Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

News From NPRRSS
All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

News From NPR

Pages

Research News
6:03 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

Some Deep Sea Microbes Are Hungry For Rocket Fuel

Credit Alfred Pasieka / Science Source
This bacterium-like microbe, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, seen here in a false-color image, can live in the high temperatures found near deep-sea vents. They can also survive by consuming perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By Geoff Brumfiel

Originally published on Fri April 5, 2013 9:36 am

It's life, but not as we know it. Researchers in the Netherlands have found that a microbe from deep beneath the ocean can breathe a major ingredient in rocket fuel. The discovery suggests that early life may have used many different kinds of chemicals besides oxygen to survive and thrive.

Read more
The Two-Way
5:55 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

Reports: Hewlett-Packard's Chairman Will Step Aside

Share
E-mail
Comments
By Eyder Peralta

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 6:44 pm

Hewlett-Packard's chairman Raymond Lane will give up his position, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Bloomberg are reporting.

Read more
Europe
5:02 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

Emigre Artist Sculpted Exquisite Gems Of Russian Folk Life

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Bosom Pals, an iconic sculpture by Russian artist Vasily Konovalenko.
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Cossack, completed in 1979, is another classic image, which reflects Konovalenko's Ukrainian heritage. It was completed in 1979. The base of the sculpture is nephrite; the Cossack's shirt is cacholong, a form of opal, and includes enamel inlay. It measures about 11 inches tall.
Credit Rick Wicker / Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Danila is the sculpture that marks Konovalenko's entry into gem carving. Konovalenko was working at the Maryiinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg when he had to make a malachite box for the stonecutter Danila, the protagonist in the ballet Stone Flower.
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Gold Prospectors is the only sculpture with an American theme; it was completed during the 1981-1984 period. Here is a detail of the donkey's expressive face, braying his displeasure at the folly of his mining owners.
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
A close-up of the man in Gypsies, one of the last sculptures Konovalenko made, shows the artist's extraordinary level of detail. The veins and the tendons are visible on the man's hand. His hat is gold-plated silver; his eyes and ring are ruby; his face is Beloretsk quartz.
Credit Denver Museum
Prisoners was finished between the 1981 and 1984 period. Konovalenko manipulated banded obsidian to create the correct angles for the man's uniform. The sculptor also took advantage of the natural flaws in the Beloretsk quartz he used for the face; the man appears jaundiced, frostbitten and severely unhappy, as one might expect.
Credit Rick Wicker / Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Toper, or Drinker, photographed from above, is a prime example of how Konovalenko designed his sculptures to be theatrical and seen from all sides. Note the vodka pooled up in his mouth, the detail of his hands, and the fact that his eyes are ever so slightly crossed, as anyone who has ever chugged vodka will attest is a natural reaction.
Credit Rick Wicker / Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Czar's Henchman depicts Ivan the Terrible's security guard and torturer. His shirt is ruby; the green portion of his coat malachite; the trim of his coat and his hat are a brown obsidian. His left eye is diamond, for the henchman sees all and misses nothing.
Credit Rick Wicker / Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Warrior is a classic Russian piece created in 1961. His shield and sword are nephrite, which Konovalenko loved to carve, for it had "special qualities like no other stone."
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Bosom Pals, an iconic sculpture by Vasily Konovalenko, was created between 1981 and 1984. It shows three revelers out for a night of drinking and song. Konovalenko loved this scene so much that he repeated it in other works — including enamels and bronzes and in sketches.
Credit Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Set designer turned sculptor Vasily Konovalenko (ca. 1984) is seen with a work titled Grandmother.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 8:20 pm

A team of American researchers is on a treasure hunt for jewels — of both artistic and historic value.

This month, researchers from Denver were in Russia to document the work of Vasily Konovalenko, a former ballet set designer turned sculptor, who created scenes from Russian folk life in semiprecious stones.

In the 1980s, Konovalenko emigrated from what was then the Soviet Union in search of artistic freedom. Now, his legacy is divided between the U.S. and Russia.

Read more
It's All Politics
5:02 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

Oregon Weighs Own Gun Measures After Mall Shooting, Newtown

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Chris Lehman / Northwest News Network
Gun rights supporters rally at the Oregon Capitol in February.
Credit Don Ryan / AP
Flowers and balloons sit at the entrance of the Clackamas Town Center mall in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 19, a week after a gunman opened fire inside, killing two people and himself.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 8:20 pm

Oregon state lawmakers have scheduled a marathon public hearing Friday on four gun control bills. The proposals include a ban on guns in schools and criminal background checks for private gun sales.

Opponents are lining up against the measures, but some gun control advocates say the proposals don't go far enough.

Read more
Remembrances
5:02 pm
Thu April 4, 2013

For Pulitzer-Winning Critic Roger Ebert, Films Were A Journey

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Ebert works in his office at the WTTW-TV studios in Chicago on Jan. 12, 2011.
Credit Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Film critic Roger Ebert acknowleges the applause of those gathered to pay tribute to him at the historic Chicago Theatre on July 18, 2005.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 8:20 pm

He won a Pulitzer Prize for his writing, but just as influential as his print essays were his "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" movie reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert died Thursday after struggling for years with cancer. He was 70 years old.

His thumb may have made him famous on TV, but Ebert was first and foremost a print journalist. He worked on newspapers in grade school, high school and college. With his acumen for writing came a love of movies — and on July 12, 2005, proclaimed Roger Ebert Day by the city of Chicago, he told a crowd of admirers why movies matter.

Read more

Pages