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Auntie Anne's Pretzels In Beijing: Why The Chinese Didn't Bite

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The China Twist by Wen-Szu Lin chronicles the author's (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to bring Auntie Anne's pretzels to China.

By Frank Langfitt

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 11:41 am

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The lure of the China market is legendary. The dream: Sell something to 1.3 billion people, and you're set.

The reality is totally different.

Ask the MBAs from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who tried to launch Auntie Anne's pretzels in China. The result is a funny, instructive and occasionally harrowing journey that is now the subject of a new book, The China Twist.

3:33 am

Mon February 11, 2013

Why Even Radiologists Can Miss A Gorilla Hiding In Plain Sight

Credit Trafton Drew and Jeremy Wolfe

Notice anything unusual about this lung scan? Harvard researchers found that 83 percent of radiologists didn't notice the gorilla in the top right portion of this image.

By Alix Spiegel

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 9:37 am

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3:32 am

Mon February 11, 2013

Woof Out The Red Carpet: Westminster Dogs Take New York

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Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Jerry Grymek, doggie concierge at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan, hands a treat to Rennet, a 10-week-old French bulldog. Rennet came to the hotel from Pennsylvania ahead of the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Grymek welcomes another French bulldog, Glamour, to Hotel Pennsylvania. The hotel is across from Madison Square Garden, where judging of the main events will be held Tuesday.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Buddy from Dallas, Texas, takes a stroll on a doggie treadmill, one of a number of amenities available to the special guests.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Leslie Simis trims her poodle Sharona's fur at the doggie spa, getting her ready for the big show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

The needs of Hotel Pennsylvania guests range from baths to opera singers. Grymek, the doggie concierge, says one pooch enjoyed a personal performance before going to the dog show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Dog handler Sandra Fulton dries off Lizzie, who traveled to New York from Minnesota.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City is a favored destination for dogs attending the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and the hotel has a number of perks just for these guests.

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 2:30 pm

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On Tuesday night, one dog will be named "best in show" at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

Many of the canines that have flocked to Manhattan are staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania across the street from Madison Square Garden, where judging of the main events in the show is held.

The hotel has special amenities for its four-legged guests.

"Hey, buddy," doggie concierge Jerry Grymek says to a border collie in a crate. "Welcome to the Hotel Pennsylvania."

3:31 am

Mon February 11, 2013

Procedure Questions Expected To Bog Down Hearings For Alleged Sept. 11 Planners

By Dina Temple-Raston

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 11:44 am

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Pretrial hearings resume Monday in the death penalty trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The men have been in jail, awaiting trial, for more than a decade. The hearings in their case started back in May, and they have hardly moved forward since then.

5:42 pm

Sun February 10, 2013

Obscure Chagas' Disease Takes Costly Toll

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Credit Erwin Huebner, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada / Wikimedia.org

Don't let the name fool you. The kissing bug, or Rhodnius prolixus, transmits the Chagas parasite when it bites someone's face.

Credit Vanderlei Almeida / AFP/Getty Images

An artist on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach puts the final touches on a sand sculpture of the kissing bug, which spreads Chagas' disease. The sculpture was part of an event in 2009 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the disease.

By editor

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 5:11 pm

There's been a lot of talk recently about an old malady that seems to be on the rise.

It's called Chagas' disease, and it's transmitted by the so-called kissing bug, a bloodsucking insect that bites your face and lips.

Health economists have now put a price tag on the global cost of Chagas, and the illness is taking a heavier toll than previously appreciated.

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