Search results for

In the search for ways to break down tough plant material like cellulose into biofuel, researchers are looking in odd places--like the feces of pandas, zebras and giraffes. Biochemist Ashli Brown and microbiologist David Mullin discuss the microbes that inhabit the guts of herbivores.

When Lucette Lagnado's parents were growing up, Cairo was a place of cultural and religious acceptance. But when the 1952 revolution sent Jews fleeing from Egypt, her family was among the exiles. Lagnado tells the story of their exodus to Brooklyn in The Arrogant Years.

New Jersey's Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, considered by many as the toughest legislation against bullying in the nation, went into effect this month. Host Scott Simon talks with Emily Bazelon of Slate Magazine about bullying laws, where they're working and where they're headed (hint: the Supreme Court).

After more than three decades of peace between Israel and Egypt, relations are fraying. A cross-border attack last month left five Egyptian police officers dead. Protesters last weekend stormed Israel's embassy. This week, most Israeli diplomats fled Egypt. Things have gotten so bad that Egypt's prime minister this week said even the 1979 peace treaty wasn't sacred. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson joins host Scott Simon from Cairo to talk about the latest there.

A Miami neighborhood has been invaded by giant African land snails, 10-inch long creatures that eat everything from garbage to the stucco on the sides of houses. "It's us against the snails," says the local official leading the eradication effort.

The death toll rises to 9 in Friday's plane crash at a Reno, Nevada, air show. The pilot and at least eight other people died when a World War II-era plane crashed into the crowd. Weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz gets the latest from Brian Duggan, a reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, who's at the site of the crash.

Researchers at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon have been documenting the park's soundscape. But human-caused noises, like airplanes, are making it harder to hear.

Presidential debates can be full of theatrics. It's up to the moderator to keep the debate on track and to get their questions answered.

On Monday, President Obama will lay out his new plan for reducing the federal deficit. His proposal will also include specific recommendations to the bipartisan deficit Super Committee on how to offset the cost of his $447 billion jobs plan. Host Audie Cornish talks with NPR's Mara Liasson.