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NPR's Scott Simon speaks with microbiologist Manuel Porcar about his new research on radiation-resistant microbes that could live in your microwave.

Voters within the Randolph Fire Protection District will be able to decide whether or not $4 million of bonds will be issued to build a new fire station in Heyworth, replacing the current 70-year-old structure.

Yayoi Kusama, the 93-year-old Japanese artist, is famous for her immersive infinity rooms. Starting April 1, the Hirshhorn in D.C. will be displaying two of these dazzling works.

The births will be the first for Menari, zoo officials say. She is expected to give deliver the twins sometime this winter.

Listener Daniel Ferri's newborn son suffered a stroke as Hurricane Katrina neared the Gulf Coast. Ferri says the two disasters, one personal, one natural, shaped his belief in the kindness of strangers.

Hundreds of listeners have been writing to NPR this week, telling us of their experience with hurricane Katrina or their reaction to the storm. Liane Hansen reads a few of the notes.

Forty years ago John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, getting the U.S. space program moving with a vengeance and helping spark a new commitment to TV news. Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite reported the event to a live television audience on that day in 1962, and he offers his reflections. (NPR aired the following correction to this story on air on Feb. 21, 2002:"I'm crushed. The once most trusted man America has let me down." This is from Hilton Evans in Randolph, Massachusetts. "Mine will likely be only one of dozens if not hundreds of e-mails correcting Walter Cronkite's assertion that Velcro was one of many spinoffs of the U.S. space program. Velcro was not invented by NASA. It wasn't even invented in the United States. Velcro was invented by Swiss inventor and hiker George de Mestral who noticed how flower burrs stuck to his pants. Upon examining the burrs with a microscope, he noticed each burr was covered with tiny fur grabbing hooks. Mestral realized he could use this natural design to create an alternative to the zipper. Mestral's idea was patented in 1955 after he perfected a process for creating the microhooks in nylon.")

Sam Raimi spent a fortune, and its stars strive for naturalism, but Spider-Man 3 proves dramatically less than the sum of its expensive, ill-unified parts.

One of only four known northern white rhinoceroses was euthanized at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on Sunday.

The country's National Grid announced Friday it was on its way to a full day without requiring its coal plants to produce power. Britain plans to eliminate the energy source by 2025.