New Orleans

The replacement for the Homeland Security Department's computerized network for nationwide information sharing could be headed down the same path as its cumbersome original, said a government report released Wednesday.

For the most part, the callers were calm, patiently asking for the fastest path out of New Orleans or some other Gulf Coast city as Hurricane Gustav twisted its way to the northwest.

They started calling General Motors Corp.'s OnStar service by the thousands early Saturday, and by Sunday their numbers had grown to more than 3,000 an hour.

As more than 2 million people tried to outrun the deadly storm, OnStar beefed up its staff to around 500 and put emergency plans in place at three call centers in Pontiac, Mich.; Oshawa, Canada; and Charlotte, N.C.

After Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast, small businesses such as the Silk Road Collection antique store in New Orleans had little hope of surviving. Tourists and local customers had vanished, and it would take years for the city to rebuild.

Donald St. Pierre, the owner of Silk Road, and his business and life partner, Robert Turner, feared that they might have to close the shop. They couldn't land government or bank loans, and their personal savings were keeping the business afloat.

A team of academics based at the University of Washington have announced an exciting breakthrough in dye-sensitized solar cell technology.
Researchers studying solar cell configurations discovered that by using a design based on a popcorn ball (tiny spheres grouped into bigger porous spheres), efficiency in cheap solar cells was more than doubled.

A team of academics based at the University of Washington have announced an exciting breakthrough in dye-sensitized solar cell technology.
Researchers studying solar cell configurations discovered that by using a design based on a popcorn ball, (tiny spheres grouped into bigger porous spheres), efficiency in cheap solar cells was more than doubled.