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Monday, February 04, 2013

Shots - Health News

What Makes You Feel Fear?

Movies like The Shining frighten most of us, but some brain-damaged people feel no fear when they watch a scary film. However, an unseen threat — air with a high level of carbon dioxide — produces a surprising result.

February 4, 2013 Some people with damage to a specific region of the brain called the amygdala do not feel fear. If you make them handle a snake or show them a scene from a scary movie such as The Shining, they won't be affected. But breathing in air with high levels of carbon dioxide can send them into a panic.

Summary

Education

African Americans Fly High With Math And Science

Barrington Irving , a 23-year-old Jamaican-born pilot, at a news conference at Opa-locka Airport Wednesday, June 27, 2007, ending a three-month journey he said would make him the youngest person to fly around the world alone.

February 4, 2013 At the age of 23 and with only $30 in his pocket, Barrington Irving became the youngest person to fly around the world. Host Michel Martin talks to Irving about getting kids on board with math and science from a 'flying classroom.'

Transcript

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Krulwich Wonders...

Irresistible Meets Unstoppable. Who Wins?

Unstoppable Force

February 4, 2013 I know you've wondered: What would happen if an irresistible object is launched at an immovable object? Who wins? What happens? Well, here's the answer. It's not what you'd expect.

Summary

Energy

Are Mini-Reactors The Future Of Nuclear Power?

The reactor room at Babcock & Wilcox's prototype reactor outside Lynchburg, Va. The reactor vessel is behind the orange curtain.

February 4, 2013 WFAEThe prefabricated nuclear reactors, which would be small enough to build in a factory and ship on trucks, would generate about one-tenth the power of a typical nuclear power plant. It's potentially a growth opportunity for American industry, but critics say the reactors carry a host of safety, security, environmental and economic concerns.

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Sunday, February 03, 2013

Animals

Wood Stork's Endangered Status Is Up In The Air

A wood stork soars over its nest in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Fort Myers, Fla., in 2008, as baby wood storks wait in their nest for an adult to bring food.

February 3, 2013 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife may upgrade the wood stork's status from "endangered" to "threatened." But some environmentalists and the Audubon Society says that in south Florida, the bird's population is still a long way from reaching a full recovery.

Transcript

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Saturday, February 02, 2013

Animals

Did You Hear That? I Think It Was A Walrus

The sound of a male walrus is just one of the more than 9,000 recordings in the Macaulay Library's new digital archive.

February 2, 2013 The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has just finished digitizing its huge archive of wildlife sounds — more than 9,000 of them — and made it available online.

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Friday, February 01, 2013

The Salt

Pig Out In The Winter Or When Money's Tight? Blame Evolution

When times are tough, that prehistoric urge to splurge on high-calorie treats like M&Ms still kicks in.

February 1, 2013 Why do we reach for that handful of M&Ms and other high-calorie treats under stress? In prehistoric times, such gluttony was probably a useful response to scarcity. That "feast before famine" instinct is less helpful in modern times, when obesity is a bigger health risk than starvation – but evolution hasn't had a chance to catch up.

Summary

When Crime Pays: Prison Can Teach Some To Be Better Criminals

Prison provides an opportunity for networking with more seasoned criminals.

February 1, 2013 Research from an Ohio sociologist has found that inmates "earn" illegal money in greater amounts after they serve time. Prison may serve as a classroom where inexperienced delinquents learn from hardened criminals — and become more dangerous criminals themselves.

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