How We Fight Wildfires

Wildfire season is in full swing, and a pilot died yesterday while fighting one near Yosemite National Park. Are our fire prevention techniques up-to-date? Wal-Mart is ending health coverage for its approximately 30,000 part-time workers. What will it mean for part-timers seeking medical care, not just at Wal-Mart but also at other retailers who may follow suit? In our weekly tech news roundup, we look at new apps that let neighbors in California secretly turn each other in to authorities for wasting water in the drought. Next, naturalist and author Diane Ackerman explains why she thinks the so-called Human Age we live in -- in which virtually every corner of the Earth has been touched by mankind -- is a good thing. And finally, should chimpanzees be afforded the same rights as humans? A New York appeals court will consider that question today.

Banner Image: The July Complex Fire in the Klamath National Forest in California, which began on Aug. 3, 2014 from an undetermined cause and consumed over 50,000 acres; Credit: U.S. Forest Service