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The Two-Way
3:23 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Google Introduces Tablet And Streaming Device

Credit Kimhiro Hoshino / AFP/Getty Images
Hugo Barra, product management director of Android, introduces Google's low-cost computer tablet Nexus 7 during the keynote speech at Google's annual developer conference on Wednesday.

Today's a good day for gadget enthusiasts. During its I/O event, Google announced that like Microsoft, it was jumping into the tablet market. The search giant made three big announcements: The Nexus 7, its tablet; the Nexus Q, a streaming device; and a new version of its mobile operating system called Jelly Bean.

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13.7: Cosmos And Culture
3:16 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Light And 'The Illusion Of Knowledge'

Credit Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP/Getty Images

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:40 pm

Often, the familiar hides the deepest mysteries. This is certainly the case with light, one of the take-it-for-granted physical phenomena that surrounds us in everyday life. We wake up to it, we turn it on and off, rarely thinking of what it really is. A good thing, for even the greatest physicists pause before talking about the nature of light.

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Shots - Health Blog
3:01 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

What Clementines Can Teach Surgeons

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 6:20 pm

Clementines and pelvic anatomy are two things you probably wouldn't ever talk about in the same sentence, unless you're Pamela Andreatta.

Andreatta, a medical educator at the University of Michigan Medical School, knows all about how people learn. And lately, she's been spending a lot of time scrutinizing how residents are taught to do minimally invasive surgery.

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The Two-Way
2:39 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Microsoft's Greece Headquarters Firebombed By Armed Assailants

Credit Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images
A security officer stands by the van used by attackers at the entrance of the Microsoft office in an Athens on Wednesday.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 3:10 pm

Early this morning, three armed assailants fire bombed the headquarters of Microsoft in Athens, Greece.

The attackers used a van to ram through the front door and tried to set the building on fire using gasoline, Microsoft Greece's General Manager Ernst-Jan Stigter told reporters. Stigter added that no one was injured.

The AP reports:

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It's All Politics
2:03 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Read The Tea Leaves, But Justices (And Their Clerks) Aren't Telling

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:26 pm

Several dozen people know how the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law. And it'll stay that way until sometime after 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, when the court releases its opinion to the rest of us.

The decision will have broad societal, economic and legal ramifications, and will play a featured role in the November presidential election. But the justices and their young law clerks — the only ones privy to the deliberations — don't leak opinions. It's virtually unheard of.

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U.S.
1:54 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Firefighters Struggle To Contain Colorado Fires

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 5:02 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.

While fires don't affect us here in Aspen, other parts of Colorado face dire conditions. In Fort Collins, firefighters and the National Guard have been attempting to contain the huge High Park Fire burning for two weeks now. It's destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched tens of thousands of acres. A lightning-sparked wildfire erupted near Boulder yesterday, but the focus right now is in Colorado Springs where fire swept into the city and forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate their homes.

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NPR Story
1:54 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

'Who Gets What': Putting A Price On Human Tragedy

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 12:56 pm

When a tragedy like the Sept. 11 attacks or the Virginia Tech shooting strikes, shock and grief quickly give way to blame. And when it's time to figure out if and how victims should be compensated, lawyer Kenneth Feinberg's phone rings.

Over the past three decades, Feinberg has developed a unique specialty: overseeing compensation funds by doing the difficult, often contentious and politically charged work of figuring out who deserves payment — and often, how much they will receive.

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The Two-Way
1:49 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Puny Humans: Robot Plays Rock, Paper, Scissors With 100 Percent Accuracy

Credit Ishikawa Oku Laboratory
A robot hand playing rock, paper, scissor.
The Two-Way
1:45 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Here's How To Learn What The Supreme Court Says About Health Care

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court, which will be in the news on Thursday.

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:15 pm

The biggest surprise Thursday morning at the Supreme Court will be if the justices do not issue their most-anticipated decision of the year — on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act; the health care overhaul enacted in 2010.

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Shots - Health Blog
1:42 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

FDA Approves First New Weight-Loss Drug In More Than A Decade

Credit Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Belviq, the first new prescription drug in years to help people lose weight, is expected to be available in four to six months.

Originally published on Thu June 28, 2012 12:34 pm

For the first time in 13 years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug to help people lose weight.

The FDA gave the green light to Arena Pharmaceuticals to sell Belviq, or lorcaserin generically, a twice-a-day pill that suppresses appetite and appears to affect metabolism by influencing levels of the brain chemical serotonin.

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NPR Story
1:31 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Remembering Groundbreaking Filmmaker Nora Ephron

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:15 pm

Transcript

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

Nora Ephron provided some of the most memorable moments in the movies: "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," many other films and, of course, essays and stories. She suffered from leukemia and died last night in New York at the age of 71. Six years ago, she joined us to talk about her book, "I Feel Bad About My Neck," and we concluded that conversation by talking about her last chapter, "Consider the Alternative," where she wrote about regrets, and she cited Edith Piaf's celebrated song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien."

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NPR Story
1:31 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

With Primaries Wrapped, Campaigns Shift Into High Gear

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:09 pm

With the Republican primary season completed, the presidential campaigns are buckling down for the months ahead. NPR's Ron Elving and political strategists Vin Weber and Anna Greenberg discuss the presidential race, key battleground states and what it will take for candidates Romney or Obama to win in November.

NPR Story
1:31 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

FBI Tracks Possible Military 'Insider Threats'

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 2:11 pm

The Pentagon and FBI have conducted more than 100 investigations into possible Islamist extremists inside the U.S. military in the wake of the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston shares the latest developments and what the military is doing to prevent radicalization within its ranks.

The Salt
1:00 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Is That Frozen Foam On Your Beer Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Credit Kirin

Originally published on Wed June 27, 2012 1:05 pm

Apparently, it is just what it looks like — frozen foam, on a beer.

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Author Interviews
12:53 pm
Wed June 27, 2012

Why Flying Is No Fun (And May Be More Dangerous)

After the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, flying changed considerably.

Some of those changes have improved commercial flying, but others have made the skies much less friendly, says journalist and airline veteran William J. McGee.

McGee's new book, Attention All Passengers, details how airlines are cutting costs through regional carriers, outsourcing airline maintenance, mishandling baggage and overbooking airplanes.

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