Humans

Will The Court's Gene Ruling Stifle Bio Innovation?

4:40pm June 15, 2013

Weekend Edition Saturday Host Scott Simon talks with bioethicist Arthur Caplan of New York University about Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that isolated human genes may not be patented — and the implications for that ruling.

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Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn Talks Climate and Carbon

4:13pm June 14, 2013

Like any major city near a coast, Seattle likely won't be immune from rising sea levels and other effects of global warming. Mayor Mike McGinn discusses the city's plans for addressing climate change, including his push to divest Seattle's pension funds from fossil fuel investments, and the city council's plan to make Seattle carbon neutral by 2050.

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Science

Looking Back, and Up, at a Seattle Icon

4:13pm June 14, 2013

Seattle's Space Needle opened in 1962 as part of the World's Fair. Knute Berger, author of Space Needle: The Spirit of Seattle, discusses the history and engineering behind the tower, and explains why a symbol of "the future" from days gone by still has relevance today.

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Denis Hayes on Being Green

4:13pm June 14, 2013

Since his days as head of the Solar Energy Research Institute under President Jimmy Carter, Denis Hayes has been pushing to add more renewable energy sources to the country's energy portfolio. Hayes discusses the current U.S. market for renewables such as solar and wind, and gives his take on where he sees America's energy future headed.

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Human Genes Not Patentable, Supreme Court Says

4:13pm June 14, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that the mere act of isolating a DNA sequence does not make human genes patentable. Mary-Claire King, who helped discover the breast cancer gene at the center of the court dispute, discusses the ruling and its implications for genetics.

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Decoding 'the Most Complex Object in the Universe'

4:13pm June 14, 2013

The human brain contains some 100 billion neurons, which together form a network of Internet-like complexity. Christof Koch, chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, calls the brain "the most complex object in the known universe," and he's mapping its connections in hopes of discovering the origins of consciousness.

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Science

Rolling Out Bamboo Bicycles

4:13pm June 14, 2013

Valid Cycles specializes in handcrafted bamboo bicycle frames. To be bike-ready, the bamboo must be cooked in an oven, stripped, and sealed. But after that, the founders of Valid Cycles say the bikes last as long as a metal one. We stopped by their shop — a barn in Woodinville, Washington — for a look at how the bikes are put together.

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In a new poll, just a quarter of single black women said they were looking for a long-term relationship, while nearly half of black men said they were.

National

Single Black Man Seeks LTR. Single Black Woman? Not So Much

11:25am June 12, 2013

by Christopher Johnson

A new poll of African-Americans found one bit of data that raised some eyebrows: Single black men were much more interested in long-term relationships than single black women.

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Massive Bat Cave Stirs Texas-Size Debate Over Development

6:28pm June 11, 2013

by Ryan Loyd

Every night for thousands of years, bats have poured out of the Bracken Cave Reserve, near San Antonio, by the millions. But conservationists are worried that plans for a housing development nearby will disrupt the bats' rural habitat.

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Men outside a hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, wear surgical masks as a precaution against infection with a coronavirus.

Triple Threat: Middle East Respiratory Virus And 2 Bird Flus

8:11am June 11, 2013

by Richard Knox

Is the world on the verge of a pandemic? There are three reasons to think so. Two flu viruses are active, and a virus that bears a resemblance to SARS has cropped up in the Middle East. Each has devastating potential, but many early warnings of past pandemics have failed to materialize.

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