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In 1991, a group of scientists entered Biosphere 2 for a two-year experiment that would test whether humans could survive in a closed environment. The experiment wasn't exactly a success. As NPR's Joe Palca reports, researchers are now trying to show that Biosphere 2 can serve another purpose -- as a laboratory to study Earth systems.

Brooklyn artist Nina Katchadourian has a novel solution to noise pollution caused by the tones of common car alarms. She's created a new kind of alarm that blares bird songs that more or less follow the same familiar sonic pattern of most alarms, but with a "natural" twist. NPR's Rick Karr reports.

The Bush administration is expected to announce a plan for vaccinating certain Americans against smallpox. An advisory panel has recommended that at most, 500,000 health-care workers should be immunized. But many state and local public health officials don't think that's nearly enough to cope with a smallpox bioterrorism attack. NPR's Richard Knox reports for All Things Considered.

For centuries, sugar has been the foundation of the Cuban economy, and a key part of the country's identity. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports that Fidel Castro's government is drastically downsizing the sugar industry because of economic pressures, and transforming some of the old sugar mills into attractions for a more profitable industry: tourism.

After afflicting more than 8,400 people and killing nearly 800 worldwide, the daily count of SARS deaths and cases is showing a decline. But another respiratory disease, tuberculosis, rages on. Tens of millions of people have TB and millions more are at risk. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

U.S. troops clash again with anti-American demonstrators in Fallujah, and again there is loss of Iraqi life. Townspeople are furious at members of the 82nd Airborne Division and want them to leave. The violence comes as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits nearby Baghdad. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

A document circulating in Washington describes the U.S. government's vision of an Iraqi free market, with privatized industry, a modernized stock exchange and a new tax code. The responsibility for much of this transformation would go to American contractors. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Wall Street Journal reporter Neil King Jr.

From the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush terms the defeat of Saddam Hussein "one victory" in a continuing war on terrorism. Bush says major combat operations in Iraq have ended, but much work remains to help in the country's reconstruction. NPR's Pam Fessler reports.

The kitschy, Americanized "tiki" adaptation of island life includes everything from Hawaiian shirts to Hula girls... and don't forget tropical drinks garnished with paper umbrellas. Hundreds of people are gathering under bamboo torches in Palm Springs, Calif., for a third-annual celebration of tiki culture known as the Tiki Oasis. Alex Cohen of member station KQED reports.

Fifty-five years ago, John Steinbeck's best friend died in a train accident near Monterey's Cannery Row. Ricketts, a marine biologist, was cast as the fictional "Doc" in Steinbeck's best-selling novel. In the second of two Morning Edition reports, NPR's Renee Montagne looks back at Ricketts and his lasting legacy.