Search results for

NPR's Snigdha Prakash reports on a Milken Institute report that says minority entrepreneurs aren't getting enough investment capital. Though African-Americans and Hispanics make up about 23 percent of the country's population, they only own about nine percent of the businesses. Analysts say this could impact America's retiring generation of workers, who're dependent on the wages and profits of younger generations.

Linda talks to Bill Rempel, National Correspondent and Investigative Reporter for the Los Angeles Times, about the concealed weapons law in Texas. Rempel's report in today's paper says hundreds of people with criminal backgrounds, many of them violent, have gotten the concealed carry licenses in Texas. That's despite a vow by Texas Governor George W. Bush for rigorous background checks.

The FCC reports that the market for fast Internet connections is growing rapidly, with the number of residential subscribers about tripling over the past year. But in its annual survey of access to broadband service, the agency says access is still expensive or not available for people in rural or inner city areas. The report adds that some areas might never get service with current technologies because it's simply too expensive.

A paper in today's Science magazine reports the discovery of a new material that may be able to with stand irradiation for a thousand years. At present, nuclear waste is stashed away in containers that will start to break down after only a 100 years. Scientists are in a race against time to discover ways of building nuclear trashcans that can survive for much longer. And this new material could - at least in theory - be part of the answer. NPR's John Nielsen reports.

Veteran Broadcaster Robert Trout casts back to his early days as a reporter covering politics, to tell the story of the Republican Party's slide from a majority party to the minority in the 1930's and 1940's. For its first seventy years, the GOP was the dominant party. But from Hoover's loss to Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election until now, Republicans have been playing catch-up to the Democrats. This is the first of two reports.

People who do well on one kind of mental test tend to do well on other tests, as well. This has led scientists to investigate a quality of the mind that's known as "general intelligence." General intelligence is just one aspect of smarts and savvy, but it is the part that gets assessed by tests like IQ tests. Now, researchers report that they have localized general intelligence to one part of the brain. NPR's Richard Harris reports on this contentious finding.

NASA scientists report today that they have discovered a new kind of black hole. These are much larger than black holes caused by collapsing stars, but much smaller than the ones in the centers of galaxies. Black holes are so dense, not even light can escape their gravity. The new discovery could help explain how these bizarre objects come into being. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

Reporter Jennifer Glasse reports from Kinshasa on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan's announcement today that he was withdrawing a team of investigators who have been probing massacres of Rwandan refugees in the Congo. The team has encountered persistent obstacles while attempting to gather information about Hutu refugee killings.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's sharp criticism of his nation's news media has provoked attacks on reporters at pro-Chavez events. Now he's ordering TV stations to cover his speeches. NPR's Martin Kaste reports.

NPR's Maria Hinojosa reports on a trend in some cities where, in a reverse migration, couples are moving from the suburbs and back into the cities. There, in urban solitude, people can enjoy a shorter commute, they don't have to deal with the constant sound of lawnmowers and they can take advantage of greater cultural opportunities. Hinojosa reports the some companies are also jumping on the bandwagon and returning to cities to do business.