Search results for

Sarah Bardeen reviews the self-titled CD by a California band called Call and Response. (3:30) Call and Response, is on Kindercore Records. See www.kindercore.com . Sarah Bardeen is an editor at http://www.Listen.com

NPR's David Kestenbaum reports on a possible wrinkle in the space-time continuum. Really. Physicists measuring the fundamental characteristics of a subatomic particle, the muon, have come up with some very puzzling results that could punch a hole in the long-standing "standard model" of how matter is put together. And that could help usher in a completely new theory of matter, time and space. Unless, of course, some scientist has made a mistake. (4:30) (It was later revealed this was a mistake: "Well, I would say I'm responsible for the mistake. My collaborator did most of the work, but I am equally guilty of making mistakes." Toichiro Kinoshita, a physicist at Princeton University. Kinoshita's sin was to have a minus sign where he should have had a plus or maybe the other way around. He can't quite remember, though it ended up having gigantic consequences. Kinoshita and his colleague were calculating how a particular subatomic particle behaves when it's stuck in a magnetic field. The particle, it turns out, wobbles like a toy top at a particular frequency. Kinoshita enlisted hundreds of computers and, after a decade of heroic work, had precisely predicted how fast it should wobble according to the laws of physics. Last winter, other physicists who were out measuring the wobble found it differed significantly from Kinoshita's prediction. In the clockwork world of physics, this was potentially a huge finding, signaling something new and mysterious, except that it wasn't. Kinoshita traced his error to a tiny quirk in a computer program he was using. He hadn't checked that bit, in part because other physicists using a different approach had gotten the same answer."

Liane talks with NPR's Tom Gjelten about President Bush's defense policy. During the campaign, Mr. Bush promised to rebuild the U.S. military and provide help for military families. He's also attempting to change the structure and strategy of the armed forces, to meet the challenges of the post Cold War world.

NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr examines the potential ramifications of a national missile defense system.

The 50th annual National Basketball Association All Star Game will be played today in Washington. Pro basketball boomed during the 1980s and '90s, thanks to Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and other charismatic, and highly-marketable, players. But how is the league doing today, with a new wave of younger, more controversial stars? Liane talks with New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte.

From Los Angeles, Johanna Cooper reports on the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. The group has long invited community members to join them on stage. For her latest project, Hallelujah, Lerman brought in people from churches, synagogues and Buddhist temples to give praise and celebrate as part of the dance.

Liane talks with Eric Yaverbaum , President of Jericho Communications and author of the book, Public Relations Kit for Dummies, who just completed a survey about the TV viewing habits of big business CEO's. Turns out, they watch the Simpsons and hockey games, just like the rest of us.

Liane speaks with Weekend Edition Sunday music director Ned Wharton about the latest crop of new releases on CD.

Just in time for Valentine's Day: Liane talks to Barrie Dolnick, co-author with Donald Baack, of the book, How to Write a Love Letter: Putting What's in Your Heart on Paper. Dolnick offers tips on how to woo your loved one through the written word. (How to Write a Love Letter is published by Harmony Books.)

Lisa talks with Jeanne Thaggard of Austin, Texas. In the 1920s, Thaggard's parents met through the exchange of a message in a shirt pocket, sent from the Montgomery Ward shipping center.