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A Tiny Ocean World With A Mighty Important Future

Credit M. Ormestad / Tara Oceans

Plankton make up 98 percent of the biomass of ocean life and provide half of the oxygen on the planet. Scientists are working to figure out how climate change may be affecting these important microorganisms.

Credit S. Bollet / Tara Expeditions

The 118-foot research schooner Tara made an around-the-world expedition over 21/2 years. Scientists aboard discovered up to a million new species of plankton. Now begins the work of determining how climate change might be affecting these microorganisms.

By editor

Originally published on Sun September 30, 2012 6:11 pm

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As you take in your next breath of air, you can thank a form of microscopic marine life known as plankton.

They are so small as to be invisible, but taken together, actually dwarf massive creatures like whales. Plankton make up 98 percent of the biomass of ocean life.

"This invisible forest generates half of the oxygen generated on the planet," Chris Bowler, a marine biologist, tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered.

And, as climate change alters the temperature and acidity of our waters, this mysterious ocean world may be in jeopardy.

4:03 pm

Sun September 30, 2012

Son Jarocho, The Sound Of Veracruz

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Credit Courtesy of the artist

Las Cafeteras, from Los Angeles, have made their own version of the classic son jarocho song "La Bamba."

Credit Courtesy of the artist

By editor

Originally published on Sun September 30, 2012 9:56 pm

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3:40 pm

Sun September 30, 2012

The Man Who Jump-Started Modern Presidential Debate

Credit AP

Vice President Richard Nixon listens as Sen. John F. Kennedy talks during their televised presidential race debate. This photo was made from a television screen in New York, Oct. 21, 1960.

By editor

Originally published on Sun September 30, 2012 6:11 pm

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President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, are prepping for Wednesday's presidential debate. It's a well-worn tradition now, but it wasn't always that way.

The 1960 Kennedy-Nixon face-off wasn't just the first televised presidential debate, it was also the first presidential debate in more than a century.

Four years earlier, a young German emigre named Fred Kahn, a student at the University of Maryland, wanted to see whether the nominees — Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson — might want to engage with students.

2:51 pm

Sun September 30, 2012

From Tea To T-Shirts: The History Of U.S.-China Trade

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Credit Kimberly Drooks Photography / Courtesy Liveright

Eric Jay Dolin is also the author of Fur, Fortune, and Empire: the Epic History of the Fur Trade in America.

By editor

Originally published on Mon October 1, 2012 4:25 pm

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You probably don't give much thought to the phrase "Made in China" when you see it written on the bottom of your coffee mug, or on the tag of your T-shirt, but Americans have traded with China for hundreds of years.

In his new book, When America First Met China, Eric Jay Dolin takes us back to the beginning of the long and complicated trade relationship between the two countries.

1:43 pm

Sun September 30, 2012

Being 'Better Off' May Not Be Enough To Win Colo.

Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

President Obama speaks during a campaign event at University of Colorado Boulder Sept. 2. He and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will have their first debate at the University of Denver on Wednesday.

By KUNC-FM: Kirk Siegler

Originally published on Sun September 30, 2012 6:11 pm

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Colorado is a good venue for a presidential debate focusing on domestic issues. The first of three highly anticipated debates between President Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will take place Wednesday at the University of Denver.

The state is known for its independent voting streak, and much like the rest of the country, there are sharp political divides about the role of government in the economy. In Colorado, those differences grow from two distinct population centers.

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4:07 pm

Sun September 30, 2012