CAN ELECTRIC CARS WIN OVER THE MASS MARKET?

It's not every day that a U.S. governor accepts an invitation to the launch of a Japanese-built car, but Nissan's all-electric Leaf offers environmental credentials that top any nationalistic concerns.

"Illinois is laying the groundwork for electric vehicles and a more green economy, and our efforts are paying off," Governor Pat Quinn said Thursday, as he thanked Nissan for bringing the Leaf to his state months earlier than originally planned.

"By investing in electric vehicle technology, both the state of Illinois and Nissan are making transportation in our state more efficient, sustainable and affordable."

The first mass-market electric vehicle has won some high-profile fans since it was launched in Japan and a handful of U.S. markets in December, and in Europe earlier this year.

NEWS: Electric Car Can Power Home

The Leaf emits none of the tailpipe pollutants that have covered city skies in smog and is touted as a step forward from gas-electric hybrids produced by the likes of Toyota, which makes the best-selling Prius.

BRAIN-EATING AMOEBA THRIVES IN WARM, FRESH WATER!!

The brain-eating amoeba that killed three people this summer is an organism that thrives in warm fresh water and can be found in lakes, rivers, hot springs and soil, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All three deaths this year occurred in the South: a 16-year-old girl in Florida, a 9-year-old boy in Virginia and a 20-year-old man in Louisiana.

A brutal summer and drought make the conditions perfect for the amoeba. The threat of N. fowleri could potentially be elevated for weeks in some areas. According to the CDC, infections occur mainly in July, August and September.

Building your own personal nuclear reactor

I've heard of people who got in trouble with their landlords for holding loud parties or violating the no-pets clause in their leases, but a 31-year-old Swedish guy named Richard Handl may be the first apartment dweller in history to have problems because he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen. According to Handl's blog, Richard's Reactor, he began a project to build a breeder reactor and produce small amounts of fissionable uranium 233 and plutonium 239 "just for fun and to see if it's possible to split atoms at home."

City cycle schemes save lives and cut down CO2

LONDON: Public bicycle sharing schemes such as Barcelona's "Bicing " program or London's "Boris Bikes" save lives and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a study.

Bike schemes are becoming increasingly popular in cities around the world, with more than 360 already running, but their main aim is usually to ease congestion rather than boost health.

Researchers at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona found in a study, however, that around 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution are averted and some 12 lives saved each year by Barcelona's scheme, which was introduced in March 2007.

Figure it out: Math ability is inborn!

LONDON: Ever wondered why some people are good at mathematics while many struggle with numbers? It's because they were probably born that way, scientists say.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University inBaltimore found that mathematical talent does not appear to be linked to all-round intelligence.

The ability to work with numbers may be something that is entirely predestined - either you have it or you don't, they said.

‘Meteorites helped create life on Earth’

WASHINGTON: Scientists have found components of DNA, the building blocks of life on Earth, in meteorites, a discovery they say confirms the theory that at least some of the materials needed to make early life forms came to our planet from space.

In the Nasa-funded study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists used advanced mass spectrometry instruments to scan 11 organic-rich meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites and one ureilite, a very rare meteorite with a different chemical composition . They found three nucleobases - purine, 6,8-diaminopurine and 2,6-diaminopurine - that are widely distributed in carbonaceous chondrites and which are "rare or absent in terrestrial biology" , said the researchers.