Solar Impulse/AP

A solar-powered plane that can fly through the night has started its slow transcontinental journey.

The first electric plane that can fly both day and night with only the power from the sun’s rays began its first transcontinental flight Friday. The Sunseeker Duo from Solar Flight is flying from San Francisco to its final destination in Washington, D.C.—it’s expected to touch-down there mid-June—stopping at Phoenix, Dallas, and St. Louis along the way.The plane can theoretically fly continuously, but its pilots will only fly it at 12 hour spans.

E-reader seeks customers.

What do you call an e-reader that isn’t for reading? In an attempt to expand the options available on its Nook, Barnes & Noble is adding Google Play to its color tablets. The move, which comes after disappointing holiday sales, will allow users access to roughly 700,000 apps including Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix.

Read it at New York Times

History of theft and tampering.

Paging Walter White. Reuters is reporting that the Texas fertilizer plant that exploded two weeks ago was the subject of multiple thefts and tampering with tanks over the past 12 years. Back in 2002, thieves were taking up to four or five gallons of anhydrous ammonia—a liquid that is used to cook methamphetamine—every few days. However, there is no evidence yet that the leaks caused by the thefts were behind the April 17 explosion.

Read it at Reuters

The jobs report isn't bad. But it's not great, either.

This morning's job report was in some ways a relief, and in some ways a disappointment.   The retail sector is weak right now, and retail can be a leading indicator of economic weakness (and also, a source of employment).  So I now have this sort of reflexive flinch when the jobs report comes out, as I half-expect a big blow to fall.  That didn't happen this month, thankfully.  The jobs report was fine.  Payroll employment increased by 165,000--more than enough to soak up population growth.

Justin Sullivan/Getty

Unemployment is down to a four-year low, as the U.S. economy steams ahead in turbulent times. Daniel Gross on why the dip will look even better in hindsight.

The U.S. economy continues to steam ahead amid turbulent seas. Or at least that’s my takeaway from Friday morning’s job report.The economy added 165,000 payroll jobs in April—good, but not great, though better than many analysts expected. Strength was seen in business and professional services (73,000 new jobs), food and drinking establishments (38,000), and retail (29,000). You don’t need to have a Ph.D. in economics to understand how more people working at more jobs for slightly more pay leads to increased demand, which in turn leads to hiring.

1952. Gamal Nasser seizes power in Egypt. Egypt's population: ~20 million.1981. Anwar Sadat assassinated; Hosni Mubarak succeeds him. Egypt's population: ~40 million.2011. Mubarak overthrown. Egypt's population, over 80 million.New York Times today:After two decades of steady declines and modest increases, the birthrate in 2012 reached about 32 for every 1,000 people — surpassing a level last seen in 1991, shortly before the government of the longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, expanded family planning programs and publicity campaigns to curtail population growth that he blamed for crippling Egypt’s development.

George Frey/Getty

In Kentucky this week, a 2-year-old was killed with a .22-caliber rifle that’s sold for children. Yet few states have meaningful rules when it comes to the youngest shooters.

Savage Arms, a Massachusetts-based gun manufacturer, sells the Rascal, a .22-caliber single-shot rifle touted for its ease of use. Thompson/Center, in New Hampshire, makes the Hot Shot, which comes in pink and, according to the marketing materials, “has all the features young shooters need and the cool looks of dad’s hunting gun.” Mossberg sells a mini .410 shotgun that enthusiasts like to call the Mighty Mouse.The news that a 5-year-old had shot and killed his 2-year-old sister sparked a storm of outrage Wednesday, and much of the ire was directed at the fact that he used a .

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Good news, the government turned a big profit in April! Sadly, says Daniel Gross, that came at the expense of jobs, salaries, and retail sales.

You can never be too thin, or too rich. Or have too much deficit reduction. Right?Maybe not. The latest cause for anxiety over the current expansion, which just entered its 47th month, is that the deficit is falling too rapidly.The government won’t release the official April monthly data until it relates the Treasury Monthly Statement next week. But the Treasury Daily Statements provide a real-time look at the government’s revenue collection efforts.

PRNewsFoto/Los Angeles Auto Show

The numbers are tiny, and it remains very much a niche market, but April’s sales figures suggest electric cars are beginning to catch on.

Electric cars have long been criticized for not being sufficiently mainstream to find a large audience in the U.S. And it’s true that the typical suburbanite family may not be ready for a short-range car powered by electrons instead of gasoline. But the April car sales data, reported Wednesday, suggest that electric cars are beginning to carve out a niche. The all-electric Nissan Leaf notched its second-best monthly sales total and surpassed the volume of its plug-in hybrid competitor, the Chevy Volt.

Chevy, Mountain Dew, Hyundai—they’ve all yanked advertisements in the past week in response to public outcries of bad taste. Watch the commercials and decide for yourself.

After a week like this, one gets nostalgic for the days of a cheesy jingle, a dancing cartoon, and a slogan with a smile.A jarring amount of advertisements in recent days have either been pulled by the companies that commissioned them or incited controversy for offensive content—including glaringly racist lyrics, mockery of suicide, and attempts to make violence against women funny. Here’s a quick tour through the hall of shame.General MotorsGM on Wednesday decided to pull a TV ad for the new Chevy Trax compact SUV after receiving complaints over lyrics in a song used in the commercial that were blatantly offensive to anyone of Chinese ancestry…if not any person with a conscience.