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10:58 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Classroom Yoga Helps Improve Behavior Of Kids With Autism

Credit iStockphoto.com
Yoga is increasingly being used in classrooms across the U.S. to help kids behave and perform better in school.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 11:48 am

Researchers have found that kids with autism spectrum disorder who did yoga at their elementary school behaved better than kids with autism who weren't doing yoga.

The researchers surveyed teachers at a school in the Bronx who said a daily yoga program reduced the kids' aggressive behavior, social withdrawal and hyperactivity.

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Technology
10:45 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Fifty Years Ago, A Bright Idea

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. Fifty years ago this week, a team of researchers at General Electric created something new: a solid-state device that could emit visible red light without getting hot like a light bulb. Other groups have made light-emitting devices, but this was the first practical one that could make light that a person could see, rather than invisible infrared light.

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Science
10:44 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Prehistoric 'Kennewick Man' Was All Beefcake

Credit Brittney Tatchell / Courtesy of Doug Owsley
Forensic artists think this is what Kennewick Man looked like.

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 4:41 pm

For nearly a decade, scientists and Northwest tribes in Washington state fought bitterly over whether to bury or study the 9,500-year-old bones known as Kennewick Man. Scientists won the battle, and now, after years of careful examination, they're releasing some of their findings.

For starters, Kennewick Man was buff. I mean, really beefcake. So says Doug Owsley, head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and the man who led the study of the ancient remains.

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It's All Politics
10:44 am
Fri October 12, 2012

7 Signals Stolen From The Running Mates' One-Game Playoff

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 11:59 am

You may have noticed that the vice presidential debate took place on the same day as four crucial games in this year's baseball playoffs. In case you were distracted at all by the latter, here's some of what you may have missed:

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The Two-Way
10:40 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Remembering Andrew Brimmer, First Black On Federal Reserve's Board

Credit Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Andrew Brimmer in 1970, when he was a Federal Reserve Board governor.

A life well-worth noting has caught the attention of obituary writers:

-- "Andrew F. Brimmer, a Louisiana sharecropper's son who was the first black member of the Federal Reserve Board and who led efforts to to reverse the country's balance-of-payments deficit, died on Sunday in Washington. He was 86." (The New York Times)

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The Two-Way
10:13 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Fidel Castro 'Is Fine,' His Son Tells State-Friendly Blogger

Credit Alfredo Estrella / AFP/Getty Images
A visitor watches pictures taken by Cuban photographer and cinematographist Alex Castro, son of former Cuban president Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro's son, Alex Castro, is batting away rumors that his father, the former leader of Cuba, had died.

"The commander is fine, doing his daily things, reading, exercising," Alex Castro said.

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Science
10:03 am
Fri October 12, 2012

2012 Nobel Prizes Recognize Pioneering Science

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 10:45 am

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY; I'm Ira Flatow. The 2012 Nobel Prizes were announced this week in Stockholm, and groundbreaking research on stem cells, cloning, cell receptors and quantum optics, yeah, claimed the honors this year. The physics prize was awarded to French physicist Serge Haroche and American David Wineland of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado.

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The Two-Way
9:50 am
Fri October 12, 2012

What's All This Malarkey About Malarkey?

Credit Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Biden thought much of what his opponent said Thursday night was malarkey, and his face often showed what he was thinking.

"With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey," Vice President Biden said during Thursday's debate as he challenged Rep. Paul Ryan's assertion that U.S. foreign policy has unraveled under President Obama.

A little later in the debate, Biden said Ryan's criticisms were "a bunch of stuff" — and when moderator Martha Raddatz asked "what does that mean?" he said, "we Irish call it malarkey."

Biden's use of the word has many asking: Where does it come from?

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Movie Reviews
9:38 am
Fri October 12, 2012

'Argo': Too Good To Be True, Because It Isn't

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 10:01 am

Ben Affleck's Argo is two-two-TWO movies in one, and while neither is especially original, by merging them Affleck pulls off a coup. First, he gives you espionage with the You Are There zing of a documentary. Then he serves up broad showbiz satire. For his final feat, he blends the two into a pulse-pounding nail-biter of a climax. And this all really happened. Most of it. Except for that climax.

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The Two-Way
9:11 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Consumer Confidence Jumps To Pre-Recession Level, Survey Shows

Credit Michael Nagle / Getty Images
"Black Friday" 2011 in Manhattan: Retailers hope to see shoppers out again in force this holiday season. If confidence stays high, they may get their wish.

"U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose to its highest in five years in October as consumers became more optimistic about the economy in a possible boost to President Obama's reelection hopes," Reuters reports.

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