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By Duncan Graham-Rowe of Nature magazine Flexible, transparent lithium-ion batteries have been made by a team of researchers at Stanford University in California, a technological leap that could spawn see-through electronic gadgets such as translucent iPads. Many electronic components can be fabricated to be transparent, but so far this hasn't been possible for the power supply, says materials scientist Yi Cui, who led the work, which is published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Batteries are normally made up of a pair of electrodes separated by an electrolytic solution, with something to conduct the current to an external circuit, and packaging to hold it all together.

By Sid Perkins of Nature magazine Climate change could increase the number of large wildfires in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and the surrounding region in the coming decades. [More]

By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine GRENOBLE, FRANCE When its experiments started in earnest earlier this year, many scientists hoped that the world's most powerful collider would turn up new particles, additional dimensions and perhaps even a small black hole or two. [More]

Prolonged dry conditions from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic this summer has some farmers concerned about how it will impact their crops. The corn crop, an important staple along the parched agricultural zone extending from Iowa to Pennsylvania, is already being affected.

A crash involving two trains and a fire aboard a long-distance bus in China caused a total of 80 deaths in a two-day period late last week, raising questions about that nation's safety culture. [More]

Dear EarthTalk : I have a carpet made out of recycled PET bottles in my baby’s room and I started noticing a lot of the fibers on our clothes and even in my mouth! Is it dangerous for me or my baby to be in contact with and possibly ingest these fibers? -- Ashley Riccaboni, via e-mail

Today we are starting a new feature on the Scientific American Blog Network. [More]

Warming in the Arctic is causing the release of toxic chemicals long trapped in the region's snow, ice, ocean and soil, according to a new study. Researchers from Canada, China and Norway say their work provides the first evidence that some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are being "remobilized" into the Arctic atmosphere.

For the background on what Open Lab is, see this post. [More]

Self-control--the ability to regulate our attention, emotions and behaviors--emerges in childhood and grows throughout life, but the skill varies widely among individuals. Past studies have reported that self-control is partially inherited and partially learned and that those with less self-control are more likely to be unemployed, en

In 1989 when scientists discovered the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis, a serious hereditary disorder that primarily strikes children of European descent, it seemed as though a long-hoped-for cure might soon follow. After all, tests in many laboratories showed that providing normal copies of the gene should enable patients to make healthy copies of the protein specified by the gene. If successful, that feat would go a long way toward restoring health in the tens of thousands of people around the world who suffered from cystic fibrosis and typically died in their late 20s

Two decades ago individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) had an average life expectancy of less than 30 years. A serious hereditary disorder that makes breathing and digestion difficult, cystic fibrosis still cannot be cured, but several drugs and supportive health regimens have helped extend the life span of many people to 40 years or more.

Girls and the rest of us aside, diamonds can be a geologist's best friend--especially if that geologist has a mass spectrometer and is looking for clues about what Earth looked like billions of years ago. [More]

By Ewen Callaway of Nature magazine One of the coral species hit hardest by climate change has become the first to have its genome published. [More]