- Plugging in Einstein
- INTEL UNVEILS NEXT-GEN PENTIUM
- Space Weather Forecasts
- Nursing Homes & Long-Term Care In America
- Stone Age ax found in Switzerland
- The Primacy of Culture
- Species law subject of controversy
- 'Immortality enzyme' studied
- Listening In on Mars
- Stem Cell Research 

Pentium III, the next-generation Pentium chip promising 450 and 500 MHz clock speed, ships in March. The chip -- code-named Katmai -- is based around the Pentium II core but includes 70 additional instructions to pump multimedia performance. Click for more. Introduction of a high-end processor from Intel is not the blockbuster event it used to be. The market has segmented so much, and now a lot of the action is elsewhere -- handhelds and low-end PCs, for instance.

Most of us pay attention to weather forecasts at some point in our daily lives. They can help us decide what clothes to wear or if an umbrella might be necessary. Now there's a new weather forecast: space weather. Space weather is created when solar energy collides with the geomagnetic field that envelopes the earth. The new forecasts are part of the preparation for the solar maximum, the ten-year cycle when the sun's energy increases significantly. Space weather can disrupt electric power and communications systems. The new forecasts will help those who manage power grids and satellite operators better prepare their equipment to weather the next solar maximum, expected within a year or two. Hear more as NPR's Ivan Amato reports for Morning Edition.

CHAM-ESLEN, Switzerland (AP) - Archaeologists have found a stone ax more than 6,000 years old while excavating a late Stone Age village in Switzerland, state authorities said Tuesday. The double-headed stone ax, with a well-preserved wooden handle about 4 feet long and a finely made blade, is unique in Europe, the archaeologists said. The ax was found last week during underwater digging at the site in Cham-Eslen, 15 miles south of Zurich. The site itself was found in the fall of 1997. Work is concentrating on the parts of the Stone Age settlement under greatest danger from erosion. A team of divers has been working under the surface of Lake Zug since October.

Recent findings suggest that a certain type of cell -- a stem cell -- might someday be used to treat disease, even produce new, whole organs. Researchers have been able to harvest stem cells from embryos created during artificial fertilization. However, there has been a ban on the use of human embryos in federally-funded research since 1995. Now, the director of the National Institutes of Health is arguing that ban does not apply to research with stem cells. Hear more as NPR's Joanne Silberner reports for Morning Edition. 

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's been called the noblest and most powerful of environmental laws and also the most despised and feared. When the Endangered Species Act became law 25 years ago, few lawmakers imagined the controversy it would unleash: fights pitting the protection of plants and animals against the rights of humans to own and manage their land, perform their job and meet the needs of a growing population. Even as they celebrate the law, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and many environmentalists agree new ways must be found to address the natural conflict between landowners and species.

(AP) - Appearing forever young like Dick Clark is everybody's dream. But biologists wonder what good is immortality if all the extra years are accompanied by cancer? That's the quandary posed by the discovery this year that a body substance called telomerase is an "immortality enzyme" that encourages cells to keep dividing indefinitely instead of dying with age. Scientists theorized telomerase could be used to slow the aging process. At the same time, some feared the enzyme could cause cancer by allowing cell division to run amok. But experiments by the same University of Texas team of researchers concluded such fears are groundless.

The second of two Mars probes takes off this weekend. The Mars Polar Lander is designed to study the Martian climate, but it will carry a microphone to record sounds from the Martian surface. The lander is to touch down near the Martian South Pole, where its robotic arm will dig beneath the surface in search of water ice. The Mars Climate Orbiter was launched earlier this month. Listen as NPR's Joe Palca reports for Morning Edition.

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