"An online encyclopedia aiming to describe every type of animal and plant on the planet has reached 170,000 entries and is helping research into aging, climate change and even the spread of insect pests."

"European police agency Europol expects further arrests in connection with suspected carbon credit tax fraud after Britain's tax office said two more people were arrested in London late on Wednesday, bringing the total to nine."

"The Environmental Protection Agency says it's putting the Chesapeake Bay on a pollution diet. The federal agency used the Twitter social networking site to 'tweet' the message Friday to its followers on the site."

"A mysterious disease that has reduced honeybee populations in Europe and the United States could be caused in part by a virus, according to research."

"Milk may have a wholesome commercial image, but the dairies that produce most of the nation's supply aren't always healthy places to work. Dairy workers are injured at a much higher rate than other workers in the U.S." Most of the West's 50,000 dairy workers are immigrants with families to feed, many undocumented. Government rules to protect them are as weak as skim milk.

Feuds and politics seem to have kept former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's state EPA from referring criminal pollution cases to Attorney General Lisa Madigan for at least 2 years.

A July 19 fire at Citgo's Corpus Christi refinery released deadly hydrogen fluoride, maimed one worker, and threatened a poor, largely minority community at its fenceline. Now larger questions are being asked -- about how authorities responded to it and whether it could have been prevented.

"Drinking water containing a common herbicide could pose a greater public health risk than previously thought because regular municipal monitoring doesn't detect frequent spikes in the chemical's levels, according to a report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council."

Critics complain that "McMansions" have ruined neighborhoods. The McMansion fad fizzled with the real estate bust -- but could it return?