This week's stories and the stories behind the stories

What a great week. I wrote about some fantastic ideas, as well as a few scary news items, and found out about a cool reprint of one of my articles.

First up, this week's news items for Mother Nature Network:

New 'jelly' batteries could provide cheap, safe power for small electronics [This was the most popular story on the for days after CNN linked to it from their home page.]

Climate change researcher, biomimicry expert among annual Heinz Award winners

Studies: Lint from synthetic fibers is polluting the ocean and coastal beaches [Eek! Especially tough since we wear so much polar fleece up here in chilly Maine.]

Are your sheets preventing you from getting a good night's sleep? [As a sleep apnea sufferer, I'm always looking for ways to improve my slumber!]

Next up, my two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Return of the Toxic Avenger: Rhino Advocate Proposes Poisoning Horns to Protect Them from Poachers [This was a sequel to one of my all-time most popular Extinction posts, which can be found here.]

Texas Wildfires Devastate Last Habitat for Endangered Houston Toad [A scary, sad story, this was very tough to report on. The full effects of these terrible wildfires won't be known for months.]

Finally this week, an oldie but goodie: one of my articles is included in this new e-book, "The Best of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer: On Consulting – Volume 2." Read more about it here.

More next week!