Warning that computers in the United States are not secure, the National Academy of Sciences has urged the nation to revamp computer security procedures, institute new emergency response teams, creating a special nongovernment organisation to take charge of computer security planning.

Nearly two tons of nuclear-reactor fuel have already been put into orbit around the Earth, and the chances of a collision involving such material increase greatly as the amount of both space debris and satellites continue to rise.

Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place: one reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.

Unlike auto insurance, the frequency of claims does not affect the premiums for personal property coverage, but if the insurance company is able to prove excessive loss due to owner negligence, it may decline to renew the policy.

Growing competitive pressures may be encouraging auditors to bend the rules in favor of clients; auditors may, for instance, allow a questionable loan to remain on the books in order to maintain a bank's profits on paper.

The computer company's present troubles are a result of technological stagnation, marketing missteps, and managerial blunders so that several attempts to revise corporate strategies have failed to correct it.

Sound can travel through water for enormous distances, prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different temperatures and densities.

According to United States census data, while there was about one-third of mothers with young children working outside the home in 1975, in 2000, almost two-thirds of those mothers were employed outside the home.

Like ants, termites have an elaborate social structure in which a few individuals reproduce and the rest are serving the colony by tending juveniles, gathering food, building the nest, or they battle intruders.

A March 2000 Census Bureau survey showed that Mexico accounted for more than a quarter of all foreign-born residents of the United States, the largest share for any country to contribute since 1890, when about 30 percent of the country's foreign-born population was from Germany.