Search results for

A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that roughly 1 in 5 stars, like our own sun, have an Earth-like planet orbiting around it. That's about 40 billion planets that could support life in the Milky Way galaxy. Melissa Block talks to co-author Geoff Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California-Berkeley, about the latest numbers.

Monday is the birthday of North Korea's founder, and it's always marked by a massive military display. In the run-up to this day, Pyongyang unleashed a round of bellicose military rhetoric, and sparked another round of international anxiety over North Korea's nuclear intentions. Steve Inskeep talks to North Korea scholar Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea, and author of the new book: The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia.

Tom Perez has been one of the most aggressive advocates for civil rights in decades. He prosecuted a record number of hate crimes cases and got huge settlements from banks that overcharged minorities for home loans. But Republicans say he has questions to answer about a whistle-blower case.

Melissa Block talks to marathon runner Lisa Batchen about a six day ultramarathon taking place in the Saharan desert in Morocco.

Recently, a few musical alchemists have been tweaking popular songs, converting minor keys to major ones and raising questions about how the human brain processes music.

School officials in Philadelphia announced Thursday night the names of 23 schools that will be closed to help narrow a budget gap of more than $1 billion. Philadelphia is one of several big city school districts that are shutting down schools amid declining enrollments, the rise of charter schools and low student achievement.

Venezuela held a funeral for late President Hugo Chavez on Friday. Audie Cornish talks to Juan Forero.

A 19-year-old black woman was killed by a white man on the front porch of his suburban Detroit home. Relatives of the victim say she was in a car accident and going door to door looking for help when she was shot by the homeowner who thought she was a burglar

A New Jersey fire department has hired 43 military veterans on to the force this year. The fire chief says their background makes them well-suited to the job, and the recruits say firefighting gives them the sense of camaraderie and responsibility they've missed.

Negotiators from Iran and a six-nation group are scheduled to resume talks on Iran's nuclear program in 10 days. Talks ended on Saturday after an agreement was not reached on an initial proposal to ease international sanctions against Tehran in return for some restraints on its nuclear program.