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A worker on a newly constructed transmission tower near Buetzow, Germany, earlier this month. The German government plans to shut down nuclear power plants and is seeking to replace that production with power from renewable energy sources, especially wind turbines and solar parks. New power transmission lines will be needed.

Germans Confront The Costs Of A Nuclear-Free Future

Germany has announced plans for a total nuclear phaseout in 10 years and an ambitious transition to renewable energy. But one big challenge is distribution, and new power lines are planned. Opposition is growing among Germans who say the power-grid expansion will hurt their homes, land and lives.

President Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (second from right) inspect drought-damaged corn on the McIntosh farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Secret Side Of The Drought: Many Corn Farmers Will Benefit

Thanks to low yields from the drought, corn prices are high, which means corn farmers make money. This is despite the impression from in many news reports that all farmers are suffering because of the weather.

Afternoon Round-Up 8/14/12

Today on NPR: When Brown took the reins at Cosmopolitan magazine in 1965, it was a foundering monthly known for fiction. Without any editing experience,…

British Bank Agrees To $340 Million Settlement Over Laundering Charges

Standard Chartered Bank was accused of laundering money for Iranian banks.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., shakes hands with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the close of the committee's hearing on the state of the economy in February 2011.

Ryan's Mission For Fed: Focus On Prices, Not Unemployment

Mitt Romney's new running mate has authored some provocative policy proposals to cut budget deficits and overhaul Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. But Rep. Paul Ryan has also been an advocate for a different course for the Federal Reserve.

Care managers tend elderly people in March 2012 in Minamisoma, Japan. The home's residents were evacuated eight days after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station was crippled by the March 11, 2011 tsunami.

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Exposed Nearby City To Little Radiation

A study found that a third of the residents of Minamisoma had detectable levels of radiation. But another study said plant workers are at risk of psychological distress.

Olympian Claressa Shields visits the USA House in London before leaving for her home in Flint, Mich. Shields was greeted by a marching band and a motorcycle escort in her hometown.

Medalist Claressa Shields Gets A Hero's Welcome

Hundreds gathered in Flint, Mich., Tuesday, to celebrate the return of Olympian Claressa Shields. Just 17, Shields won America's lone gold medal in boxing at the Summer Games. And her triumph was welcome news in Flint, a struggling town that gave her a motorcycle escort home.

Federal law bars gun sales to the mentally ill only if they've ever been deemed by a judge to be mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed. States reporting of such things to the federal database is spotty, and very often, it doesn't show up when a gun seller does a background check.

The Law — And Reality — Of Gun Access

Federal law bars certain people with mental illness from buying or owning guns, but the recent shootings — including one in Colorado — and an incident in Maine underscore how difficult it is to actually keep guns from those who are most likely to be dangerous.

Fun And Free Science In Providence, R.I.

The Providence Alliance for Clinical Educators combines captivating storytelling with exquisite illustrations to teach scientific principles in a fun and memorable way.

Inflation Stayed In Check Last Month: No Change In July

A sluggish economy has kept prices from rising. But a recent uptick in the price of gasoline and the effects of this summer's drought on food costs could put some upward pressure on inflation in coming months.

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