News

Science

The World's Largest Cave Chamber Rises 1,000 Feet

1:51pm October 05, 2014

Newly measured, the world's largest chamber is as tall as the Eiffel Tower. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to long-time caver, Andy Eavis, who has explored the ethereally beautiful underground cave.

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World News

Brazil Election Caps A Dramatic Campaign Season

1:51pm October 05, 2014

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Voters in Brazil go to the polls Sunday to choose a new president. Incumbent Dilma Roussef is up against environmentalist Marina Silva and others, in a nail-biting race.

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Ebola Continues Its Baleful Advance In Liberia

1:51pm October 05, 2014

Ebola continues to defy international borders, no matter what precautions are taken. Correspondent Jason Beaubien talks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about the deteriorating situation in Liberia.

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How To Measure A Crowd, Without The Political Numbers

1:51pm October 05, 2014

The Number of the Week is: 80,000. That's how many are protesting in Hong Kong, according to organizers. But data journalist Mona Chalabi says estimating crowd size isn't an exact science.

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Republicans May Lose Grip On Florida Panhandle House Seat

1:51pm October 05, 2014

by Greg Allen

One of the most competitive House races this year is in Florida's panhandle. Democrat Gwen Graham has made it a tight race in part by attacking Southerland as being out of step on women's issues.

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Kathryn Hunter, Jared McNeill and Marcello Magni star in The Valley of Astonishment.

Arts

Seeing Neurological Patients As Characters, Not Case Studies

1:51pm October 05, 2014

by Jeff Lunden

Legendary theater director Peter Brook is working on a new play centered on people with unusual conditions — like synesthesia, extraordinary memory or the inability to sense their own bodies.

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Archbisop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan (left) attends the Opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday in Vatican City. The two-week conference will discuss family issues, including controversial

Vatican Synod Tests The Pope's Vision Of A More Merciful Church

1:51pm October 05, 2014

by Sylvia Poggioli

Bishops are meeting with Pope Francis these next two weeks for an extraordinary conference to debate family matters – including hot-button issues like artificial contraception and gay civil unions.

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An electron micrograph photo of the Ebola virus, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Hope For Ebola Treatment Found In Survivors

12:32pm October 05, 2014

by Lauren Hodges

Health officials are looking to those who have recovered from Ebola to treat new cases. The World Health Organization hopes to find antibodies in the blood of people who have fought off the virus.

Claire Danes, right, plays CIA station chief Carrie Mathison with Alex Lanipekun on Showtime's Homeland.

Arts

Showtime's 'Homeland' Now Depends On Carrie Mathison As Flawed Hero

5:52am October 05, 2014

by Eric Deggans

As Showtime's Emmy-winning terrorism drama starts its fourth season Sunday, NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans says the show struggles to continue without a key character.

Professor Laurence Steinberg, of Temple University, says adolescence should be conceived of as lasting from puberty to the early 20s.

Q&A: Plumbing The Mysteries Of The Teenage Brain

9:46pm October 04, 2014

by Anya Kamenetz

In Age of Opportunity, psychologist Larry Steinberg applies neuroscience to risk-taking, peer influence, the boredom of high school and other adolescent conundrums.