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When members of Congress return to work next week, at the top of the "to-do" list is whether to renew emergency unemployment benefits. An extension of the benefits expired at the end of the 2013, which means 1.3 million out-of-work Americans are no longer getting unemployment checks.

But whether or not benefits are extended, conservative and liberal economists alike want to see the government improve the underlying program: They're proposing changes that might help more people find jobs more quickly.

Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., have work-sharing options:

Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington

Find out more about how the programs work here.

Researchers in Tokyo have put a new twist on the use of sound to suspend objects in air. They've used ultrasonic standing waves to trap pieces of wood, metal, and water – and even move them around.

Researchers have used sound to levitate objects in previous experiments, dating back decades. But that work has largely relied on speakers that were set up in a line to bounce sound waves off a hard surface.

The new experiment uses four speakers to surround an open square area that's about 21 inches wide. Four phased arrays use standing waves to create an ultrasonic focal point in that space, as the researchers explain in a video about their work.

That means that they generate a suspending force — which can then trap particles and objects in mid-air. The objects can be moved around by manipulating the waves.

This is an immediately inviting puzzle, and Lopez-Gallego continues dropping pieces on the table: Why is it that the only person who seems to have retained her memory, Josie Ho's "Brown Eyes," happens to be mute and unable to communicate in writing? Why is the house stocked like a survivalist's encampment, with a pantry packed with nonperishables and an impressive arsenal of weapons and ammunition? And what is it out in the woods making those terrible screams?

Despite having lost their memories, the members of the group still retain specialized skills and knowledge that they had previously. So Michael (Max Wrottesley) quickly discovers he has advanced proficiency with all the firearms lying around the house. After perusing the extensive library of non-English anatomy texts in the house, Nathan (Joseph Morgan) realizes he speaks a number of foreign languages. Sharon (Erin Richards) seems to have some medical knowledge.

As for John, he's less possessed of specialized skills than he is of crippling flashbacks, often to do with committing violent acts. He wonders if maybe that open pit out back is his — and the suspicious looks from the rest of the group aren't helping.

That probably all sounds great in a pitch meeting, and it works just as well as a hook on-screen. Lopez-Gallego obviously knows exactly where he wants all these threads to come together in the end as well. The problem is in getting the audience there.

Apart from John and Brown Eyes, the script, by brothers Eddie and Chris Borey, doesn't give the rest of the group much more depth than the malevolent beings out in the woods; mostly, it restricts them to distrustful glowering or all-out panic. Copley is fine if unremarkable in the lead; he keeps things restrained, which is a better place for the actor than the hammy gesturing of his two 2013 clunkers, Elysium and Oldboy. But the movie might sink entirely without Ho's wordless performance as her Brown Eyes desperately tries to improvise communication.

The biggest problem is that Lopez-Gallego and the Boreys are so fixated on throwing out more and more clues — whether in the timeline of the movie or in the hackneyed, heavily filtered flashbacks that John keeps experiencing — that tying them all together becomes an afterthought. The film's aura of mystery only works in the first 20 minutes or so, when it seems effortless; after that it feels like it's working very hard to keep the truth obscured, and in so doing just becomes a colorless slog.

When things are finally explained at the end, you'll wonder whether it's because Lopez-Gallego was worried his storytelling wasn't clear enough or he was concerned your attention may have wandered. I'm going with both.

"Today, I hope!" he says with a nervous smile.

The birth of a new baby is a joyous occasion. But in Portugal, it's an increasingly rare one. Since the economic crisis hit, the country's birthrate has dropped 14 percent, to less than 1.3 babies per woman — one of the lowest in the world.

Rising unemployment and poverty mean people are putting off having kids, or moving abroad. Portuguese schools and maternity hospitals are closing. They just don't get enough business anymore.

Carvalho says he's able to have a rare second child thanks only to his relatively secure public sector job, as a Lisbon bus driver. But his wages have been cut, and he worries about the future.

"I have a lot of friends going to England, to France — because they don't have a job in Portugal," Carvalho says. "It's difficult, very difficult."

More than 100,000 Portuguese of child-bearing age move abroad each year. That's one person emigrating every five minutes, in a country of just 10 million. Many of those who stay home in Portugal put off having families indefinitely. They can't afford it.

Lowest Level In 60 Years

Dr. Ana Campos is the head obstetrician at the hospital where Carvalho's daughter is being born, Maternidade Doutor Alfredo da Costa. She first started delivering babies there 32 years ago.

"The rooms were filled. We had more than 40 deliveries a day," Campos recalls. "And now we have 10 deliveries in one day — one-quarter."

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