I have a confession to make. At first, I misunderstood Occupy Wall Street.

The first few times I went down to Zuccotti Park, I came away with mixed feelings. I loved the energy and was amazed by the obvious organic appeal of the movement, the way it was growing on its own. But my initial impression was that it would not be taken very seriously by the Citibanks and Goldman Sachs of the world...

So you're considering buying a hybrid car. Or maybe you already have. Good for you! You're saving a bundle on gas and reducing your environmental footprint at the same time. But fuel isn't the only natural resource that your car requires. Its motor also contains a small amount of neodymium, one of 17 elements listed at the very bottom of the periodic table. Known as the rare earths, these minerals are key to all kinds of green technology...

When First Lieutenant Jonathan Brostrom was killed by Taliban fighters in 2008, while attempting a heroic rescue in a perilously isolated outpost, his war was over. His father’s war, to hold the U.S. Army accountable for Brostrom’s death, had just begun. And Lieutenant Colonel William Ostlund’s war—to defend his own record as commander—was yet to come. With three perspectives on the most scrutinized engagement of the Afghanistan conflict, one that shook the military to its foundations, Mark Bowden learns the true tragedy of the Battle of Wanat...

Two years ago, in an effort to attract more veterans to Columbia, Curtis Rodgers, a dean of admissions, began recruiting at military bases. Almost immediately he noticed differences between the Marines and the typical 18-year-old Ivy League applicant. Marines are less aggressive. When Mr. Rodgers asked Sgt. Tiffani Watts at the end of a recent interview if she had any questions, the Marine answered, “I do, sir, but I don’t want to make you late for your next interview, sir.”...

As a part of the IU College of Arts and Science’s Themester 2011: “Making War, Making Peace,” famed cartoon artist Garry Trudeau lectured to an audience at the Indiana Memorial Union on Monday.

Trudeau is known for creating the political comic strip “Doonesbury,” which now appears in more than 1,400 Sunday newspapers worldwide. The strip has been running for 41 years..

Goodbye, city park, hello, college green. As city officials around the country move to disband Occupy Wall Street encampments amid growing concerns over health and public safety, protesters have begun to erect more tents on college campuses...

Gloria Steinem has been an outspoken figure on behalf of women's rights and the pro-choice movement for half a century. Here, she talks about her opposition to cosmetic surgery and her ambivalence about President Obama...

In a different country and different language, Pang Chang's father told him that if he wanted to survive year-to-year, grow vegetables. But for long-term fortune? Plant trees.

So in the flat, open Central Valley, where the summers burn and the winters can bring freezing snaps, Chang grows mangoes, papayas, 20 varieties of guava — some never before cultivated in the U.S. — and jujubes. Not to be confused with the jelly candy sold as movie snacks...

November 11, 2011, (or 11/11/11) will be your last binary day for almost a century, so enjoy it while it lasts. We know we will.

Don't know what a binary day is? It's a date that consists of only 1's and 0's when written in mm/dd/yy format (or dd/mm/yy for our European readers). "Binary years" have only 9 such dates, meaning there are only 36 binary days in a century...

Many Penn State students are angry over the firing of their legendary football coach, Joe Paterno. But a rising number of voices outside the university say the school should go further and cancel Saturday’s game or the rest of the football season altogether, in light of the outrage over the university’s handling of sex-crime accusations against a former assistant coach to Paterno. Should Penn State cancel its remaining games?...