A home that's no fixer-upper
USC students will start construction this month on a model house as part of the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition. Their goal: affordable and environmentally friendly housing for the future.
Fewer babies and more Boomers make for a graying California
Declining birth rates and a growing senior population mean California will come to depend on the economic power of a small number of young people in the future. The change, part of an eye-opening report, raises important challenges for policymakers. The report also confirms a continuing trend of fewer people moving into the state.
They will pulse no wine before its time
Wine aficionados call it "the crush." It's when harvested grapes are squeezed (and sometimes stomped) to free their juices for winemaking. If USC Viterbi engineers have their way, though, it might be called "the pulse." Their developing technology uses bursts of electricity to release the grapes' juice. Early results: delicious.
You and your PC: Never ever getting back together?
A quarter of PC users report they'll ditch their computers when their current boxes become unusable, according to a survey by USC Annenberg's Center for the Digital Future and market research firm Bovitz Inc. It's not that tablets and handheld devices are more hip; their mobility seems to be a key selling point.
