Analysis Slate's Explainer: Burning Cocaine March 31, 2006 • More than a ton of cocaine seized in Kenya in 2004 is still awaiting disposal. Officials there plan to burn the drugs. Andy Bowers of Slate offers this "explainer" about what's involved in burning that much coke.
Space Space X Crash March 31, 2006 • Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon-1 rocket crashed on its maiden launch last Friday. Ira Flatow talks with the founder of the company about what happened... and about plans for the next launch.
Environment Interior Department Claims Wetlands Gain March 30, 2006 • Interior Secretary Gale Norton announces that after decades of trying to stop the loss of wetlands, the country has finally succeeded. But Norton's wetlands report has been criticized as misleading; it counts manmade reservoirs and ponds created for storm runoff.
U.K.'s Royal Society Buys a Piece of Science History March 30, 2006 • Britain's leading scientific academy paid $1.75 million on Tuesday for a 17th-century manuscript that details the beginning of modern science. The Royal Society bought the manuscript on the eve of a public auction. Alex Chadwick speaks with the Steven Cox, chief executive of the Royal Society, about the big purchase.
Sports Can MLB's Steroid Panel Clean Up Baseball? March 30, 2006 • Major League Baseball has set up a new commission to probe steroid use by its players. The move comes amid renewed accusations that star slugger Barry Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs regularly during his record-breaking career. Madeleine Brand speaks with Buster Olney, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, about the credibility of the league's anti-steroid efforts.
National For Tammy Duckworth, War Injury Leads to Politics March 29, 2006 • Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a 2004 attack in Iraq, is running for the Illinois House seat occupied by retiring GOP Rep. Henry Hyde. Duckworth comes from a long line of veterans with serious war injuries who wind up in politics.
Farai's Fitness Challenge Week 2: Dr. Ro's Diet and Exercise Advice March 29, 2006 • Nutritionist Rovenia Brock, aka. Dr. Ro, knows that eating well is easier said than done. She's an authority on fitness and diet, and her advice to those starting out on a new fitness regimen is simple: Adopt a meal plan and a movement plan that you can live with, right now.
Research News Southpaw Snails 'Dodge' Right-Handed Crabs March 29, 2006 • Just as southpaw baseball pitchers confuse right handed-hitters, and left-handed boxers throw punches from surprising angles, southpaw snails are more likely than their right-handed cousins to survive attack by hungry right-handed crabs -- a new discovery that's not at all what scientists expected.
Environment Down Deep, An Unexpected Fish Boom March 29, 2006 • Marine biologists working in the Pacific Ocean say they've found a deep-sea fish that's unexpectedly thriving. They say the discovery shows the deep sea still holds plenty of surprises.
Krulwich Wonders... The Little Coffee Plant that Wouldn't Die March 28, 2006 • Rodrigues island's "cafe marron" plant has been presumed extinct for scores of years. Then, one day, a little boy told his teacher that the plant lived, near his house. Suddenly, an obscure, skinny little bush that nobody had noticed became an international treasure and the focus of a 20-year effort to preserve it.
Environment Wind Farms Draw Mixed Response in Appalachia March 27, 2006 • Huge windmills -- promoted as a source of clean, renewable power -- are sprouting up on mountaintops in the Appalachian states. But some local opponents say the tall turbines blight the rural landscape.
Environment The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil Fresh Air March 27, 2006 • Concerns over energy resources aside, economists say a global shortage of water would curtail the world's ability to raise food — perhaps by 2025. Fred Pearce is an environmental and development consultant at New Scientist. His new book is When the Rivers Run Dry.
Making Bacon That's Healthier for You March 26, 2006 • If you think scientists never do anything useful, consider this: A team of researchers may have found a way to make bacon that's good for your heart. This stunning achievement comes from a mixture of molecular genetics, cloning, and good old American know-how. Making Bacon That's Healthier for You Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5300300/5303889" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Making Bacon That's Healthier for You Toggle more options Embed Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5300300/5303889" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript
Environment EU Pipe-Organ Makers Caught in Environmental Flap March 26, 2006 • A European Union environmental directive aimed at reducing the use of lead in electronic devices could force organ builders to look for alternative metals. Katherine Venning, president of the Institute of British Organ Building, tells Liane Hansen how organ makers are adapting.
Technology Exhibit Depicts Theatrical Side of Forensic Science March 25, 2006 • The scientific method is but a part of building a murder case; a National Library of Medicine exhibit stresses the impact of "visible proof" on judges and juries... and details how tools of forensic science became the bedrock of detective work.