Medical Treatments
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Synthetic Windpipe Transplant Boost For Tissue Engineering

Surgeons in Sweden replaced an American patient's cancerous windpipe with a scaffold built from nanofibers and seeded with the patient's stem cells. Lead surgeon Dr. Paolo Macchiarini discusses the procedure and the benefits of tissue-engineered synthetic organs.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Seeing Super-Fast Animals

A high-speed video camera is a must for biologist Sheila Patek, of University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Patek studies the lesser-known speed demons of the animal kingdom. A trap-jaw ant can move at over 100mph and a mantis shrimp can accelerate with a g-force of 100,000 (the space shuttle accelerates at 3Gs).

Space
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Newly Fallen Meteorites Offer Fresh Look At Mars

Scientists have confirmed that rocks collected recently in the Moroccan desert came from the Red Planet. University of Alberta meteorite expert Chris Herd, who has acquired one of the chunks, talks about how scientists analyze space rocks, and whether organic compounds might be found inside.

Health
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Be Here Now: Meditation For The Body And Brain

In his book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Oxford University clinical psychologist Mark Williams talks about the brain and body benefits of mindfulness meditation, a cognitive behavioral therapy that can be as effective as drugs at staving off recurring bouts of depression.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Defending Climate Science's Place In The Classroom

The National Center for Science Education has long defended educators' right to teach evolution in public schools. Now climate science too is under attack. NCSE executive director Eugenie Scott talks about how teachers and parents can fight the push to get climate change denial into the classroom.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word 'Moon'

Science historian Howard Markel discusses the origins of the word moon and some of the lore surrounding it, including a 1638 book by the English bishop Francis Godwin entitled The Man in the Moone, which recounts a science fiction-style voyage to the moon.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

How Large Ships Use Navigation Systems

The International Maritime Organization has decreed that by 2015, all large deep sea ships will be required to carry the latest in electronic navigation equipment. But does state-of-the-art navigation technology prevent shipwrecks like last week's off the Italian coast? University of Southern Mississippi hydrographer Max van Norden talks about the technology.

The Two-Way
12:50 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Search Of Stricken Italian Cruise Ship Resumes After Third Delay

Credit Vincenzo Pinto / AFP/Getty Images
A coast guard boat passes the Costa Concordia, as the cruise liner lies aground in front of the harbor of Giglio Island.

Search and rescue operations at the wreck of the Costa Concordia have resumed, after being halted for a third time, due to choppy waters and the partially submerged vessel's tendency to shift on the rocks near Italy's coast.

BBC correspondent Luisa Baldini says the search has resumed, after being called off early Friday.

Here's a roundup of recent developments in the story:

From Italy, Sylvia Poggioli report for NPR's Newscast unit:

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Middle East
12:49 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Israeli And Arab Hackers Square Off In Cyberbattle

Credit Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images
The websites of Israel's El Al airline and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange were knocked offline Monday, just hours after a Saudi Arabian hacker threatened to act against them. Israeli hackers responded by crashing the Saudi stock exchange. Here, a man walks past an El Al office in Tel Aviv on Monday.

Originally published on Tue April 17, 2012 1:16 pm

An online battle is raging between Israelis and Arabs, with each side unveiling credit card and other personal information of thousands of private citizens, as well as temporarily disabling high-profile websites, like the Tel Aviv and Saudi Arabian stock exchanges.

So far, the recent Web assaults seem to be the work of bored young people venting frustration. But others worry that these actions could easily escalate into a much larger online fight.

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Music Interviews
12:14 pm
Fri January 20, 2012

Remembering Bandleader And Producer Johnny Otis

Credit Charlie Gillett Collection / Redferns Via Getty Images
Johnny Otis (center), shown playing with his band The Johnny Otis Revue.

Bandleader and producer Johnny Otis, who launched and then nurtured the careers of many of R&B's greatest singers, died Tuesday at his home near Los Angeles. He was 90.

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