"The proportion of American adults who smoke cigarettes has hit a new low, new federal data show. And among those who do smoke, fewer are lighting up every day, and even they are smoking fewer cigarettes."

"President Obama could leave office with the most aggressive, far-reaching environmental legacy of any occupant of the White House. Yet it is very possible that not a single major environmental law will have passed during his two terms in Washington."

"Wineries and vineyards dot the landscape of Livermore with brand new homes and schools popping up right next to them. ... The beauty, however, soon became overshadowed by her family’s illnesses, and nobody knew why it was happening."

"One of the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States may have an extra benefit: protecting people from air pollution."

"No one talks much about toxic Superfund sites anymore. But 49 million Americans live close to one."

"Challenging elitism, racism, and obesity with a grocery store may sound crazy. Here’s what happened when Whole Foods tried to do it in Detroit."

"In some regions of India, a married woman will return to her mother’s house for the last trimester of pregnancy and the birth of her child. But in Mettur, pregnant women are advised by their doctors to stay away."

"Bradford Gilde, a Houston lawyer, stumbled across some unexpected evidence as he was preparing to sue Aruba Petroleum on behalf of a North Texas couple who believed fumes from the company’s natural gas wells were making them sick."