'Sex On Six Legs': When Insects Go Wild

Everything you wanted to know about bug sex (but didn't bother to ask) is explained in a new book by insect expert Marlene Zuk. Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love and Language from the Insect World, describes a world of small — but surprisingly sophisticated — insect behavior.

Insects are not mindless robots; they can learn just like other animals, says Zuk, a biologist at University of California, Riverside. "An ant who finds a food source will come back to recruit others to go to the same food source," she tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. The ant that knows where to go will show the others what to do. "It looks like a parent teaching a child how to ride a bicycle. ... They steer the other individual and will actually wait for them to catch up and make sure they're going in the right direction."

The book answers all sorts of questions about insect behavior, including how wasps recognize each other, why some crickets remain silent and how bees debate. The book also details how insects reproduce — in every imaginable way.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/15/139554957/sex-on-six-legs-when-insects-go-wild?ft=1&f=1007

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Rebels Encircle Tripoli, Threaten To Cut Off Gadhafi Supplies

The rebels are closer to Tripoli than they've ever been during the six-month civil war. That development is paired with news that Gadhafi forces launched their first scud missile since the fighting started.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/08/16/139667236/rebels-encircle-tripoli-threaten-to-cut-off-gadhafi-supplies?ft=1&f=1004

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New Republic: Embracing His Inner Truman

President Obama has kicked off his bus tour just as the political landscape has started to get interesting. Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic thinks the president has found his inner Harry Truman ? but don't jump to conclusions just yet.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/16/139666978/new-republic-embracing-his-inner-truman?ft=1&f=1057

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In Yemen, A Woman Leads The Call For Revolution

Yemen is in its seventh month of political turmoil. From a tent in the capital, Sanaa, Tawakkol Karman is leading anti-government protesters. The journalist and human-rights activist says she has learned many lessons from other uprisings in the Arab world.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/15/139652128/yemeni-protest-movement-darling-frustrated-by-pace-of-change?ft=1&f=1004

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How Fibonacci Introduced The World To Numbers

To carry out their calculations, merchants in the early 13th century used an abacus or a system called finger reckoning. Commerce changed when Leonardo of Pisa — known today as Fibonacci — published the first arithmetic textbook. Mathematician Keith Devlin talks about the history of arithmetic and his new book "The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution."

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/12/139579620/how-fibonacci-introduced-the-world-to-numbers?ft=1&f=1007

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Series Overview: Small Businesses, Big Problems

Every business starts small. But more than ever, it's harder to turn small businesses into bigger companies that employ more people. In a country that desperately needs more jobs, this is a big problem.

Small firms represent about 99 percent of all U.S. businesses, but a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows that while businesses are being formed at roughly the same rate as in the past — the number of startups is even rising — these small businesses create fewer jobs than in the past.

The study found that in the 1980s, startups created an average of 3.5 percent of all U.S. jobs, but in the 2000s, they contributed only 2.6 percent of U.S. jobs.

Since the financial crisis, banks have all but stopped lending to small businesses. Tighter credit means it's also harder for entrepreneurs to borrow against their credit cards, or their homes, as they've done in the past. But many challenges facing small business owners started before the recession.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/15/139027673/series-overview-small-businesses-big-problems?ft=1&f=1003

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