Talk of the Nation on WAMC HD2

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan.

Exits are ubiquitous; long or short, grand or modest, we've all left something, from resigning from a long-held position to waving goodbye to a friend after lunch. In Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free, author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot explores endings through the stories of people in transition.

Too often "we tend to ignore and diminish endings," she writes, while celebrating beginnings. Instead, we should "develop the habit of marking the small goodbyes to help us master the larger farewells."

Facebook has historically restricted access for kids under 13 years old, but that may be changing. Many kids already use the network, with or without their parents' consent, and many parents have raised concerned about privacy, safety and advertising.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. Violence in Syria continues to spiral with no end in sight. A U.N.-sponsored ceasefire plan lays in tatters with no clear alternative. The government shows no signs of giving in, and while the Syrian National Council elected a new leader over the weekend, opposition exiles remain weak and divided, and any number of groups operate inside the country, organizing everything from protests to attacks on government forces.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

SpaceX's Dragon capsule has travelled safely to the International Space Station and back. The next step, says Space.com writer Clara Moskowitz, is to outfit the capsule for crew, which SpaceX hopes to complete by 2015. Until then US astronauts will hitch rides on Russia's Soyuz, at about $60 million a pop.

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

You're listening to SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. Our next story is about one person's garbage being another person's treasure. You know how that works. Well, this one is a very interesting story. Last year, the National Reconnaissance Office, they operate America's spy satellites, well, the National Reconnaissance Office called up NASA with an offer: Would NASA like a couple of old spy telescopes? We don't need them. Could you do anything useful with them? We'll give them to you.

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. If you look up in the sky at night, especially later this year, you can spot the Andromeda Galaxy, it's a small cloudy smudge in space. It's our galaxy, the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor, about two and a half million light years away.

Reporting in the journal Nature Communications,researchers write that they were able to track down the cells causing clogged arteries. Dr. Jill Helms, co-author on the study, discusses why stem cells are to blame and how the study could lead to more effective treatments.

Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab has discovered a piece of malware infecting computers mostly in the Middle East. Flame eavesdrops on conversations, takes screenshots and steals data from infected computers without being detected. Wired's Kim Zetter discusses how the malicious code works.