The Jan. 9 collapse in Queens didn't cause any life-threatening injuries, but three workers had to be extricated from beneath fallen machinery after the 170-foot-long boom fell and mowed down part of the building's wooden framework, according to officials and witnesses.

WSJ: APNewsBreak: Operator cited in NYC crane collapse

The U.S. solar market continued its record-setting pace in the second quarter, but amid the boom are signs of a slow down in the break-neck growth of recent years, according to a report released Monday.

FORBES: Is The U.S. Solar Boom Slowing Down?

He puts the boom down to natural population growth - there are more birds to breed and so produce more chicks.

BBC: Parakeet in a London garden

"There was a huge boom in the shipping industry, with the slates being carried down from Blaenau Ffestiniog - which brought these two towns together, " she said.

BBC: Porthmadog marks the 200th anniversary of its 'Cob'

"We saw a lot of waterfront property being bought and smaller homes being torn down and replaced by million dollar mansions during the dot-com boom, " explains Sara Young , economic development manager at the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce.

FORBES: Most Overpriced Places In The U.S. 2006

But five years ago as the condo boom slowed down, Mr. Shvo shrank his business and eventually disappeared from the New York real-estate scene.

WSJ: Shvo Revs Up Pace, Again

That was in contrast with the US and Spain during the boom years where, he said, "they over-built... prices will come down because of that and the market will start up again at a new level".

BBC: Brown's housing market confidence

He dressed the funding proposal up in geoengineering language because that was the way to get funds - a tactic scientists in all fields have used down the years in order to ensure their research happens (witness the boom in "bioterror"-related research after the US anthrax scares of 2001).

BBC: Geoengineering: Risks and benefits