National

The sea snail Conus magus looks harmless enough, but it packs a venomous punch that lets it paralyze and eat fish. A peptide modeled on the venom is a powerful painkiller, though sneaking it past the blood-brain barrier has proved hard.

Snail Venom Yields Potent Painkiller, But Delivering The Drug Is Tricky

10:52am August 04, 2015

by Joe Palca

The drug derived from the venom of cone snails must be injected into the spinal column to get beyond a patient's blood-brain barrier and bring relief. But scientists think they may have a workaround.

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14 GOP Candidates Will Share The Stage At New Hampshire Forum

10:52am August 04, 2015

Correspondent Don Gonyea tells NPR's Melissa Block that unlike official GOP debates, which will limit the number of participants, all the hopefuls were invited to to appear in Manchester on Monday.

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Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Pearlington, Miss., a tiny town on the border with Louisiana. A home currently under construction there adheres to new FEMA standards for elevation.

National

From The Eye Of The Hurricane To Near Oblivion: Katrina's Forgotten Town

10:52am August 04, 2015

by David Schaper

Tiny Pearlington, Miss., was obliterated 10 years ago. In a town of 1,700, only two houses stood relatively unscathed. Volunteers did most rebuilding, for better or worse, and recovery has been slow.

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Researchers Witness Urban Coyotes Melt Into The Shadows Of Los Angeles

8:19am August 04, 2015

by Jed Kim

Coyotes are becoming more and more common in urban areas, including Los Angeles. This summer, the National Park Service announced a first-of-its-kind survey of coyote behavior in the city. The researchers say the findings so far have been surprising.

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National

Forget The 117 Steps: 3-D Video Makes Fallingwater Accessible To All

8:19am August 04, 2015

by Erika Beras

A filmmaker has created a way to make Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece home, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, accessible to those with physical limitations.

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National

HitchBOT: When Bad Things Happen To Good Robots

12:10am August 04, 2015

HitchBOT, the robot that hitchhiked across Canada and Europe, was found vandalized beyond repair in Philadelphia on Saturday. Its makers hope people remember "all the joy" it brought.

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Researcher John Clements in the early 1980s, after he figured out that lungs need surfactants to breathe.

How A Scientist's Slick Discovery Helped Save Preemies' Lives

9:05pm August 03, 2015

by Joe Palca

Sometimes one person's insight transforms medicine. Dr. John Clements is one of those people. In the 1950s he discovered a slippery lung substance key to breathing, and to the survival of tiny babies.

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Protesters rally on the steps of the Texas state capitol on July 28 to condemn the use of fetal tissue for medical research.

Calls To Cut Off Planned Parenthood Are Nothing New

7:00pm August 03, 2015

by Julie Rovner

Flashback to the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan tried to restrict funding for Planned Parenthood. Efforts in Congress have continued since then, with the latest focused on fetal tissue research.

It is illegal to sell toy guns in New York that look real.

National

New York Attorney General Orders Immediate Halt To Realistic Toy Gun Sales

6:57pm August 03, 2015

by Lucy Perkins

New York law requires toy guns made in realistic colors to have a bright, 1-inch-wide orange stripe "down both sides of the barrel and the front end of the barrel," according to a press release.

In Alabama, including this station near Montgomery, gasoline prices are below the national average, in part, because of low fuel taxes.

Oil Prices Tumble Again, Hurting Drillers But Helping Drivers

6:49pm August 03, 2015

by Marilyn Geewax

Oil prices are falling, down sharply since mid-June to just over $45 a barrel. That has affected gasoline prices, now down to an average of $2.65 a gallon, about 85 cents less than a year ago.

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