All Floridians know that lightning is to Florida as tornado is to Texas. Few realize though that Florida too is a tornado state, ranking fourth behind Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas on the list of the ten states most visited by tornadoes in the period 1950-2009. With more than 3,100 tornadoes having slammed into the state…

Florida is the lightning capital of the United States (and for a time, of the whole planet), a dubious distinction that has made Florida homeowners a persnickety lot when it comes to home wiring—and has made contractors with a Florida professional engineer license or a Florida electrician training a much-sought-after breed. Although lightning may be…

There’s one thing that real estate agents always seem to overlook after making a sale: that homeowners need good advice on the upkeep of their new purchase. Most real estate agents—from Pennsylvania agents to professionals holding South Carolina real estate continuing education—are unaware or unmindful that helping their clients in this way pays dividends by…

The list of improving housing markets continues to lengthen. The latest compilation recently released by the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (NAHB/IMI) lists 84 metro areas for July. The list’s major criterion was sustained improvement in the last half year in housing permits, employment, and house prices. Among the places included…

Nano-objects maybe the smallest useful objects around, but they have a big presence—and every day that presence, in the form of nanotechnology, seems to be getting bigger. Nanotechnology in its varied forms is expected to be a prime economic driver in this century. It has many applications and even more benefits: new materials that are…

It was a long time coming, but with cosmetics companies going hard for the hearts, minds, and complexion of not just women the world over, but also men, it was just a matter of time. And now it’s finally here: an ISO standard for cosmetics. Specifically, an ISO standard to help evaluate the antimicrobial properties…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is harnessing the expertise of the University of California, Davis to sequence the genomes of 100,000 types and subtypes of deadly foodborne bacteria to help the agency corral contamination outbreaks, such as the multistate Listeria contamination last year that killed 25 and sickened over a hundred. The announcement is…

With the water boiling and the ingredients all diced and ready to go into the pot, the stew should have been ready by now—but it is not. Last year President Obama signed into law a bill to overhaul food safety in the United States, a sweeping food-policy change not seen in 70 years. But not…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that it is now accepting nominations for six new members to serve on the 16-member Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (FACOSH), which advises the Secretary of Labor on issues concerning the occupational safety and health of federal employees. FACOSH also extends help to…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is keeping the federal agency staff responsible for keeping federal workers healthy and safe on its toes. The OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs have slated a series of training seminars this July that would put safety programs of federal workplaces on a…

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is evolving. Already hefting a portmanteau of over 19,100 international standards covering nearly everything from cookstoves to computer networks, ISO is diversifying its portfolio some more with the addition of seven new areas for standards development. These are biomimetics, carbon capture and storage, coalbed methane, facilities management, fireworks, railway…

Following the Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Peter Lee, the director of the California’s Health Benefit Exchange—which will oversee the marketplace that will start to carry by 2014 subsidized health insurance for Californians—announced that the state is now putting together a system that should…

The recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold all but one provision of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, has given a major boost to insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare providers. GlobalData, a healthcare intelligence provider, suggests that though it is still premature to tag the political…

As the summer lightning season descends on Florida, not just the Sunshine State but also the country’s lightning capital, it becomes incumbent upon every Floridian to know how to keep himself (or herself) and his family away from lightning danger. A homeowner who chooses to be correctly prepared should call on a professional—someone with a…

To the average American, Florida is famous for two things: sunshine and alligators. For meteorologists, it’s also famous for one other (although not too many people know of it): lightning. Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. On average, the state suffers a whopping 120 thunderstorm days each year. In the course of…