Many hotels are making small moves to lessen energy usage or waste, but the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa in American Canyon, Calif., would really please its namesake, the Greek earth goddess. Owner Wen Chang told his builders to install energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning, along with tubular skylights in every room, and to apply only low-volatile organic-compound paints. He chose carpeting that contained postconsumer recycled material and recycled tiles for restrooms. Landscapers built a lagoon for koi carp and swans that would be sustained with reclaimed wastewater generated by guests.Chang strives to be just as green in operations. Every room has recycling bins, [More]

Discounting the FutureIn “The Ethics of Climate change,” John Broome argues on moral grounds against economists who claim that the need to take immediate action against climate change is not urgent. But Broome does not adequately scrutinize the common assumption of economists that future generations will be wealthier. In light of continued global-level ecological degradation and climate change pressures, surely we must face the possibility that those who come after us will be worse off. [More]

When deciding whether to climb a hill, we try to take into account both how high it rises and how steep the ascent will be. Chances are good, however, that our estimates of both these variables will be wrong. Two recent studies show how our perception of vertical distances is skewed--perhaps for good evolutionary reasons.With a Little Help [More]

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]Senior citizens across the world love keeping their brains busy with crossword puzzles, sudoku or word jumbles. These brain-teasers actually help keep neurons firing clearly and quickly. Now a new study has a prescription for the Internet age. According to a paper to be released in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, surfing the web can improve brain function in older adults. [More]

CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid has test driven the first cell phone made with Google's own operating system. The verdict; a commendable first effort, but it's not quite ready for primetime.

AP - Monkeys taught to play a computer game were able to overcome wrist paralysis with an experimental device that might lead to new treatments for patients with stroke and spinal cord injury.

Research shows monkeys with electronic implants connected to brain cells can flex paralyzed muscles.

Scientists at the university of Washington are reporting progress in the effort to restore movement in paralyzed limbs. The researchers worked with monkeys, and used electrodes to connect individual brain cells to muscles in the arms of the animals. The monkeys were able to use those brain cells to move their hands.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monkeys regained the use of paralyzed wrist muscles with a computer-aided device that uses brain signals to direct movement, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Paleontologists have long debated the function of the strange, bony crests on the heads of the duck-billed dinosaurs known as lambeosaurs. The structures contain incredibly long, convoluted nasal passages that loop up over the tops of their skulls. scientists at the university of Toronto, Ohio University and Montana state university now have used CT-scanning to look inside these mysterious crests and reconstruct the brains and nasal cavities of four different lambeosaur species.