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Over 86% percent of adults in the United States admit to consuming an alcoholic beverage of somekind. And while a stiff drink can be a good way to relax…

This week on Science on the Radio Dr. Marvin Druger talks about the former planet known as Pluto. He also takes the time to discuss some newly discovered…

Commentator David Fleischaker says we're facing high prices and a shortage of natural gas, with fewer rigs drilling, new fields less productive than old ones, and an explosion of demand. Natural gas has become the clean fuel of choice for consumers, industry, and the electric utility industry. The solution, he says, lies in balancing fuel development and the environment -- and learning to consume less.

As part of NPR's Changing Face of America series, correspondent David Molpus has the first of four reports this month on America's changing work environment. This week, Molpus reports on the democratic workplace with a profile of the Austin, Texas based Whole Foods Market. Molpus explores how the company's unorthodox management practices have helped it grow into the country's largest natural food grocery chain.

Two papers in the journal Nature shed new light on the relationship between wildfires and the environment. Major fires in Indonesia in the late 1990s spewed large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

NPR's David Baron reports that an international group of scientists has issued a warning that synthetic chemicals in the environment may be harming children's intelligence and behavior. This concern stems from ongoing studies of chemicals -- such as PCBs and dioxins -- that may disrupt hormones in the body. Skeptics say the evidence of harm is sketchy and comes mostly from animal experiments using far higher levels of the chemicals than most people encounter.

NPR's Dan Charles reports on the work of a handful of researchers who believe in something called Cold Fusion. It's a complicated idea...involving the fusion of atoms and the subsequent release of enormous amounts of energy...all accomplished in a controlled and friendly environment. And it's controversial -- SO controversial that most scientists don't even think cold fusion is possible. Despite the sceptics, the search for cold fusion goes on.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that officials from the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum are working out details of a plan to bring about the most ambitious trade liberalization plan in history. But as they were meeting, there were noisy demonstrations against the plan on the streets of Manila. Opponents complain that freer trade will allow large multi-national corporations to exploit the region's poor and the environment.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports on the arguments before the Supreme Court today on whether Clean Water regulations apply to a body of water contained within a state, but used as habitat by migrating birds. The justices are being asked to rule on whether the fate of the body of water is of concern only to that state, or, because of the impact on the birds, to the larger environment.

In ancient world the Library at Alexandria, Egypt was the meeting place where philosophical, spiritual, and cosmological teachings met to create a vital cultural environment. But the Library dissappeared 2000 years ago possibly when Julius Caeser sacked the city. Today a new library is rising in Alexandria hoping to recapture some of the former's glory. Kate Seelye reports.