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Krulwich Wonders...
9:43 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Go Away! I Want You As Far Away From Me As Possible (How Big Is The Universe?)

Credit Minute Physics / YouTube
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Originally published on Thu February 28, 2013 1:13 pm

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Business
5:27 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Non-Profit Hopes To Get Kids Exciting About Computer Coding

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By editor

Originally published on Fri March 1, 2013 8:16 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

The U.S. has made it through gas shortages and the credit crunch. Now tech industry insiders are warning the country is headed for a critical shortage of computer programmers.

NPR's Steve Henn reports that a new non-profit backed by some big tech names is launching this week and is hoping help close the gap - by getting kids excited about coding.

STEVE HENN, BYLINE: Since 2004, the number of U.S. students graduating from college with computer science degrees has fallen by roughly 30 percent.

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Business
3:42 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Experts Boil Telecommuting Decisions Down To Flexibility Vs. Serendipity

Credit iStockphoto.com
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Originally published on Thu February 28, 2013 11:04 am

Yahoo touched off a debate about the effectiveness of telecommuting when it told employees last week that they may no longer work from home. The policy change was made, according to the company's internal email, to enhance workplace collaboration.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who happens to be a new mother, drew fierce criticism from those who say she should embrace, rather than reject, flexible work arrangements.

What exactly is lost and what's gained when people work from home?

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Space
4:57 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

First Space Tourist Sets Sights On A Mars Mission

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Credit Alexander Nemenov / AFP/Getty Images
Space tourist Dennis Tito celebrates after his landing near the Kazakh town of Arkalyk on May 6, 2001.
Credit Oleg Nikishin / Getty Images
Dennis Tito (center) flies into the International Space Station as Russian Talgat Musabayev (right) looks on and the station's Russian commander, Yuri Usache, welcomes them, on April 30, 2001.
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Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 5:23 pm

The world's first space tourist is financing a project that aims to launch an American man and woman on a mission to fly by Mars in 2018.

Back in 2001, businessman Dennis Tito shelled out about $20 million to ride a Russian spaceship up to the International Space Station. Now he's unveiled a new nonprofit group called the Inspiration Mars Foundation.

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All Tech Considered
4:57 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

As States Embrace Online Gambling, Questions Arise

Credit Jim Mone / AP
Internet gambling has become legal in New Jersey and Nevada, but experts say enforcement and regulations still need to be straightened out.
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Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 5:35 pm

Several states are rushing to establish a foothold in online gambling — an activity that federal officials were only recently trying to ban.

Just a while ago, the federal government actually viewed online gambling as a crime. Lately, the Obama administration has taken a more permissive stance. It now allows states to sell lottery tickets online.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had expressed reservations about online gambling a month ago and had vetoed an earlier version of the bill. But in the end, the pressure to sign the legislation was just too great.

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Technology
4:57 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Piracy Alert System Raises Concerns About Fair Use, Misidentification

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Audie Cornish talks to James Grimmelmann, Professor of Law at New York Law School, about the Copyright Alert System, which launched on Monday.

All Tech Considered
4:12 pm
Wed February 27, 2013

Does Working From Home Work? It Helps If You Like Your Teammates

Credit Steve Henn / NPR
NPR's Steve Henn works from his Silicon Valley home. He says his fragmented schedule allows him to fit in time with his daughters. "It works for me because, in the end, the hours balance out — and I am in control of my time," he says.
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By Steve Henn

Many of the articles about Marissa Mayer's decision to ban working from home at Yahoo eventually get around to mentioning that she recently added a nursery to her office.

But this is really not a women's issue. I don't think we should talk about it that way.

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The Two-Way
11:14 am
Wed February 27, 2013

Highest Bidder Will Get DNA Pioneer's Nobel Medal

Credit Denis Poroy / AP
Francis Crick in 2003, the year before his death, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego.
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Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 5:43 pm

This is no ordinary family heirloom.

The granddaughter of English scientist Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who passed away in 2004, is putting his Nobel Prize medal up on the auction block.

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The Salt
9:58 am
Wed February 27, 2013

Cheesecake Factory, IBM Team Up To Crack The Code Of Customer Bliss

Credit PR Newswire
A new outpost for The Cheesecake Factory in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
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Originally published on Wed February 27, 2013 10:17 am

Consider the following entirely fictitious but totally plausible scenario:

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Krulwich Wonders...
8:46 am
Wed February 27, 2013

Close Your Eyes And Imagine A Protein. See Anything? A Housefly, Maybe?

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Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Inspired in part by the German cartoon "Maya the Bee" (Die Biene Maja), Maya turned this cyanobacteria protein into a bee for the daughter of another scientist in her department.
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Bedouin Riding a Camel, composed from a protein from Camelus dromedarius - the dromedary camel.
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
This fly comes from one of the most well known proteins - Insulin!
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
The interaction between ribosomal protein L11 (right molecule) and the methyltransferase protein that acts upon it gave Maya the inspiration for this Biblical scene of Moses and the Burning Bush
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Five seals emerge from the IκBα protein of E. coli
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Another E. coli protein - the Lipoate-Protein Ligase A - serves as the base for this portrait of a Pashtun man wearing a traditional Pakul hat.
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Whimsy turns Homo sapiens protein p53 — dubbed "the guardian of the genome" — into a skating couple.
Credit Jane S. Richardson
Credit Courtesy of Nicholas Glykos
Credit iStockphoto.com
Credit iStockphoto.com
Credit Courtesy of MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Credit Courtesy of Dr. David Goodsell
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
Credit Courtesy of Maja Klevanski
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Originally published on Thu February 28, 2013 9:09 am

Pay no attention to this housefly. We'll get to it later, but first, how about a "Do You Recognize This?" quiz.

If I say "DNA," what do you see? Well, instantly, you see one of these:

But what if I say "protein"? What comes to mind? Anything?

Well, for many people, "protein" is what you find on a plate ...

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