Linda Stern

Facebook Benefits Older Adults By Giving Them Cognitive Boost, Study Says

huffingtonpost.com — Spending time on Facebook has been shown to reduce stress levels, slow down heart rates and -- generally speaking -- just simply relax people. Now new research suggests that learning to use Facebook may have an additional benefit for adults over 65: a sharpening of mental abilities.

Insight: The road to a greener America is littered with road-kill

reuters.com — Credit: Reuters/Hugh Gentry/Files 1 of 2. A special hydro-cell vehicle gets refueled at an alternative energy facility that converts solar and wind energy into hydrogen at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii in this July 19, 2012 file photo.

Appalachian coal mining faces grim future

usatoday.com — Cheaper competition from west coast and natural gas, federal regulations will only exacerbate the situation in a region that is hemorrhaging jobs and money. A government report indicates that coal production in Appalachia will drop 31% percent by 2020 (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) (Photo: SETH PERLMAN AP) LOUISVILLE, Ky.

Column: QE and the portfolio puzzle - James Saft

reuters.com — Known as the portfolio rebalancing channel, the thinking behind QE rests partly on the assumption that buying up government bonds will drive interest rates down and entice investors to tilt their holdings towards riskier investments like stocks. That in turn is supposed to goose investment and consumption.

How to see the world and 'arbitrage' your retirement

reuters.com — Credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder A man soaks his feet in a fountain while reading a magazine on the Rose Kennedy Greenway on a warm summer afternoon in Boston, Massachusetts July 19, 2011. By that definition, Dan Prescher is a sophisticated arbitrageur. The 58-year-old makes a decent living as a special projects editor for International Living magazine.

Say Hello to the 100 Trillion Bacteria That Make Up Your Microbiome

nytimes.com — I can tell you the exact date that I began to think of myself in the first-person plural - as a superorganism, that is, rather than a plain old individual human being. It happened on March 7.