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of natural gas off the coast of North Carolina. They are untappable with today's technology, but they are of great interest because they could play an important role in climate change.

NPR's Vicky Que (KWAY) reports that the Food and Drug Administration today opened a two-day meeting to discuss 'herbal' products containing a natural form of the stimulant ephedrine. The products have been linked to hundreds of cases of adverse health effects. The FDA is considering taking action against them, raising concerns among the makers of other herbal products.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service says the number of illegal immigrants in the United States increased to five million in October 1996 from an estimated 3.9 million in 1992. INS said more than half of the total undocumented population is of Mexican origin. El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada and Haiti were the other major countries of origin. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service will be dissolved into two units under the Department of Homeland Security. In place of the INS will be one unit for border security, and another for "Citizenship and Immigration Services." NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports.

Cathy Duchamp of member station KUOW reports that today's the deadline for men from several Middle Eastern countries living in the U.S. to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Justice Department created this new tracking system in the name of national security; advocates for immigrants say the system will erode civil rights.

It takes no musical training to recognize a wrong note... but why is that so? New research shows that sensitivity to music is a natural function of the human brain. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

Last week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Gale Norton to head the Interior Department, and now her nomination is going before the full Senate for a vote. NPR's David Welna reports that the debate over the controversial nominee is still fierce, but that it's likely she will be confirmed.

NPR's Richard Gonzales reports that California Governor Gray Davis today signs emergency legislation that will allow the state to buy power to keep electricity flowing to residents for the short term. The Clinton administration has also ordered out-of-state natural gas suppliers to continue selling to one of the state's biggest, but nearly bankrupt, utilities.

It was another miserable day for power grid operators in California. Even though they narrowly averted another series of rolling blackouts, California's power system grows more fragile by the day. The Bush administration has extended and emergency order requiring electricity wholesalers and natural gas suppliers to sell to California. Scott Horsley reports from member station KPBS.

Part of the cause of California's energy crisis has been the rising cost of natural gas. In its place, NPR's Jack Speer reports that now coal -- once written off as an energy source of last-resort -- is again becoming one of the nation's most important sources of electrical power.