Illinois

Researchers at Purdue are using software to mine tweets for data that can help warn that a dangerous storm is approaching. But the data may not always be reliable and analyzing it can be tricky.

Farmers across the Midwest harvest billions of bushels of corn nowadays using giant machines called combines. But a contest keeps a more primitive corn-picking technique alive: human hands.

In communities grappling with high unemployment, grocery stores serve many customers who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to get by. Some stores are estimating that their sales might fall between 5 and 10 percent now that the government has reduced the benefits.