Zurich

When Google began hiring in Zurich for its new engineering center in 2004, local officials welcomed the U.S. company with open arms. Google's arrival is still bearing fruit for Zurich: 450 employees, about 300 of them engineers, work in Google's seven-story complex in a converted brewery on the outskirts of the placid mountain metropolis.

Researchers in Massachusetts are working on a technique to turn heat gathered by asphalt into useable energy via water pipes. Their paper, released this week at the International Symposium on Asphalt Pavements and Environment in Zurich, posits that asphalt roads could be better than solar panels in gathering energy.

As rising fuel prices slash airline profits and a recent charge for checked baggage irks fliers, United Airlines is beefing up its appeal to business travelers through Apple's iPod.

United's international flights are offering an entertainment system with a 30-pin connector to plug in an iPod and listen to music or watch videos on a 15.4-inch screen. Plugging in also charges the device.