Cologne / DPA Every time one meets Gerhard Richter, something doesn’t seem to add up. Is this “Europe’s greatest painter,” as the New York Times has called him? Or the “Picasso of the 21st Century,” as the Guardian says? The most expensive artist, the most influential painter? A superstar? He just doesn’t appear to match such superlatives. Nondescript is …

  WELLS, Maine / AP The Ridgway’s rail is a rare bird that relies on the salt marshes south of Los Angeles to survive. And that’s why its future is in doubt — the salt marsh is disappearing under rising seas. Scientists working with the federal government said the rail’s plight at Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is indicative of what’s …

  Bloomberg Green technologies from rooftop solar to projects that turn waste into electricity are getting a boost from venture capital funds, which raised their investments in clean energy at the fastest pace in nine years in 2016. VC funds funneled $834 million into the clean-energy industry last year, the third consecutive annual increase and the most since Bloomberg New …