The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has long been known worldwide for its engineering programs, and a symposium at MIT this week will draw scientists from around the globe to focus on a hot facet of the field -- climate engineering.Creating an artificial cloud cover, or modifying clouds to reflect light back into space, is one of them. But probably the more popular climate engineering technology now involves pumping sulfates into the atmosphere to block the sun's rays and cool temperatures, ...

For Laura Geraghty, April 1, 2009, started out just as any other day. It was sunny but cool, she remembers. The mother of two, also a grandmother, was at her job, driving a school bus for the Newton Public School District in suburban Boston, Massachusetts. Her passengers, special-needs children, were wheelchair-bound. Seemingly in good health and in good spirits, Geraghty was finishing up her late-morning run, transporting a student and teacher back to Newton South High School, when she realized ...

They're angry and fighting back with full force. The White House, Democrats and health care experts are blasting a new insurance industry trade report that finds that health insurance premiums for the typical American family would increase by $4,000 by 2019 under a key Senate overhaul plan. The analysis by America's Health Insurance Plans indicates that under the Senate Finance Committee plan -- spearheaded by Democratic Chairman Max Baucus -- the costs of private health insurance would rise by 111 ...

I have been working out religiously and eating very healthy for the past six months and have lost about 25 pounds, now down to 170. I am 5 feet 9. However, I am still having a difficult time getting the area around my stomach trimmed down. It is so frustrating to keep losing weight but not see the "spare tire" go away. My question is, what should be my ideal weight, and what suggestions do you have to focus that ...

"Obviously, first of all, this conversation never took place. ... OK?" So began a phone call in which convicted swindler Bernard Madoff told colleagues how to dance around questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to an audiotape and transcript released Wednesday by the Massachusetts secretary of state's office. "You know, you don't have to be too brilliant with these guys, because you don't have to be," Madoff said, referring to SEC investigators. Authorities continue to unravel ...

Steve Stricker climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings after a birdie-birdie finish gave him a one-shot victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship, with Tiger Woods finishing only 11th despite a scintillating closing 63. Stricker has replaced his fellow American at the top of the FedEx Cup standings with the biggest win of his career and took his season earnings to just over $6 million -- $2.3 million behind the world's top-ranked player. On a tense Labor Day finish ...

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has tagged two great white sharks off Cape Cod in an area where shark sightings have been reported, state officials said Sunday. The first tagging Saturday marked the first time a great white shark had been successfully tagged in the Atlantic Ocean, the division said in a statement. A second shark was tagged Saturday afternoon, officials said. The taggings took place in the waters near Chatham, Massachusetts, two days after Greg Skomal, shark expert ...

Schools of robotic fish could one day map the ocean floor, detect pollution or inspect and survey submerged boats or oil and gas pipelines, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say. MIT engineers are showing off the latest generation of so-called robofish 15 years after they built the first one. The latest incarnation is sleeker, more streamlined and capable of mimicking the movements of a real fish. And it's capable of exploring underwater terrain submersibles can't, said Pablo ...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Justice Department's decision to review waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques is politically motivated. Cheney said he opposes the decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to ask a former prosecutor to review CIA interrogations of high-profile terrorism suspects. Cheney made clear he believes President Obama directed Holder to launch the review because the president is feeling pressure from left-wing Democrats. Cheney said the review will undermine the ...

President Barack Obama hailed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy as "a champion for those who had none, the soul of the Democratic Party and the lion of the U.S. Senate" at a funeral Mass for the late lawmaker Saturday. A virtual who's who of American politics gathered to pay respects to Kennedy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in the Mission Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts. Former Presidents Carter, Clinton and George W. Bush were among the dignitaries who ...