- Report on the Comdex Computer Trade show
- 'Naked' stars give clue to how Sun formed - report
- Actor Michael J. Fox has Parkinson's disease
- Satellite Light
- Star Wars Trailer Opens
- Listen to Garrison Keillor
- So you wanna be a Rock-n-Roll star?
- 'Love Is the Devil'
- Inter-Species Cell?
- Avoiding Shooting Stars
- Spinosaurus Fossils, claws as long as butcher knifes
- "Gods & Monsters"
- Into Deep Space
- Writing with Bowie
- Rolling Stone magazine opens Internet radio station
- U.S. multi-transplant boy to leave Miami hospital
- New evidence that asteroid killed dinosaurs
- Galaxy crashes trigger new star births - astronomers
- Director John Carpenter's Vampire movie opens in theaters this Halloween
- Danish scientists develop atom-size computer chip
- McCartney in cancer appeal, Linda's album launched
- MIND-READING COMPUTER CHIP SMACKS OF SCI-FI
- Jazz Profiles on NPR - Shirley Horn

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A quartet of "naked" stars, stripped of their nourishing cocoons of cosmic dust and gas, could give the best clues yet to how our own Sun formed, U.S. scientists reported Wednesday. Most sun-like stars develop in relative obscurity, feeding on dusty clouds that surround them, but these four stars in the Orion Nebula were unmasked by blasts of ultraviolet radiation from massive stars growing nearby, the astronomers wrote in the journal Nature. The dust clouds are the equivalent of a cosmic placenta for these stars, and without them, star growth may be stunted, one of the article's authors said in a telephone interview.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Michael J. Fox, star of the TV show "Spin City" and the "Back to the Future" trilogy of films, has been battling Parkinson's disease since 1991, People magazine said Wednesday. Fox, 37, told the magazine in an interview to be published Friday that he first noticed a twitch in his little finger while working in Florida in 1991. Within six months the tremor spread to his left hand, and his shoulder was achy and stiff. A neurologist diagnosed Fox as having Parkinson's, a progressive degeneration of the central nervous system characterized by tremors and muscle stiffening. It afflicts some 1 million Americans including former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, the Rev. Billy Graham and Attorney General Janet Reno.

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Satellite Light

A group of Russian scientists hopes to someday light the arctic nights, using orbiting solar reflectors.  An important step in determining if the idea would actually work could happen this month with the launch of the Znamya-2.5 experiment aboard a Mir space station Progress...

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A two-minute motion picture opened Friday across the country. It's the trailer for the full-length feature "Star Wars, Episode One: The Phantom Menace." The much-awaited "prequel" to the Star Wars Trilogy is set to open in May. Until then, it’s the only way die-hard Star Wars fans can get a peek at the characters and settings in the highly anticipated film. There are reports that many people are purchasing full-price tickets for films where the preview is being shown, and then leaving after seeing only the two-minute promotion. For more, listen as critic John McDonough reports for All Things Considered.

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Listen to Garrison Keillor and The Prairie Home Companion - Live Sat. 5pm-7pm CT

Enjoy Public Radio Live!

So you wanna be a Rock-n-Roll star?

Patti Smith:
Her Art
Her Influences
Her Photos
Her Music
Her nakedness...
"Privilege"
"Pissing in a River"

'Love Is the Devil'

Writer and director John Maybury had a difficult time filming the story of painter Francis Bacon's violent and openly gay lifestyle. An art historian denied Maybury access to interviews with Bacon, the British Arts Council ordered scenes to be cut, and Maybury was forbidden to use any Bacon paintings or reproductions in the film. Listen as David D'Arcy reports for Morning Edition on this controversial film about one of Britain's most important modern painters, and one of this century's most vile.

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A small biotech company in Massachusetts is reporting success in growing human cells that had been transferred into a cow's egg. The work was reported in Thursday’s editions of The New York Times. It has not yet been peer-reviewed, published in scientific literature or presented to outside researchers in any form. Instead, company executives decided to use the Times to alert the scientific community about their results. They hope to initiate a national debate on the ethics of using inter- species cells for medical research. For the details, listen as NPR's Joe Palca reports for All Things Considered.

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Scientists and satellite owners are preparing for next Tuesday -- when Earth is expected to pass through a storm of shooting stars called the Leonids. Centuries ago, the meteor shower was a portent for natural disasters and Armageddon. Now, the threats are more concrete. The cosmic particles should not cause problems on the ground, but the meteor shower could disrupt satellite operations. To prevent the Leonids from interfering with the world's communications traffic, satellite owners are repositioning some birds and shutting down others. Hear more about the meteor shower, which comes every 33 years, as NPR's Dan Charles reports for All Things Considered.

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Spinosaurus Fossils, claws as long as butcher knifes

Dinosaurs have fascinated man throughout history. The remains of the Spinosaurus were found in rocks that have been identified as being of Cretaceous age. It is characterized by enormous back spines, some of which attained a length of six feet. The purpose of such a spine is thought to be a temperature control feature. It's overall length is estimated to be 30 to 40 feet long from the parts recovered. No complete specimen has ever been found, although there are related dinosaurs in the family that have been found elsewhere. Scientists have no idea how many teeth the Spinosaurus had, but enough to identify it as a large meat-eater. This is an authentic dinosaur tooth that is over 100 million years old .

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"Gods and Monsters" is a new movie about James Whale, the Hollywood director who turned Boris Karloff into Frankenstein. Bob Mondello says it deserves to be a monstrous hit.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - How would you like to be David Bowie's songwriting partner? Bowie is holding a contest on his Internet site (www.davidbowie.com) to find someone to come up with some lyrics for "What's Really Happening," a song for which he's already done the music and chorus. A vote of Internet surfers will determine the finalists and Bowie will chose the winning entry. The winner will get co-writing credit, a $15,000 publishing contract, a trip to New York to watch Bowie record the song and other prizes. Everything from rehearsing to recording the song will be Web-cast.

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Information technology may have finally eliminated one of humanity's most persistent vexations: the annoying radio DJ.  Rolling Stone Network, the Web version of the music magazine, Monday launched a collection of Internet radio stations based on a new audio platform from Real Networks Inc. And while Rolling Stone Radio will still feature advertising, the DJ is history.

Instead, songs will be played based on a

Publisher Imagine Media recently launched Imagine Radio, which can be personalized according to the preferences of each listener.  The format was made possible by streaming audio technology, such as that from

All demographics wanted

The radio network, which at launch includes stations with titles like Pop Hits, R&B Hits, Electronica and Women in Rock, hopes to attract listeners of all demographics with the Rolling Stone name and the availability of such features as news and artist-related chat rooms.  "This is the industrial-strength version of Internet radio," Tullman said. "We have the Rolling Stone brand, and the biggest provider of audio technology.  We hope to eventually be the world's largest radio station."  Hyundai, Mazda and others have signed up as sponsors, and Datek, Mentadent and QSound Labs will run ads on the network, just as with a normal radio station. JamTV has also signed a deal with Amazon.com, linking users directly to the online store's CD section. 

JamTV also hopes record labels will be interested in using the network to break new bands. Users can listen to the network all day, even in offices where there's no ordinary radio reception.  And the response from users, who can choose to vote for the songs they like, could provide valuable marketing information.  Industry experts said that the Rolling Stone brand name means the new service will have a great advantage over competitors such as Net Radio Network and Spinner Networks Inc.

But they say Internet radio still faces an uphill battle to make money from advertising.  "Traditional radio is local, and local advertisers want to reach a defined market, as opposed to a geographically undefined market," said Mark Hardie, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "The national radio advertisers tend to be clustered around one of the national radio groups. So it isn't as though there's this wealth of advertising inventory waiting for ... an online proprietor to scoop it up."  Hardie said that, of the major Internet radio networks, none were making more than a few hundred thousand dollars a year, compared with several millions a month of advertising revenues for a traditional radio station.  JamTV said the network complies with standard music industry licensing.

Artist programmers next year

Rolling Stone Radio plans to launch artist-programmed stations early next year, Tullman said.

JamTV also operates such music sites as Tunes.com, JamTV Music Network and TheSource.com.

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MIAMI (Reuters) - A Maryland teenager who made history by surviving an unprecedented series of multi-organ transplants was preparing Thursday to leave a Miami hospital - something that once seemed extremely unlikely. Daniel Canal, 13, of Wheaton, Md., is the only person to have received three sets of four transplanted organs, the first set in May, the second in early June and the third 2-1/2 weeks later. He was getting ready to leave the University of Miami's Jackson Children's Hospital Thursday, released from intensive care, able to eat solid food for the first time in years and feeling well.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They may look slow and stately from here, but galaxy crashes create a hotbed of new star formation, astronomers said Wednesday. They said new telescopes and other equipment, like the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope, have helped astronomers see what is going on when two galaxies collide. Writing in the science journal Nature, Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, and colleagues said such observations have transformed theories about galaxies. Until the 1950s astronomers thought galaxies were isolated mini-universes.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New evidence found deep within the Earth's crust adds support to the theory that a huge asteroid smashed into the planet 65 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, researchers said Thursday. They found extraterrestrial chromium in the rocks that were on the surface of the Earth at about the time dinosaurs disappeared. Writing in the journal Science, the scientists said they measured levels of a chromium isotope, 53Cr, in rocks at the K-T boundary, the geologic layer in the Earth that coincides with dinosaur extinction. These rocks were at the surface when the Cretaceous period ended and the Tertiary began, and when the dinosaurs began their slide into extinction.

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'Vampires' Durability - John Carpenter's new film "Vampires" opens Friday around the country, just in time for Halloween. The film is a testament to the durability of the vampire genre in Hollywood. Since the era of silent movies, not a decade has gone by without a new Dracula interpretation. But as times change so do the bloodsuckers. Listen as Beth Accomando reports for Morning Edition on whether vampires can still scare an audience.

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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish scientists said Monday they had created a chip where a single atom jumping back and forth could generate the binary code which is the basis of digital information used by computers. Applying this technique - which might only become commercially viable in a decade or two - information stored today on a million CD-roms could be stored on a single disc, said physics doctor Francois Grey, the team leader. "Society seems to find use for this," he said, referring to the search for ever smaller units in various technological applications.

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LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney appealed to women on Monday to beware of breast cancer as an album of songs by his wife Linda was released six months after her death. McCartney, who also released previously unseen family video footage, said Linda's disease had been diagnosed too late for her to stand a real chance of survival. "The thing about breast cancer is that the earlier you catch it the better, so the trick for all women is to get checks, to think about things like mammograms even though you think you may be being a bit too fussy," he said in a filmed statement.

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A paralyzed Georgia man who received a tiny brain implant has become the first human to control a computer using only his thoughts. The implant, about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen, has apparently allowed the 53-year-old man to successfully communicate with a computer using only his thoughts. An Emory University researcher involved with the project says, "We have him think about movement. This sends a signal to a receiving unit in his scalp, which sends a message to the computer screen." Click for more. I wonder what happens if he wishes his computer were dead.

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Into Deep Space

Deep Space 1 blasted into space Saturday on a mission to study an asteroid. The satellite contains a super-efficient electric propulsion system that was once only found in science-fiction, like Star Trek The NASA mission is primarily intended to test the new propulsion system and other advanced equipment, but the satellite's trajectory also could give some of its instruments new close-up views of an asteroid and two comets. For details on the mission, listen as Ivan Amato reports for Morning Edition.

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Jazz Profiles on NPR - Shirley Horn

"Songs are lucky when Shirley Horn chooses them."¹ Horn has a rare ability to get inside a lyric, find the "center" of the song and transform it into an emotional and very personal expression. With her sensuous voice and magical touch at the piano, Horn’s name has become synonymous with the words "love song."

Horn remembers playing piano in her grandmother’s parlor as early as age four. "I wanted music with a passion, it was my blood, it was my life," she explains. She later attended Howard University Junior School of Music, in Washington, DC, where she studied great Western classical composers on piano. But jazz soon took over her musical aspirations. Horn began singing when she realized she could earn more money as a vocalist. But singing and playing piano were almost inextricable for her, and she would continue to develop both interdependently. According to lyricist and writer Joel Siegel , "[Horn] fuses voice and piano into a single expression."

Horn’s first recording, "Embers and Ashes", was released on a very small label in 1960, but it got her some high profile attention. The great trumpeter Miles Davis was so impressed that he tracked Shirley down and invited her to New York to open for him at the Village Vanguard. Davis even told the club’s owner that he wouldn’t play if Shirley couldn’t perform. Horn reminisces about that magical performance in front of a star-studded audience.

One need not look far to understand Davis’ appreciation of Shirley Horn’s vocal style. Both Horn and Davis are recognized for their use of space--long silences between notes--to create a certain tension, particularly when doing ballads. As Siegel puts it , "There’s a kind of suspense, wondering when the next note’s gonna come." A comparison of versions of "My Funny Valentine" by both musicians demonstrates Siegel’s point.

Davis remained a close friend and mentor to Horn until his death in 1991. Following the sensational Village Vanguard performance, Horn recorded a couple albums with producer Quincy Jones on the Mercury label. But Horn had been signed as a vocalist, and had to leave the piano to someone else. This arrangement didn’t feel quite right for Horn, who recalls, "I wasn’t playing piano for myself…I wasn’t really happy."

After the Mercury contract expired, Horn retreated from the limelight to be with her family back in Washington. She never abandoned her music—she performed before large and devoted crowds in DC with her own trio, including Charles Ables on bass and Steve Williams on drums. But Horn’s long absences from large entertainment centers made it difficult for her to find recording opportunities. Finally, in 1986, the prestigious Verve label took the advice of record producer Richard Seidel and signed Horn and her trio to a contract.

Horn’s greatest fame has occurred in this latest phase of her career. The trio emerged with numerous Grammy Award nominations, including one for her most popular album, "You Won’t Forget Me", which featured appearances by Davis and harmonica solos by Toots Theilemans. A memorable performance in Paris yielded yet another fantastic Verve release, "I Love You Paris," in 1992.

That same year, Horn also fulfilled a long-time ambition to work with the brilliant arranger and composer, Johnny Mandel . The album, "Here’s to Life, " was number one on the Billboard charts for a record-breaking 17 weeks. It was a fitting milestone for Horn. Throughout her career, she has never compromised her music or her personal life in pursuit of fame. She took her time with success in the same way she controls a slow and shifting tempo on one of her ballads. But all the while, Horn fulfills her heartfelt ambitions by doing what she loves—making music.

¹ Quote by New York Times jazz critic John Parelis.

Credits:
The profile of Shirley Horn was written and produced by Margot Stage. Jazz Profiles is produced by Tim Owens. Assistant producer Madeleine Smith. Executive Producers -- Mary Beth Kirchner and Murray Horwitz.

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