Aerospace

Alcoa's bid to brand itself an "innovation powerhouse" recalls its roots.

The Paris Air Show is one of the world’s largest aviation and defense showcases. The U.S. pavilion is always the biggest, and typically attracts an entourage of American governors and members of Congress. But in this age of budget cuts, scrutiny on the costs will be high.

Forget coal mining in Appalachia and mineral mining in Africa, a new outfit called Deep Space Industries aims to take drilling to the final frontier. The company is seeking investors for a project to mine asteroids. Also, Google shows just how much employers can benefit from employee benefits.

The parent company of Airbus, EADS, is in merger talks with the continent's biggest defense contractor, BAE systems. That could put U.S. leaders Boeing and Lockheed Martin playing a little defense themselves.