Industrial production increases on auto manufacturing

An increase in auto manufacturing led to a boost in factory production in July, another signal the nation will probably avoid another recession.

Industrial production increased 0.9 percent as activity at factories, mines and utilities picked up pace for the largest gain this year, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. Factory output, which accounts for about 75 percent of industrial production, increased 0.6 percent, according to the report.

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$100 million for Everglades restoration

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend $100 million for wetlands restoration on 24,000 acres in the North Everglades Watershed, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday. The money will be used to acquire permanent easements from agricultural producers in four central Florida counties.

Vilsack, who made the announcement at Palm Beach County's 548-acre Wind Waters Natural Area off Haverhill Road north of 45th Street, said it is the department's single-largest conservation deal ever in a single state at one time.

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Slippery Banana Peels Could Be A Savior For Polluted Water

A Brazilian researcher, who also happens to be a banana lover, has taken an interest in the lowly banana peel and is helping to remake its image. The banana peel, it turns out, can take water dirtied by heavy metals from mining operations or other activities and turn it to clean drinking water. Magic? No, actually, it's chemistry.

Gustavo Castro is an environmental chemist at São Paulo State University who says he'd heard for a long time that the peel of the banana was the best part of the fruit, where most of the nutrients and proteins reside. So he decided to investigate its chemical composition to see if these banana peel boosters were right. What he found was that banana peels contain nitrogen, sulfur and organic compounds such as carboxylic acids. Castro was especially pleased to find these acids because they can bind with positively charged metals that leach into rivers from industrial operations.

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Electric-car charging stations roll into Boston

Four area communities will be getting charging stations for electric vehicles in the coming months, part of a program that will set up 142 of the facilities across the state.

The stations slated for Brookline, Hopkinton, Lexington, and Newton will be set up in central locations, near municipal centers, large employers, and hotels.

Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the state’s Department of Energy Resources, said electric cars will be vital in helping Massachusetts reduce its carbon emissions, but consumers might be wary of buying the vehicles if there’s nowhere convenient to recharge them.

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