NPR National News

Pages

The Two-Way
12:41 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Online Gaming Company Zynga Says Target Valuation Is Around $7 Billion

As we've noted before, 2011 has been a great year for Internet companies seeking to go public. Today, Zynga said it hoped to price its shares at $8 to $10 per share during its initial public offering later this month. Depending on whose math you trust, that means the company will try to raise about $1 billion and the debut could value the company at $7 billion. (Some news outlets are putting that number as high as $9 billion.)

What is Zynga you ask? They're the makers of social games like Farmville and Cityville.

Read more
Economy
12:01 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Jobless Dip May Overstate Economic Improvement

The unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 8.6 percent in November, in part because hundreds of thousands of Americans stopped looking for work. But analysts said the modest increase of 120,000 jobs created last month points to an economy that's generally still limping.

Read more
Medical Treatments
12:00 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Combating Depression With Meditation, Diet

In his book Spontaneous Happiness, Dr. Andrew Weil writes of an 'integrative' approach to mental health, warding off mild and moderate depression with an anti-inflammatory diet, exercise and activities such as yoga and meditation, rather than antidepressants.

Research News
12:00 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Flight Of The Wild Pigeon

Pigeons may not be known for their flying prowess, but they are actually pretty good at maneuvering right angles. Andrew Biewener and colleagues at Harvard's Concord Field Station caught pigeons in a parking garage, made a flying course in the lab and filmed the birds with high speed cameras to see how pigeons make tight turns.

Architecture
12:00 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Deconstructing A Skyscraper

In her new book, The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper, author Kate Ascher sheds light on the infrastructure and services that make life and work possible in a modern skyscraper. She examines everything that goes into designing, building and maintaining these towering buildings.

Health
12:00 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

Hitting The 'Off' Switch On Antibiotic Resistance

Doctors are running out of effective antibiotics, as bacteria evolve ways to evade one drug after another. Now DARPA has called for alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses one such weapon--tiny globs of DNA and RNA that can switch off the bugs' antibiotic resistance. Nanotechnologist Chad Mirkin discusses next-generation antibiotics that target a bacterium's DNA.

Author Interviews
12:00 pm
Fri December 2, 2011

The Beauty and Brains Behind 'Hedy's Folly'

Originally published on Fri December 2, 2011 12:46 pm

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Up next, the hidden life of a Hollywood siren.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE HEAVENLY BODY")

WILLIAM POWELL: (as William Whitley) Scientist, mathematician, physicist, bacon-eater, yes, but not astrologer.

HEDY LAMARR: (as Vicky Whitley) Oh, I'm sorry.

POWELL: (as William Whitley) Darling, astronomy and astrology may sound alike, but that's all. Astronomy is a science, astrology, a superstition.

Read more
The Two-Way
11:50 am
Fri December 2, 2011

Samsung, HTC And Carrier IQ Face Suit Over Logging Software

The first lawsuit has been filed against Samsung, HTC and Carrier IQ over software installed on millions of phones that can capture a wide range of data including key strokes.

Read more
The Two-Way
11:45 am
Fri December 2, 2011

Why Burma? Why Myanmar? Why Both?

Credit Saul Loeb / AP
Aung San Suu Kyi, right, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embraced today when they met at Suu Kyi's home in Yangon, Myanmar (also known as Burma).

Originally published on Fri December 2, 2011 1:10 pm

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit to Myanmar, where she has pledged with opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi to continue the push for democracy and respect for human rights there, has focused attention on that long-oppressed Asian nation.

Read more
NPR Story
11:31 am
Fri December 2, 2011

'Lost In A Dream': Low, Loose And Slow

Fresh Air begins its remembrance of drummer Paul Motian with an archived review of his trio album. (The original review is below.)

Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Pages