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Illustration by Dan Winters When supersecretive agriculture giant Cargill decided to attack the no-calorie-sweetener market dominated by Sweet'N Low, Splenda, and Equal, it sent its best marketers and scientists to basement war rooms and covert labs. Only now can the inside story of Truvia -- and its unlikely success -- be told. SAYS ZANNA MCFERSON , plucking a stevia leaf from a plant on her desk and biting into it, "I knew there had to be something we could do with it." Through the expansive windows of her corner office at Cargill's headquarters, an Aspen-like mega-lodge on the outskirts of suburban Minneapolis, she stares out at the snowy pines and at the horizon beyond

Groupon, the group buying site offering daily deals, has proven to be wildly popular with consumers. Great discounts are given for restaurants, retail stores, spas, theaters and much more.

1. Nintendo has released financial data suggesting it's slipping mightily--versus last year, its net sales of $12.4 billion until March 31st are down 29%, and profits have slumped 66%

Titled aristocracy can pick anywhere in the world for their playground, but season after season, you will find them in the same sandboxes.

It's only taken half a century or so, but the American public has finally realized and come to accept that inhaling additive-laden smoke--first or second-hand (or third-hand , even)--isn't the healthiest thing in the world. So over the past 10 years, 25 states and Washington, D.C. have implemented smoking bans in private sector worksites, restaurants, and bars

PGT: Luke Donald's missed chip at the Heritage gives Lee Westwood the overall No. 1 ranking in the world again.

Chances are, you've at least heard of Kiva , the microfinancing nonprofit that allows users to give bite-sized loans to entrepreneurs in poverty-stricken regions. Because people like to feel good by offering cash to worthy causes (or so we've heard), Kiva has done exceptionally well, funding $200 million worth of microloans since its launch in 2004. And as of today, you can specifically fund what are, in our opinion, the smartest entrepreneurs--the ones who realize that efficiency is the key to becoming self-sufficient.

Nature News and Columbia University team up and produce a Google Earth map that makes nuclear risk stark. Nature News and Columbia University have joined forces to make a Google Earth map showing the world populations at risk from nuclear fallout. The interactive map combines data on population and the locations and sizes of reactors, plotting risk graphically in the form of circles.

It's that time of the year again, when publicists everywhere pitch their most eco-friendly products in the silliest of ways. Let's hope they're at least diluting real environmentalism with reclaimed water. Happy Earth Day, everyone

01 / Yandex > > For mastering search. The internet search company Yandex is already three times more popular than Google in its home market (Russia) and this year, it made its move onto Google's international turf with the launch of an English-language search engine. One of Yandex's key advantages has always been the complexity of the Russian language, whose Lego-set of prefixes, roots and suffixes has forced it to be a step ahead in the nuance of its algorithms.

Almost 900 million people in the world live without access to safe drinking water--the kind of water that is safe enough to flow straight from the tap into your mouth (with maybe a Brita filter in between). For these people, walking hours each day to faraway and potentially contaminated streams and wells is a way of life, and not one that is particularly conducive to getting much done

Professional pyromaniacs (fine, engineers) employed by the insurance industry are finding increasingly sophisticated ways to recreate horrific natural disasters--and their research is helping companies avoid millions in losses. As wildfires rage through Texas and the U.S

The fuel of the future isn't gasoline, ethanol or even hydrogen--it's education. Specifically, the science and engineering education that will enable a fresh group of smart young people to tackle the world's ongoing energy crisis. Solve the energy crisis and you go a long way's toward solving a host of environmental problems: pollution, environmental health risks, climate change, to name just a few

Former Wall Street Journal fashion journalist Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan was toying with the idea of writing a food memoir when she was laid off in 2009. She promptly landed a book deal and spent the next year traveling to Singapore to research what became the just-out A Tiger in the Kitchen

Garrett Willis may have regained his putting touch at The Heritage.