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By using the host of position-relating sensors in modern smartphones, scientists at MIT think they could make the phones and network perform better so your calls don't drop when you're on the move. When you're strolling or rolling through a crowded city chatting on your cellphone, there are a number of things that can get in the way of your call working properly. A primary culprit is handoff between different cell towers.

Three days. One boat.

It's the fashion these days to blame teachers for everything that is wrong with American education. But teachers are still the people in our schools every day, and they know what our schools are lacking. That's the premise of DonorsChoose.org , a website where teachers can ask for specific items for their classrooms, and users can give them money to buy those items.

Finally! Some more substantial evidence that Google is readying a music service! For years , rumors have been trickling in that the search giant plans to create a cloud-based subscription music service that would store all your songs in a "digital locker." But until now, the rumors have amounted to little more than, well, rumors. Now we've learned two more reasons why prospects of a Google music service are looking increasingly more likely. First, Google confirmed it had acquired mobile music startup PushLife for $25 million

Ethonomic Indicator of the Day: 45% -- The amount of fracked natural gas the U.S.

We had a feeling that BrightSource Energy was destined for big things when Google first announced it was investing $10 million in the solar thermal startup in 2008. After all, Google only invests in impressive ( TechnoServe , eSolar ) and profoundly weird ( wind power from kites , anyone?) companies.

After we wrote about how many solar panel makers fared badly on The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 's 2011 Solar Scorecard , the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) nearly fell over itself to respond, telling us that the solar industry is cleaning up its act--and fast.

Scientists at CalTech are perfecting a technique that converts water, air, and sunlight into different kinds of fuel that could power everything from car engines to fuel cells in cell phones. It sounds almost too good to be true, from an environmental stand-point.

Yesterday we heard about the Open Compute Project. Facebook's director of hardware design, Frank Frankovsky, tells us about part two of the social network’s plan to spur suppliers to build the products it needs.

There are hundreds of animals on the IUCN Red List --the definitive list of animals that are threatened with extinction.

Toys "R" Us will soon be selling iPads alongside G.I. Joes, PlayStation games, and Legos

You know those solar backpacks they sell?

Is our consumer culture, focused on the constant purchasing of disposable goods, destroying our civilization? Quite possibly! But it's also, apparently, making us live longer and healthier lives. Researchers in Taiwan recently completed a study that shows that elderly men and women who shopped once a week or more were 27% less likely to die than those who shopped less frequently.