Best New Buildings of 2007

DC tops search engine's list

(NEWSER) - Washington, DC is the easiest city in the country to land a job, says job-search site Juju.com, which ranked cities by comparing the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ figures on unemployed workers to the number of job postings on Juju itself. The site finds 1.87 “unemployed individuals per advertised job” in the District. More»

Architect believes financial meltdown will cause building 'mood shift'

(NEWSER) - Attention-seeking skyscraper projects are likely to be early victims of the financial crisis, architect David Chipperfield predicts in a Bloomberg interview. "Wow-factor" buildings like London's "Shard of Glass" have proliferated during years when there's been plenty of money around, but a shift in mood is likely to see new projects taking a turn for the sensible, the architect argues. More»

Architects, not automakers, have the power to halt global warming

(NEWSER) - With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company. Half of all greenhouse gas emissions are building-related; residential buildings make up 21% of national energy consumption—almost as much as transportation. More»

Smaller homes built to strict LEED specs are all the rage

(NEWSER) - When it comes to building green, a LEED rating is the ultimate cachet-- but they're tough to get, the New York Times reports. And homes approved by the Leadership in Energy and Evironmental Design council tend to be small and pricey, with one platinum-certified four-bedroom house in California on the market for $2.8 million. Still, cities and homebuilders alike are jumping on the bandwagon. More»

From memories to sleep to consciousness itself, scientists still can't agree

(NEWSER) - Debated for centuries, the human mind still holds a mystery or two in modern times. Here are LiveScience's top 10:

1. Consciousness. Still the biggest human puzzle since Socrates.
2. Cryonics. Can gray matter be revived from a 320-degree deep freeze?
3. Aging. An unappreciated benefit, or simply cell decay with no purpose?
4. Nature/nurture. DNA, peer pressure, upbringing—scientists disagree on why we do the things we do.
5. Laughter. Three brain zones like it, but scientists wonder why people giggle at different things.