News

Fans in the mosh pit during the performance of Liturgy at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park, Chicago, on July 14, 2012.

Mosh Pit Math: Physicists Analyze Rowdy Crowd

10:55am March 22, 2013

by Geoff Brumfiel

At a heavy metal concert five years ago, physicist Jesse Silverberg had a "eureka" moment: The jumping, raucous fans at the show seemed to be moving about like molecules in the air we breathe. So he and friend Matt Bierbaum set out to understand the patterns within mosh pit motion.

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Nigeria's Outspoken Writer Chinua Achebe Dies At 82

10:55am March 22, 2013

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, who played a critical role in establishing post-colonial African literature, has died. The author of Things Fall Apart was 82.

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Dr. Frank Dumont at his clinic in Estes Park, Colo.

How A Patient's Suicide Changed A Doctor's Approach To Guns

9:11am March 22, 2013

by Eric Whitney

Dr. Frank Dumont never thought of himself as being on the front lines of suicide prevention. But after the death of a patient he was particularly close to, he sees his role changing. He's seeking to reduce suicides by asking his patients about guns in their homes.

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Meet The 83-Year-Old Taking On The U.S. Over Same-Sex Marriage

8:34pm March 21, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

Edith Windsor's challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act will be heard by the Supreme Court next week. When her wife died, Windsor had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes because the federal government did not recognize their marriage. "If Thea was Theo," she says, "I would not have had to pay."

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Gun enthusiast Paul Gwaltney at Blue Ridge Arsenal, in Chantilly, Va. Gwaltney, an NPR listener, agreed to host a discussion about guns with friends and colleagues.

National

On Gun Ownership And Policy, 'A Country Of Chasms'

7:55pm March 21, 2013

by Melissa Block

Paul Gwaltney and other gun owners don't understand why many Americans are so anti-gun. So Gwaltney assembled a group of friends and colleagues with divergent views on guns and gun control for a frank conversation at his home in Chantilly, Va.

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Customers shop for guns at Freddie Bear Sports sporting goods store in Tinley Park, Ill., in January. One of the gun provisions in the spending bill prevents the Justice Department from requiring gun dealers to conduct an inventory to see if guns are lost

NRA-Driven Gun Provisions Pass Along With Spending Bill

6:32pm March 21, 2013

by Tamara Keith

The first gun-related provisions to pass Congress since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were riders included without debate. These same provisions — which limit how federal agencies deal with guns — have been regularly included in spending bills for years.

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Residents visit the tomb of a loved one at the New Kerbala cemetery in the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq, in 2007.

World News

Face To Face With Death In Iraq

6:21pm March 21, 2013

Um Abbas has spent decades performing the Muslim ritual of washing the bodies of the dead to prepare them for burial. The war years in Iraq were terrible, she says, but in some ways, confronting death every day helped her cope with the country's trauma.

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Florida Pitches New Facilities To Clinch Spring Training

6:00pm March 21, 2013

by Greg Allen

Over the next four years, five major league teams will be renegotiating their spring training leases in Florida. With millions in economic benefits at stake, local communities and the Sunshine State are looking to upgraded facilities in hopes of keeping teams from moving to other locations in Florida and Arizona.

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David Wilson (left) and Rob Compton embrace after being married by a Unitarian minister at the Arlington Street Church in Boston on May 17, 2004. They were one of the first couples in Massachusetts to be legally wed.

As Gay Marriage Heads To Court, A Look Back At The Bumpy Ride

4:28pm March 21, 2013

by Ari Shapiro

The Supreme Court hears two gay marriage cases next week. These will be the next major steps on a path the country has traveled for decades. Those who have been affected by the gay marriage battle reflect on the changes so far.

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The Star Jet roller coaster sits in the water on Feb. 19 after the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, N.J., collapsed from the forces of Superstorm Sandy.

'Temperature Rising': Will Climate Change Bring More Extreme Weather?

2:10pm March 21, 2013

In a series for The New York Times, environmental reporter Justin Gillis has been exploring whether harsh weather events are connected to global warming or if they are simply the random violence nature visits upon us.

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