flu came. Those living in urban communities probably had a higher degree of pre-existing immunity that protected against illness and death in 1918 than those living in very isolated rural areas. This is shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

What are the major technology challenges to future growth in the solar-cell industry? Where are the big-bang-for-the-buck R&D investment opportunities? These and other questions were put to a group of 72 internationally recognized experts in the field at a 2010 special workshop. Their conclusions are summarized in a new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publication on Photovoltaic Technologies for the 21st Century.

The health implications of polluting the environment weigh increasingly on our public consciousness, and pharmaceutical wastes continue to be a main culprit. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher says that current testing for these dangerous contaminants isn't going far enough.

Transparency builds trust. The phrase has become so axiomatic in corporate relations that it's inching perilously close to cliché. And while virtues of openness and transparency are well-established in the corporate world, they're even more essential when applied to the operation of city governments. A recent Knight Foundation/Pew Research study shows how important, demonstrating that if citizens believe their city governments behave in a transparent manner and make information easily accessible, they tend to think more highly about their town and its civic institutions.

How many times do we hear that some scientific view is "only theory" or that it is "not proven"? The hidden implication is that if we have not "proven" the case, then we do not know anything for certain about it, and any idea is as good as any other. A recent and vivid example of this problem is the ongoing argument in the popular media about global warming. Do we need to be absolutely certain before we take action?

From the 1st through the 6th of February 2011, we were shooting, editing and screening an immediated autodocumentary video at the Transmediale digital art and culture festival in the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Along with events like Ars Electronica and Future Everything, Transmediale is one of the most significant media art events in Europe. We were honored to be included in the Open Zone, a space which will be open to the public, described in the festival programme as "a social experiment with different social territories that are occupied by artists and media activists". We are calling this project The Future of Art. Our goal was a short video which explores questions about the future of art, both in regard to its aesthetics, production, finance, curation, distribution and collection. In addition to conducting interviews at the festival, we were reaching out to several artists in advance of the festival over Skype. Our intention with the Skype interviewees is to extend the discourse beyond the geophysical limits of the festival by including artists who we wish could be here with us in Berlin in February.