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The Salt
4:42 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Menu Math: When Counting Fast Food Calories Requires A Calculator

Credit Ed Ou / AP
Calorie counts like the one on this McDonald's drive-thru in New York are intended to help people make healthier choices. But researchers say they're often too confusing.

It's a simple enough idea: Know how many calories are in those fast food meals, and you'll make a better choice between them.

But when students at the Columbia University School of Nursing tried to nail down the calories on 70 menus at 12 eateries in New York's Harlem neighborhood, they found it pretty much impossible, even with a calculator.

One big problem: Many items are listed with a calorie range, but with no clues as to how those ranges are determined. For example:

  • A bucket of chicken was 2,200 to 5,860 calories.

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It's All Politics
4:36 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Fred Who? He's Republican, He's Gay, And He's Competing For Michigan Delegates

Middle East
4:25 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Syrian Official Says Media Coverage Is Manipulated

Melissa Block talks to Zouheir Jabbour, Chief of Mission of the Syrian Embassy in Washington, DC, about the call for a ceasefire in Homs and the allegations of atrocities by the Syrian regime.

The Two-Way
3:44 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

U.N. Report: Iran Has Ramped Up Production Of Enriched Uranium

A new report by the United Nations' nuclear agency claims that Iran has ramped up production of a purer form of enriched uranium over the past few months. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency was obtained by The Associated Press and other news outlets and it's likely to further suspicions from Western countries that Iran might be working on a nuclear weapon.

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National Security
3:29 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Hezbollah Suspect May Face U.S. Military Commission

Credit Wsthiq Khuzaie / AP
U.S. Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner speaks in Baghdad in July 2007 near a poster of Ali Musa Daqduq. Daqduq was captured in Iraq in March 2007, and is accused of orchestrating the killings of five U.S. soldiers. The U.S. left Daqduq in Iraqi custody when U.S. troops formally withdrew in December. But the Obama administration is seeking to try him before a military commission.

The Obama administration is seeking to try a Lebanese man linked to Hezbollah in a military commission, expanding the reach of the military tribunal beyond al-Qaida and Taliban suspects for the first time.

The man at the center of the case is Ali Musa Daqduq. He was the last detainee held by American forces in Iraq and had been turned over to Iraqi custody when U.S. forces formally withdrew from Iraq in December.

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The Two-Way
3:05 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Syria: Red Cross Begins Evacuating Injured From Homs

The International Committee of the Red Cross said today that its crews had reached the restive city of Homs in Syria and they have begun evacuating some of those injured by the shelling.

The Telegraph reports that the Red Cross said two wounded Western journalists were were evacuated, as well as the body of two others. The Telegraph adds:

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NPR Story
3:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Why Woody Allen Is Always MIA At Oscars

Filmmaker Woody Allen is notorious for not attending the Oscars each year, despite his numerous nominations.

NPR Story
3:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

'Friends Of Syria' Group Calls For Ceasefire

Representatives from some 70 countries met in Tunis on Friday and issued an ultimatum to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, demanding an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to cities like Homs that have been under bombardment by the Syrian army. Audie Cornish talks to Michele Kelemen about the news.

NPR Story
3:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Correcting A National Record Literally Set In Stone

The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial isn't the only monument in Washington, DC, that has grappled with how to make a correction. At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, there are more than 58,000 names inscribed on the wall. More than 100 of them have been misspelled, but 62 have been fixed. Memorial fund president Jan Scruggs explains how they've made the corrections.

Sports
3:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Braun Return The Biggest Story In Baseball Training

Baseball spring training is getting under way. One of the biggest stories of players returning is National League MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. On Thursday, he won an appeal after failing a drug test. Audie Cornish talks to sportswriter Stefan Fatsis for more about that story and what else to expect during the training season.

Middle East
3:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Some Evacuated From Syrian City Under Siege

In Syria, medics working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are evacuating the injured from a neighborhood of Homs. The area known as Baba Amr has been under a long and heavy bombardment from Syrian government forces. Melissa Block talks with Saleh Dabbakeh, a spokesman for the ICRC who is in Damascus.

Shots - Health Blog
2:11 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Chemical Used For Stripping Bathtubs Kills 13

Credit iStockPhoto.com
Sure, gussy it up. But be careful.

We've all seen those bathtub refinishing ads that promise a glossy new surface on the dingy old tub.

But a solvent used to make that transformation has killed at least 13 people who used it to strip bathtubs from 2006 to 2011, according to a new study. The chemical, methylene chloride, is sold as a solvent and paint stripper both to professionals and in dozens of do-it-yourself products sold at home improvement stores.

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The Two-Way
1:55 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

In Orlando, Another Melee Caused By Shoes

Last night at midnight, Nike released a pair of expensive glow-in-the-dark basketball shoes. And as has happened before for big shoe releases, a melee broke out among the hundreds of people who waited outside of an Orlando, Fla. mall to buy them.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the release of the shoes was timed with Orlando's hosting of the NBA All-Star Game and by 9:45 p.m., police in riot gear were called in to control the crowd.

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NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Imagining A More Active Moon

The standard picture of the moon is of a long-dead object, geologically speaking. But using observations from cameras on board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Thomas Watters and colleagues say in the journal Nature Geosciencesthat there are signs of more recent tectonic activity on the moon, within the last 50 million years.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Secret Life Of Ice

Photographer and videographer Edward Aites, of Seattle, submitted this time-lapse video to Science Friday. He looked at ice through a macro lens and cross-polarizing filters, and found a colorful, surprising landscape. This is ice like you've never seen it before.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Mild Winter May Be Keeping Flu Bugs At Bay

Flu season usually peaks around February. But this year it's missing in action, with the CDC reporting the slowest start to the flu season on record. Peter Palese, a microbiologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, discusses whether unseasonably warm winter weather may be to thank.

Technology
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Reaching For The Limits of Tiny Transistors

Computer chip makers have long struggled to build ever-smaller transistors to allow faster, more powerful computers. Writing in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, a team of scientists describes what may be the ultimate limit of that struggle — a transistor made of a single atom. Michelle Simmons, a physicist at the University of New South Wales in Australia and leader of the project, discusses the work.

NPR Story
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Genetic Test Reveals Unexpected Data

Bloomberg News reporter John Lauerman volunteered to have his DNA sequenced by Harvard researchers to demystify the process for the public. What he didn't expect to uncover was that he possessed two gene variants--one linked to rare blood disorders and the other to a higher risk of Alzheimer's.

Energy
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Powering Up...With A Microbial Fuel Cell

Reporting in Environmental Science and Technology, researchers write of harvesting electricity from microbe-rich river sediments--enough to power a small LED bulb. Grant Burgess, a marine biotechnologist at Newcastle University, discusses the hunt for electron-burping bugs.

Health
1:00 pm
Fri February 24, 2012

Science Diction: The Origin Of 'Tuberculosis'

When doctors autopsied tuberculosis patients, they described finding round, white swellings, especially in and around the lungs. Medical historian Howard Markel describes how those potato-like growths led to the disease being called tuberculosis, from the Latin tuber.

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