Read this and you'll look smart. You don't have to be intelligent to impress people -- you just have to fake it. Here's a daily list of fascinating articles that will wow your friends, surprise your co-workers and make you seem sharp at a cocktail party or over the lunch counter....
- A fungus that lives on a tree and manufactures diesel fuel has been discovered in South America and could be a new source of green energy.
- The struggle for survival, pitting humans against tigers, has escalated to new levels in the Ganges delta -- where environmental shifts have forced the region's 440 tigers into area villages for the first time. So far, 20 people have been killed in the Bangladeshi Sundarbans, which is up from six deaths the previous year.
- Charlotte, N.C., is second only to New York as a headquarters for U.S. banks and, after years of steady growth, has been slammed by the economic crisis and faces an uncertain outlook.
- On this day in 1893, Raymond Loewy was born. One of the founders of modern industrial design, Loewy designed the Coca-Cola bottle, the Pennsylvania Railroad's S-1 locomotive, the World War II Lucky Strike cigarette pack and scores of other cultural touchstones.
- Nov. 4, 2008 will go down as the biggest day in the history of marketing. There are a lot of things that the Obama campaign can teach advertisers.
- Newspaper endorsements helped Obama win the election. Editor and Publisher predicted the winner in key states by tallying the number of newspaper endorsements in each state. Obama outpaced McCain 2-1 in endorsements.
