Michael Todd

The complete makeover of the U.S. military debuted by President Obama and the Pentagon on Thursday looks a lot like the beast our Jeff Shear has been describing in 2011.

A looming government shutdown, faulty comet theories, clever transit alternatives, and women’s gaydar were among the top topics Miller-McCune readers flocked to in 2011.

After being retired in 2009, the scientific San Francisco Bay Model that replicates the nearby estuary has water flowing through it once again.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep serves the Duggars of the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” turning a private grieving process into a very public display.

An industry that’s grown up around a promising way to help people caught in a web of obesity needs to make a few less promises, the FDA declares.

As past Miller-McCune articles have shown, driving while using your cellphone is a bad idea, and the U.S. government is doing its best to make sure you can hear that message now.

In a sign of acceptance of green building practices, the existing commercial space being retrofitted to LEED standards now exceeds that of new construction.

A federal judge says tobacco companies’ complaints about the heavy hand of government forcing them to gainsay their own products have merit.

Moammar Gadhafi’s secret burial adds another chapter on how victors treat the bodies of their opposition’s leadership.

A fungus long suspected as the cause of the white-nose syndrome killing American bats has been positively ID’d as the culprit.

Efforts at geoengineering to cool a warming planet are picking up steam.

As the U.S. military today begins allowing gay service members to no longer hide their sexuality, we look at the various academic and empirical studies that surround the issue.

A retired Google exec’s dream of ringing the planet with telescopes available to kids and professional astronomers has assisted in some recent discoveries.

There’s a 1-in-3 chance that the next decade will see a serious new foreign insect bore through America’s forests.

Most of the U.S. Postal Service’s plans for surviving in the short term come down to cutting costs and not implementing the new ideas its own consultants have called for.

In Miller-McCune’s continuing examination of brewer’s yeast, we look at a new find in the world of lagers.

A documentary film airing on PBS looks at New Mexico’s Jemez range, and gently and sparely shows how changing climate affects these unique “sky islands.”

China’s repressive efforts to prevent its own Arab Spring, which included detaining renowned and outspoken artist Ai Weiwei — who was released Wednesday — just may be way overblown.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been telling all and sundry about the growing disconnect between the 1 percent of the nation involved with the U.S. military and the other 99 percent of the nation.

Despite concerns that outlawing circumcision may harm efforts to limit the spread of AIDS, San Francisco’s intactivists have gotten a proposed ban on the ballot.

Even with the passage of time, the idea that “foot soldiers” responsible for the Holocaust — even in a small way — must pay their accounts remains alive.

France’s newly enacted law banning face coverings in public reinforces the idea we explored last year that waves of multiculturalism are receding for now.

The Frontier Fertilizer Superfund site in Davis, Calif., installs a suite of solar panels, paid for with stimulus funding, to power its own rehabilitation.

Novelist T.C Boyle’s new book, “When the Killing’s Done,” uses California’s Channel Islands to delve into the thorny effort to restore lost habitats, a theme and a locale familiar to our readers.

The Obama administration has come through with some serious money for high-speed rail, but arguments that this might be money ill spent don’t spring solely from political nay-saying.

The loss of sea ice is a concern for more than polar bears, as the loss of reflectivity it represents means the planet may warm even faster.

The latest look at fast-food menu labeling suggests it’s not changing attitudes at the counter, but experts hope it may make a difference earlier in the decision chain.

Why incarceration should be just one of many strategies helping neighborhoods that produce bumper crops of crooks.

Miller-McCune’s Web editor loves all of his progeny, especially these — and these, and those.

John Kampfner, the head of the London-based Index on Censorship, discusses the threats to free expression in the world, from the dictator’s muzzle to the playwright’s pen.

Artists and industry insiders discuss how to make music green, both for fans and businesses.

Because of its message, the documentary “Bag It” required filmmakers to say both “Do what I do” and “Do what I show.” A shrink-wrapped DVD was out of the question.

With white-nose syndrome continuing to plague North American bats, the federal government is sending some academics to the rescue.

In this week’s podcast, we look at what drives people to movies houses and Emily Badger discusses a bill that combines immigration and education.

A conversation with penguin expert Grant Ballard on the short-term wins and long-term losses facing one of the world’s most charismatic animals.

Video: Miller-McCune hosts a panel at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., asking, “Why Do Lobbyists Have the Veto?”

In this week’s podcast Miller-McCune looks at school buildings and school lunches — are they making American kids fat? — and also reviews the success of lobbying on setting America’s political agenda.

The new documentary ‘Bag It’ reaches from the plastic sacks stuffed under your sink to the malign role disposable plastics play in global life.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going — even if their activity is counterproductive or just for show.

Flight attendants benefited emotionally when their primary focus shifted from courtesy to safety, a new paper suggests. Steven Slater may be an extreme example of that ability to unwind.

Miller-McCune’s European Dispatch columnist is out promoting his new folk history of surfing.

To paraphrase Stalin, one dead body is a fact; a million dead bodies are a point of contention.

U.N. special rapporteur Philip Alston, Miller-McCune’s most recent Wonking Class Hero, takes on the arms-length warfare of drones.

The importance of including cell-only households in phone surveys continues to grow alongside the difficulty of getting accurate results if you don’t.

Our little project to expand the number of offerings on the home page grew into an elegant new setting for the same great Miller-McCune stories.

A host of meaningful stories from Miller-McCune.com’s second full year on the Web.

Researchers studying insurgent warfare across the planet think they’ve found some universal traits that may help future intervention.

In tandem with the news aggregator NewsTrust, Miller-McCune.com is searching for the best journalism on psychology, especially the psychology of the culture wars, out there. Give us a hand.

Vice President Joe Biden expands idea to use special district bonds to pay for your solar power dreams.

Slow and steady even in tallying the tragic proves its worth.