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News from NPR

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Law

12:02 pm

Tue May 21, 2013

The Difficulties Of Proving Racial Profiling

By editor

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Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. We'd like to start today by mentioning that, as you would imagine, NPR is continuing to follow developments concerning that deadly tornado that struck Oklahoma yesterday. We hope you will stay tuned to your public radio station or check our website, npr.org, for the latest updates.

The Picture Show

11:55 am

Tue May 21, 2013

'Nanogardens' Sprout Up On The Surface Of A Penny

Next image Previous image

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

Nanoflowers, each smaller than the thickness of a dollar bill, sprout up spontaneously on a surface dipped in salts and silicon.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

A field of microviolets sprouts up on a glass plate dipped into a solution of minerals and silicon.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

The flowers grow in a stepwise process. First, Noorduin seeds crystals at the glass plate's surface to create the pink vase. The green stems nucleate inside the vases. And then a burst of carbon dioxides triggers the violets to blossom.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

All of the flowers are crystals of silicon and minerals. Wim Noorduin sculpts the stems and blossoms by tweaking the environment in which the crystals grow.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

The images are falsely colored (because the electron microscope only photographs in black and white). But in this image, the colors represent the ones you'd actually see if the human eye could detect such small objects.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

Noorduin creates ripples in the petals by sending pulses of carbon dioxide through the solution.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

This flower would fit perfectly on Abraham Lincoln's jacket lapel on the backside of a penny.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

Each rose sculpture is about half the thickness of a dollar bill. The only way to see the sculptures is with a microscope.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

This microcorsage is sized perfectly for Abraham Lincoln's jacket lapel on the back of a penny.

Credit Courtesy of Wim Noorduin

Sense Of Scale: Microflower sculptures row in front of the Lincoln Memorial imprinted on the back of a penny.

By editor

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 4:36 pm

April showers bring May flowers. But in this case, the blossoms are too small for even a bumblebee to see.

Engineers at Harvard University have figured out a way to make microscopic sculptures of roses, tulips and violets, each smaller than a strand of hair.

To get a sense of just how small these flower sculptures are, grab a penny and flip it on its back. Right in the middle of the Lincoln Memorial, you'll see a faint impression of Abraham Lincoln. These roses would make a perfect corsage for the president's jacket lapel.

The Two-Way

11:52 am

Tue May 21, 2013

VIDEO: Tears Flow As Mom Finds Son After Tornado

Credit The Oklahoman

When Trenda Purcell found her son Kamden, her joy — and tears — erupted.

By Mark Memmott

We don't need to say much. Just watch this video from The Oklahoman of Trenda Purcell's reunion Monday with her 8-year-old son Kamden, who she found safe and sound after the tornado that swept through Moore, Okla.

Movie Interviews

11:51 am

Tue May 21, 2013

Soderbergh's Liberace, 'Behind The Candelabra'

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Credit Claudette Barius / HBO

Michael Douglas and Matt Damon star as Liberace and his young lover, Scott Thorson, in Steven Soderbergh's new HBO biopic Behind the Candelabra.

Credit Keystone Features / Getty Images

Liberace sits at a gold-leafed piano in the living room of his then-new Hollywood mansion in November 1961.

Credit Claudette Barius / HBO

Soderbergh made his name as a director in 1989, with the critically acclaimed Sex, Lies, and Videotape. He's since turned in crowd-pleasing hits like Magic Mike, Erin Brockovich and Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, as well as more adventurous films including Contagion, Solaris and The Girlfriend Experience.

By editor

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 1:48 pm

Director Steven Soderbergh had been looking for a way to frame a film about the extravagant entertainer Liberace for years when a friend recommended the book Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace.

The book — a memoir — is by Scott Thorson, who for five years was Liberace's lover, though that wasn't publicly disclosed at the time.

Code Switch

11:48 am

Tue May 21, 2013

Who Becomes The Face Of A Horrific Attack?

Next image Previous image

Credit New Orleans Police Department / AP

A possible shooting suspect in a white shirt (bottom center) shoots into a crowd of people on Mother's Day 2013 in New Orleans.

Credit AP

(left) Akein Scott shown here at booking in a photo provided by Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriffs Office on May 16, 2013. (right) Shawn Scott 24, is led out of the New Orleans 5th District Police Station, Thursday, May 16, 2013 in New Orleans.

By Matt Thompson

The spate of headlines that drew them to our attention has died down. Yet I still find myself thinking about the faces of a certain 19-year-old man and his elder brother, accused by police of bringing about a tragic end to what should have been a day of joy and celebration.

The Two-Way

11:47 am

Tue May 21, 2013

JPMorgan Shareholders Vote To Keep Dimon As Chairman, CEO

Credit Mark Wilson / Getty Images

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon during testimony on Capitol Hill.

By Eyder Peralta

JPMorgan Chase shareholders voted on Tuesday to allow Jamie Dimon to continue being their chairman and CEO.

The AP reports:

"At the bank's annual meeting, 32 percent of shareholders voted for a measure that would have required the bank to split the roles. Had the measure succeeded, Dimon would have had to relinquish the role of chairman.

The Two-Way

11:28 am

Tue May 21, 2013

'Tornado Emergency': A Rare, Dire Warning Born In Oklahoma

Credit Brett Deering / Getty Images

Piles of debris and cars lie around a home destroyed by a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.

By editor

If you were watching news coverage on Monday, before a monster EF-4 tornado barreled through Moore, Okla., you probably heard the term "tornado emergency."

The warning is used rarely by forecasters to flag the deadliest of situations.

Parallels

10:58 am

Tue May 21, 2013

Socks Are Optional As Pakistan Grapples With Power Cuts

Credit Ilyas Sheikh / EPA/Landov

Protesters march against prolonged power outages in Faisalabad, Pakistan, last month. The country faces power outages of more than 18 hours a day in some parts of the country.

By Krishnadev Calamur

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 12:11 pm

Pakistanis have coped with — even rioted — over the country's frequent power cuts. Now, the government is feeling the impact, too. The country's caretaker prime minister has banned air conditioners in government offices and instituted a dress code for civil servants. Among his recommendations: no socks.

Monkey See

10:47 am

Tue May 21, 2013

The Starfleet Divide: The 'Star Trek' Universe Revisits One Of Its Great Debates

Credit Zade Rosenthal / Paramount Pictures

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in Star Trek Into Darkness.

By editor

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 4:18 pm

[Caution: contains pretty abundant spoilers about the Star Trek universe, but only fairly nonspecific ones about the new film.]

The Two-Way

10:40 am

Tue May 21, 2013

Big Changes At U.S. Speedskating Body, But Scandals Linger

Credit Rick Bowmer / AP

Speedskaters practiced for the U.S. Single Distance Short Track Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah, last year.

By Howard Berkes

Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 11:56 am

Rebellious athletes, drained budgets, dysfunctional management and a string of embarrassing scandals forced a major reorganization of U.S. Speedskating over the weekend.

The group governs a sport that has produced 85 Winter Olympic medals for the United States — more than any other sport. But persistent turmoil threatened continued success in the next Games, just nine months away in Sochi, Russia.

The changes leave USS with a smaller board and without numerous committees that have permitted parochial interests to meddle in the governance of the sport.

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