Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

I am an engineer and a disaster researcher; I went to Japan after the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake to try to identify lessons there that could benefit future disaster-response operations. In late May, I was following the usual research routine of interviewing individuals involved at the various stages of the disaster response, and particularly those involved in the distribution of critical supplies as part of the relief effort. FOR THE RECORD: Tsunami: In a March 11 Op-Ed about a 1,000-year-old story that saved lives after the Tohoku earthquake, the last name of a Japanese engineer was misspelled.

A recent blitz of commentaries has advised us against chronic busyness and instead suggested we focus our attention on attaining a work-life balance and creating the flexible workplace of the future . Yes, it's hammock season , but these writers aren't advocating laziness. In a business piece for Time magazine, Peter Bacevice writes that "slow work" makes us more productive . "[M]any organizations face constant pressure to adapt to rapidly evolving market pressures, societal changes, and political pressures, and these pressures are increasingly passed to a gradually reduced workforce.

Ernestine Allerhand and Hilde Keneley, both of Laguna Beach, and Evelin Alleman, of Laguna Niguel all have the spirit of volunteering. So much so that they were honored by the South Coast Medical Center Auxiliary for their combined 45,000 hours of service at the Laguna Beach Community Clinic where they greet visitors, transport patients and provide other hospital services. Alleman has 18,000 hours of service, Allerhand has 14,000 hours and Keneley has 13,000.

NASA's Curiosity rover has gulped in Martian air but failed to find methane - a gas linked to living things. But it has turned up signs that Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere. Since landing on the Red Planet's surface Aug. 5, the Mars Science Laboratory rover has zapped rocks with its laser, dug its toes into sand dunes at its current location, Rocknest, and even scooped up Martian soil for a little taste in its laboratory belly. Now it has breathed in the Martian atmosphere, looking for clues as to the composition of Mars' atmosphere.  Mars' atmosphere is very thin - a mere 100th the density of the Earth's - and too thin to easily support life.

Marta Bohn-Meyer, a precision aerobatic pilot and the chief engineer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, has died in the crash of her private plane. She was 48. Bohn-Meyer, who lived in Lancaster and was off duty, died Sunday near Yukon, Okla., an Oklahoma City suburb, when the Giles G-300 she was flying crashed as she began routine aerobatic practice.

On the first Sunday of each month, Lisa Malmeth conducts tours at the Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House in Hollywood. But her approach is a bit different from the other docents. Thought to be the first deaf docent for a historical landmark in Los Angeles, Malmeth gives tours to deaf and hearing-impaired people using American Sign Language. Because more than 500,000 Los Angeles County residents are deaf or hearing-impaired, Malmeth believes it is important to provide services for them.

Eben Bayer grew up on a Vermont farm learning the intricacies of mushroom harvesting with his father. Now the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate is using that experience to create an organic insulation made from mushrooms. More at home on a pizza, mushrooms certainly aren't a typical building material, but Bayer thought they just might work when given the assignment two years ago to create a sustainable insulation.

Seeking new ways to move scientific research from its laboratories to the marketplace, the University of California is considering a plan to form a unique for-profit corporation that would be jointly owned by UC and outside shareholders to invest in promising technologies. The proposed company, dubbed California Technology Ventures Corp.

Will the real Lakers please stand up! They better, because Sunday they tangle with their old nemesis, the Boston Celtics. CBS (Channels 2 and 8) covers this major clash, starting at 12:45 p.m. It's only the second--and final--meeting during the regular season, because of the ridiculous NBA scheduling. Here are the two powers, two major attractions, only playing each other twice a season. The Celtics pulverized and embarrassed the Lakers Jan.