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Searching For 'The Particle At The End Of The Universe'

By editor

Originally published on Fri November 16, 2012 2:02 pm

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

Why does stuff have mass, you know, that gives it weight? If you're a regular listener, you might recall that it has to do with how subatomic particles interact with something called the Higgs Field, right? Higgs boson, becoming more familiar? How do scientists know that? Well, it's theory. It's backed up by, in part, by the reported discovery of the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, back in July.

12:03 pm

Fri November 16, 2012

Are We Getting Dumber? Maybe, Scientist Says

By editor

Originally published on Fri November 16, 2012 2:02 pm

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY, I'm Ira Flatow. Turn on reality TV, and it may not be long before you ask yourself: Are we getting dumber? A new study may have some genetic answers to that question. Provocative research published this week in the journal Trends in Genetics suggests that human intelligence may have peaked thousands of years ago.

11:33 am

Fri November 16, 2012

In 'Silver Linings Playbook,' Lawrence Is Golden

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Credit The Weinstein Co.

Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker also help round out a team of actors who score a touchdown with the critics.

Credit The Weinstein Co.

Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and Pat (Bradley Cooper) are damaged souls looking for the kind of stability they shouldn't be able to find in each other.

By David Edelstein

Originally published on Fri November 16, 2012 2:14 pm

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The best thing about David O. Russell is that he cultivates his disequilibrium. In Silver Linings Playbook, his hero is disturbed and his heroine possibly more so, and his other characters have a grip on reality that is only marginally more secure. Russell might have made them seem the dreaded "q" word — quirky — and OK, he does, a bit, at the end, which broadly conforms to the rom-com template. But until then, Bradley Cooper's Pat Solatano is someone you'd be less likely to dream about than get a restraining order against.

11:24 am

Fri November 16, 2012

Twinkies' Hostess Brand May Die, But The Iconic Snack Cakes Never Will

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By editor

The Hostess brand, home of the Twinkie, Sno Ball, Ding Dong, and those fun cupcakes with the swirly lines on top and filling in the middle, is shutting down, as our colleagues over at The Two-Way blog report. The purveyor of iconic calorie-rich but nutrient-poor snacks says a labor dispute has forced it to go out of business.

11:05 am

Fri November 16, 2012

'When God Talks Back' To The Evangelical Community

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Credit Courtesy T.M. Luhrmann

T.M. Luhrmann is an anthropology professor at Stanford University. She has previously taught at the University of Chicago and the University of California San Diego.

By editor

Originally published on Fri November 16, 2012 12:55 pm

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This interview was originally broadcast on Fresh Air on March 26, 2012. When God Talks Back was released in paperback on Nov. 13.

While attending services and small group meetings at The Vineyard, an evangelical church with 600 branches across the country, anthropologist T.M. Luhrmann noticed that several members of the congregation said God had repeatedly spoken to them and that they had heard what God wanted them to do.

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