Remember that plastic model of a human being, complete with organs your dad gave you when you were a kid, hoping you'd go to med school? Well, if you ended up a car mechanic instead, here's the thing for you: A transparent Pontiac, and it's not made of plastic. Built for the 1939-40 New York World's Fair at a cost of $25,000 for the General Motors "Highways and Horizons" pavilion and touted as the "Glass Car," the vehicle is up for sale at Plymouth's Inn at St. John's, in conjunction with the Concours d'Elegance. "This car is very, very …

Something else to worry about: children, who are heavy users of cell phones, could be at an increased risk for cellular-induced, tumors according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study says the radio emissions from mobile devices penetrate much deeper into the brains of children, and in the case of those five to eight, their heads will absorb twice the energy of the average adult.

You know how you love your iPad? Except for maybe one minor annoyance. Apple hates Flash, and refuses to run it on iPad and iPhone, preferring HTML 5. That means Internet pages have to run applications using both Flash technology and versions for Apple devices. But a new Skyfire app, VideoQ, offers a fix, letting users watch Flash within the app, via a link, Skyfire is planning on making VideoQ a video entertainment hub, but for now the product is a $1.99 app available first in North America only. California-based Skyfire plans to expand VideoQ reach later. Funded …

John Chervokas, who is credited with having written "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" for the Procter & Gamble brand in 1964, when he was a junior copywriter, has died. He suffered a fatal stroke at age 74. The campaign featured Mr. Whipple, a Norman Rockwell-type grocery store proprietor who had to remind people to keep their hoods off the irresistibly scrunchy rolls of toilet paper. Chrevokas, who died in New York City, went on to a career in politics, holding the post of town supervisor in Ossining, N.Y., for five consecutive terms. "Squeeze the Charmin, Not the Budget" was …

Better price image and strong selection drove an increase in comparable-store sales of 8.4% at Whole Foods for the fiscal third quarter, which far exceeded sales results at other public companies. The company posted net income for the 12-week quarter, which ended July 3, of $88.5 million, a 34.4% increase. Sales climbed 10.9% to $2.4 billion. Said Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer, "We are continuing to gain market share at a faster rate than most public food retailers, [which] we attribute to our value efforts, which have improved our price image, and to continuing to raise the bar in …

A new study shows that use of the color pink doesn't build awareness of and fundraising for women's issues like breast cancer. Pink has been the central color in a multi-year campaign for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The problem, say researchers at Rotterdam School of Management, is that too many women directly identify with the color. Stefano Puntoni, a professor at the university, showed in a series of 10 experiments over three years that women were less likely to think themselves at risk and less likely to say they would donate to breast or ovarian cancer advertisements …

Amazon has reported that while sales for the quarter ended June 30 soared 51% to $9.9 billion, profits dipped 8% to $191 million from $207 million on higher operating costs. Still, the company beat Wall Street expectations. Worldwide electronics and other general merchandise sales grew the fastest at 69%; sales in the media category grew 27% to $3.66 billion. North America grew 51% to $5.41 billion while international segment sales grew 51% to $4.51 billion.

Walmart Express is slated to open Wednesday on Chicago's South Side. The store is a test of 15 Walmart Express stores in three pilot markets this year. Besides Chicago, Richfield, N.C., and Arkansas will get five stores each. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company's overseas stores are infusing revenue as same-store sales at its U.S. outposts have slipped for eight consecutive quarters.

Chinese authorities shut two unauthorized Apple stores in Kunming for operating without business licenses. Investigators also examined three other stores that used Apple's logo without the company's permission, though they were found to have operating permits, according to the Dushi Shibao newspaper report posted today on the Kunming government's website. The report says the findings were part of a probe into more than 300 electronics vendors in the city. The move comes about a week after a blogger began posting photographs of a fake Apple store that looks like the real thing. "In areas outside of …

If the government defaults on its debt, we can bid the economic recovery, such as it is, goodbye. What would it do to the auto industry? It would hurt everything from sales to suppliers. Though auto executives and analysts predict the deadlock will be resolved, if it isn't, "the psychological impact will be huge," said David Cosper, CFO of Sonic Automotive Inc., the nation's third-largest dealership group. Interest rates would take off, killing lending, and consumer confidence would fizzle, and the dollar would weaken. "Our industry would stop as we would be in shock as a …