Boston Globe -- Business

Pop-up stores: Now you see them, now you don’t

Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff — 2009-11-30T05:46:23Z

By 5 p.m. on a recent Friday, a gray curtain was hiding the computers and photocopiers stuffed in the corner of a Fort Point photography and production studio. In their place, a bar had sprung up, a DJ had started spinning house music, and clothing racks in makeshift aisles burst with selections from Stil, Riccardi, Portobello Road, and local designers.

In-store special: less energy

Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff — 2009-11-30T02:44:31Z

Cash registers, exit signs, even the soda machines - they all glow at the renovated Star Market in Chestnut Hill, but without using a lot of energy.

Narcolepsy research triggers myriad brain studies

Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff — 2009-11-30T02:48:53Z

Research into an unusual sleep disorder is unraveling what goes awry in the brains of people who fall prey to daytime sleep attacks - and shedding light on everything from addiction to appetite.

Mypunchbowl.com tries to crash the party

Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist — 2009-11-30T02:47:12Z

Ask someone who’s throwing a holiday party which website they intend to use to send invitations. You’re likely to get one of two answers: Facebook (if the party planner is, say, 25 or younger) and Evite (for the older demographic). Framingham entrepreneur Matt Douglas, founder of MyPunchbowl.com, hopes his two-year-old website can somehow elbow its way in between those two behemoths.

Hydrogen-powered win for Northeastern engineers

2009-11-30T03:03:09Z

Prototype The dream of a “hydrogen economy’’ isn’t dead yet. A group of Northeastern University students showed the judges at a competition last week in Nashville how autos can make hydrogen under their hoods - thus eliminating the need to create a new nationwide network of hydrogen filling stations.

Emirates to back banks amid Dubai crisis

Associated Press — 2009-11-30T02:53:36Z

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates’s central bank said yesterday that it would offer additional liquidity to banks, signaling a push by the federal government to reassure investors worried about the country’s banking sector and its exposure to Dubai’s crushing debt.

Brace yourself, Boston

Beth Daley, Globe Staff — 2009-11-30T02:55:24Z

Sea level rise from climate change could jeopardize assets worth $463 billion in Boston.

What makes water droplets round?

2009-11-30T02:57:31Z

Water molecules attract each other. (They have positively and negatively charged ends, so they can always turn around in such a way that the opposite charges attract.) If you were to try to pull water molecules apart, the force holding them together would act as if you were pulling against little springs.

Retail sales rise on critical weekend

Cotten Timberlake and Lauren Coleman-Lochner, Bloomberg News — 2009-11-30T02:58:53Z

WASHINGTON - Retail sales on Black Friday and the weekend after Thanksgiving advanced 0.5 percent as discounts on electronics and toys drew budget-conscious crowds, according to the National Retail Federation.