Environment

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Jasper Rice, 4, center, with his mother Geraldine Hall, of Hyattsville, Md., plays with a model of the solar system in the Scholastic Magic School Bus at the National Book Festival. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/ The Washington Times)

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**FILE** The empty parking lot of bankrupt solar energy company Solyndra is seen in Fremont, Calif., on Sept. 16, 2011. (Associated Press)

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Last year, U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar approved the project after nine years of grinding federal review, hailing it as "a new direction in our nation's energy future." (Associacted Press)

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** FILE ** In this file image provided by NASA, this is the STS-48 onboard photo of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) in the grasp of the RMS (Remote Manipulator System) during deployment, from the shuttle in September 1991. (AP Photo/NASA)

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Captain Titus is always looking for a fight in the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine for the Xbox 360.

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The kitchen in the Tuscany villa model has 42-inch raised-panel cabinets and a double-bowl stainless steel sink.

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Steuart-Kret Homes is building 44 villas at the Delight at Fairwood in Bowie. The homes have 1,942 finished square feet, with base prices from $305,900.

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K. Hovnanian Homes is offering single-family homes in its active-adult community in Middletown, Del., Four Seasons at Silver Maple.. The homes, which are pre-construction priced at $219,990 to $309,990, will have two to four bedrooms, two to four baths and 1,251 to 5,400 finished square feet.

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A walks past an uprooted tree that lies on the river bed of the swollen Shonai River at Kasugai, central Japan,on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 as powerful Typhoon Roke lashes across central Japan with heavy rains and sustained winds of up to 100 mph. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

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Farmlands are under waters flooded from the Toyo River in central japan on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 as powerful Typhoon Roke barreled across central Japan with heavy rains and sustained winds of up to 100 mph. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

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Two women in kimonos make their way through rains in Tokyo's Ginza shopping area as powerful Typhoon Roke lashes central Japan. The storm made landfall in the afternoon near the central Japanese city of Hamamatsu, about 125 miles west of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

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Police officers in rain gear regulate vehicles moving across a flooded national route in Toyokawa, central Japan, on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 as powerful Typhoon Roke lashes central Japan with heavy rains and sustained winds of up to 100 mph. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)