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All Tech Considered
3:12 pm
Mon December 31, 2012

From 3-D Printers To Wired Glasses, The Tech Year Ahead

Credit Seth Wenig / AP
Google Glass will be part of a trend in 2013 of computing and connectivity in devices we don't generally think of as computers.
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Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 7:17 pm

It's unlikely 2013 will be the year that jet packs make it big, but the coming year could bring us a host of other new technology trends and products, such as 3-D printers for consumers, smarter smartphones and more connected devices like glasses and cars.

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Alcohol
1:19 pm
Mon December 31, 2012

Five Ways A New Year's Cocktail Messes You Up

Credit Mike Gifford / Flickr
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Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 10:45 am

As we prepare to pop the cork on champagne to welcome the New Year, Bryan Wasson, an internal medicine specialist at Baylor Medical Center in Irving, breaks down the effect of alcohol on the body.

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Krulwich Wonders...
11:26 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Another Year And I'm Still Here: A New Year's Meditation

Credit Rogier Wieland / Vimeo
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Originally published on Tue January 1, 2013 11:17 am

Updated Jan. 1, 2013: I've added a postscript to this post. You can find it at the bottom of this page.

Look at yourself. Right now.

You are muscle,skin, bone, brain, blood, warmed by energy, and all of you, every cell, even the subsets of those cells, all trillions and trillions of them, are going to tire, waste and depart. In 10 years almost every bit of you will have been replaced by new bits.

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Research News
4:49 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Why Charities Need To Consider Donors' Politics

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As American make contributions to various charities at the end of the year, there is increasing evidence that politics is playing a role in their decisions. Research suggests that the way the charity presses certain ideological buttons predicts whether liberals or conservatives will pony up a donation.

Shots - Health News
2:30 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Research Moratoriums And Recipes For Superbugs: Bird Flu In 2012

Credit Andy Manis / AP
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., use eggs to see if the Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has entered the U.S. in this photo from 2006.
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Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 4:46 am

For scientists who study a dangerous form of bird flu, 2012 is ending as it began — with uncertainty about what the future holds for their research, but a hope that some contentious issues will soon be resolved.

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Environment
2:29 am
Mon December 31, 2012

A Busy And Head-Scratching 2012 Hurricane Season

Credit NASA via Getty Images
This satellite image from Oct. 28 shows Hurricane Sandy in the Atlantic Ocean before making landfall.
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Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 4:46 am

Superstorm Sandy is what most people will remember from the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. But Sandy was just one of 10 hurricanes this year — a hurricane season that was both busy and strange.

Late summer is when the hurricane season usually gets busy. But Greg Jenkins, a professor of atmospheric science at Howard University, says this year was different.

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The Salt
2:29 am
Mon December 31, 2012

Cheap Bubbly Or Expensive Sparkling Wine? Look To The Bubbles For Clues

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Credit iStockphoto.com
The bubbles in champagne tickle the tongue and transfer wonderful aromas to the nose.
Credit Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
This time sequence illustrates a comparison of champagne being poured in the traditional method (left) and like beer (right) as seen with an infrared video camera.
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Originally published on Wed January 2, 2013 9:03 am

There's nothing like the distinctive "pop" of the uncorking of a bottle of bubbly to create a sense of celebration. Whether it's Dom Perignon or a $10 sparkling wine, bubbles add pizazz.

Sparkling-wine lovers sometimes point to the glittering streams of tiny bubbles as an important attribute. Why? Well, tiny bubbles are a sign of age, explains French chemist Gerard Liger-Belair, author of Uncorked: The Science of Champagne.

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Shots - Health News
6:42 am
Sat December 29, 2012

As Biodiversity Declines, Tropical Diseases Thrive

Credit James Gathany / CDC Public Health Image Library
Mosquitoes like this one can carry the virus that causes dengue fever, which may become a bigger problem in some regions as biodiversity is lost.
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Originally published on Mon December 31, 2012 8:24 am

Global health advocates often argue that the tropical diseases that plague many countries, such as malaria and dengue, can be conquered simply with more money for health care – namely medicines and vaccines.

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The Picture Show
2:32 pm
Fri December 28, 2012

This Milk Production Was Brought To You By A Robot

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Credit Freya Najade
Photographer Freya Najade journeys into the weird sci-fi world of Europe's agricultural production. In one cow-milking facility she visited, "two people are needed to milk twice a day 300 cows," she writes.
Credit Freya Najade
Apple Tree, 2011: Modern apple growers use apple varieties that are grafted onto Dwarfing Rootstocks. Developed at a research station in the U.K., these ... trees need less water and less space than traditional apple trees, which makes high density planting possible. The fruits are more accessible and easier to pick, because the trees are smaller.
Credit Freya Najade
Tomatoes I, 2012: In order to have total control over the nutrients and the irrigation, tomatoes are planted in sterile material such as rock wool and not in soil. By doing so, the tomatoes are, according to the growers, less likely infected by diseases, a smaller amount of pesticide is needed and the yield can be increased.
Credit Freya Najade
Lettuce, 2011: Lettuce is grown in a stacking system to provide a maximum use of space. Plants grow inside of plastic trays without soil. A conveyor belt is moving the plants to ensure they get all round sunlight. The whole growing process is computer controlled.
Credit Freya Najade
Cress, 2011: Cress, tomatoes, cucumbers, or lettuce are grown in closed systems just with LED lights. There is no sunlight and no direct exchange of air with the outside. Day and night, summer and winter stop existing. Humans are able to determine the shape, taste and color of plants and fruits. They can be grown anywhere from the desert to inside of restaurants and supermarkets.
Credit Freya Najade
Tomato Vines, 2012
Credit Freya Najade
Eggplants, 2012: A computer manages precisely the irrigation, the nutrients given to the plants and also the climate inside the greenhouse. Automatically windows open, sunscreens move, and waste, water and nutrients are collected, purified, and recycled.
Credit Freya Najade
Tomatoes II, 2011: In order to consume locally grown tomatoes in ... the U.K. or Germany, the tomatoes need to be produced in heated greenhouses. ... To produce in more sustainable ways and to keep the cost of energy low, the greenhouse above is heated by the waste heat from a nearby nuclear power station.
Credit Freya Najade
Strawberries II, 2012: Strawberry crops are grown on tabletop-raised beds. The tabletop system makes it easier to pick the fruits and eases the weed and pest control. A leaf and sap analysis determines the nutrient's compound, which is fed with the irrigation water. To accelerate the growth of the plants, growers above add CO2 from a close-by Shell refinery.
Credit Freya Najade
Milking Parlor, 2012: Two people are needed to milk twice a day, 300 cows.
Credit Freya Najade
Milking Robot I, 2012: One milking robot milks three times per day, 60 cows. The cows are in a stable, in which they can move around freely. They can use the robot whenever they need to. No human needs to be present.
Credit Freya Najade
Mushrooms, 2012: To allow an all-year-round production of mushrooms and to increase the yield, mushrooms are grown in a microclimate inside growing rooms. A stacking system maximizes the production per square meter.
Credit Freya Najade
Chicken, 2011: Since the mid-1990s the consumption of chicken has increased by 75 percent worldwide. Chicken are often reared in barns. One chicken barn has the capacity to rear 50,000 chickens.
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We all have an inkling of how our food is grown these days, but increasingly we don't really know what it looks like. You'd probably recognize a tomato plant or a cornfield — but these photos offer a perspective that a lot of us haven't seen.

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Technology
11:08 am
Fri December 28, 2012

The Year In Tweets

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Originally published on Fri December 28, 2012 12:02 pm

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, are you invited to any parties for Kwanzaa, which is going on now? If the answer is yes, you're not alone. If the answer is no, you're not alone, either. We'll ask just how widely observed is this inspired-by-Africa, made-in-America celebration.

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