- Policing of video games improves

U.S. retailers are getting better at blocking underage teens from buying M-rated video games, says an FTC survey using undercover 13- to 16-year-old shoppers. Just 20% of the undercover teens were able to buy M-rated games, vs. 42% in '06. Retailer GameStop was the best at blocking underage sales of video games, stopping 94% of them. Less-diligent retailers included Hollywood Video, which blocked 60%. The FTC found that retailers made some gains in controlling sales of CDs with a parental advisory label and R-rated DVDs, but it said roughly half of undercover shoppers were able to buy those restricted items.

Startup touts homemade biofuel

An ethanol maker the size of a washing machine lets users make biofuel at home. E-Fuel, a startup in Los Gatos, Calif., created MicroFueler, a device that combines sugar, ethanol, yeast and water to make ethanol. Ten to 14 pounds of sugar is needed for 1 gallon of ethanol. Users also can utilize discarded beer. A regular gas pump is attached to the device, which costs $9,995, and the fuel is good for any gasoline car.

Serious airline accidents increased last year, rising to 100 worldwide vs. 77 in '06, the first rise in a decade. The uptick was attributed to crashes in Brazil, Africa and Southeast Asia. Still, the rate of serious accidents remains low, with 0.75 crashes per 1 mil flights last year vs. 0.65 in '06, the Int'l Air Transport Association said.

Sharks can be repelled by electric fields produced by small metal disks, say National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association scientists. The scientists found disks of a rare metal alloy interact with seawater and create electric fields that the sharks sense and avoid. Researchers said the metal disks could be attached to commercial fishing nets to keep endangered sharks from getting inadvertently caught. American women are increasingly feeling "green guilt" compared with men, a new survey showed. 26% of women feel they should have recycled more, and the figure increased 18 percentage points from a year ago. Men felt less guilty this year -- 17% vs. last year's 18%. Almost 20% of surveyed people said they would recycle more if they had a child.