Panda Traces Path Home After China Quake

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MIKE PESCA, host:

Welcome back to the Bryant Park Project from NPR News, online all the time at npr.org/bryantpark. Now it's time for the news that perhaps is lesser known, but no less edifying, The Ramble.

(Soundbite of music)

RACHEL MARTIN, host:

Watch out, New Yorkers, the Marines are coming to town. It's all part of Fleet Week, which starts today in New York City, and as part of the festivities, the Marines will be conducting mock helicopter raids at parks - that doesn't sound like fun.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: All at parks all around the city - that sounds frightening. They are going to swoop in, slide down ropes and fan out along a perimeter, sighting their weapons, quote, "in case of danger." This sounds very precarious.

PESCA: That's entertaining. Sunbathers, be aware.

MARTIN: Yeah, really. The rest of Fleet Week will probably be just regular old R&R shenanigans, as thousands of sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen participate in this year's flotilla. Five American war ships and three Canadian ships will offer tours and public demonstrations.

PESCA: Coast Guardsmen?

MARTIN: Coast Guards-people.

PESCA: I prefer coast guardians.

MARTIN: Coast guardians. Yeah, whatever floats your boat.

PESCA: Or your cutter as the case may be. Senator Joe Lieberman wants Google to remove videos on YouTube associated with terrorist groups. But Google says it won't comply with a wholesale removal. Existing policies requires YouTube, which Google owns, to take down videos showing violence and hate speech, but the company issued this statement about taking further action.

Quote, "While we respect and understand his views, YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. We believe that YouTube is a richer and more relevant platform for users precisely because it hosts a diverse range of views, and rather than stifle debate, we will allow our users to view all acceptable content and make up their own minds."

MARTIN: So, you know, Mike, you really can't underestimate the power of a good night's sleep.

PESCA: I've heard that, theoretically.

MARTIN: I feel like someone could survey our news content, our story count, that they might find a disproportionate number of stories about sleep. I am just saying that.

PESCA: Uh-huh. Sleep and cats on treadmills do dominate, yeah.

MARTIN: It's true. So according to some new research, a sleepy brain can shut off much like a power failure, even if you've only missed one night of sleep. Shutdown is often brief, according to the research, mere seconds even, but the new research, about to be published in the Journal of Neuroscience, says the momentary lapses can't be controlled. Researchers used brain scans known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fum-ree (ph), fMRI, to measure blood flow in the brain.

Subjects in the study were asked to perform the same tasks well rested, and then again after a night without sleep. David Dinges, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is one of the authors of the study, described the response this way, quote, "Imagine you are sitting in a room watching a movie with the lights on. In a stable brain, the lights stay on all the time. In a sleepy brain, the lights suddenly go off."

PESCA: Another noted effect of sleep deprivation, inability to say Mee-ahn-mar (ph).

(Soundbite of laughter)

PESCA: My-n-mar (ph), Mynamar (ph), can't do it. It's tough. A giant panda, missing since the earthquake struck China last week, has returned home on his own to Wolong National Nature Reserve in Central China. That is according to reports by China's state media. The Nature Reserve is just 18 miles from the epicenter of the quake.

Experts say it's not unusual for pandas to use their homing instincts to find their way back when lost. They've been known to return when they've escaped also. That's giving officials hope that two other giant pandas still missing will also return. A Chinese forestry official says the animals were likely to be alive because they were adults.

MARTIN: Those little pandas. OK. The Boss. Some people love him, but one man in Northern England apparently went a little too far in his esteem for Bruce Springsteen. A judge has reprimanded 61-year-old John Norman for blasting Springsteen's hit, "Born in the USA," at high volume in the early hours of the day. Prosecutors...

PESCA: Once again, judge overstepping his bounds.

(Soundbite of laughter)

PESCA: We need more judicial restraint in that country.

MARTIN: Prosecutors told the court in Mansfield that more than 100 complaints came in from Norman's neighbors, saying night after night they were waking up to this.

(Soundbite of song "Born in the USA")

Mr. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: (Singing) Born in the USA, I was born in the USA. I was born in the USA, Born in the USA.

PESCA: I can't see the problem.

MARTIN: No issue. What's the issue? One man's anthem? Apparently another man's headache.

PESCA: I am sure the other man is a big Mellencamp fan, perhaps John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Hey, you want a very fascinating "Born in the USA" fact?

MARTIN: Yes I do.

PESCA: It went to number nine in the U.S., number five in Britain.

MARTIN: Oh, gosh.

PESCA: Also "Born in the USA," as an album, had more top ten singles than any other album, I think seven, but no single hit number one. Also Bruce Springsteen is the greatest recording ever to live on this earth.

MARTIN: You never cease to amaze me. The judge in the case handed down a three-week anti-social-behavior order against Norman - I love those anti-social-behavior rules - also known as ASBO, a punishment designed for misbehaving young people. Norman is barred from playing the song for three weeks.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: He could also face jail time if he doesn't keep the music down. You should just sleep with headphones, Norman.

PESCA: I want to be there on day 22. It's going to be loud.

MARTIN: Hey, folks. Guess what? That's your Ramble. These stories and more on our website, npr.org/bryantpark.

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