Originally published on Sun November 18, 2012 7:13 am
Update at 3 p.m. ET. At Least 10 Dead; Israel Issues More Warnings:
As we've been reporting, Israel hit targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip today with multiple airstrikes. The Associated Press says at least 10 people were killed. Among them was Ahmed Jabari, the commander of Hamas' military wing.
Credit Thorsten Wiehle / Berlin Forestry Commission
Some 3,000 wild boars are estimated to roam Germany's capital. This 2008 picture provided by the Berlin Forestry Commission shows a sow and her offspring that decided to make their home outside an apartment building. Recently, a wild boar attacked and injured four people in a Berlin neighborhood.
Credit Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson / NPR
Wild boar, shown here inside an enclosure in a Berlin city park, are considered smart and quickly learn how to avoid hunters.
Credit Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson / NPR
In Berlin, streetwise swine often tear up grassy areas in city parks, residential areas, cemeteries and stadiums as they search for food.
Originally published on Wed November 21, 2012 8:29 am
"PIGS" are a hot topic in Germany's capital.
Attend any press briefing about how German Chancellor Angela Merkel is going to solve the European debt crisis, and you're likely to hear that acronym, which stands for "Portugal, Ireland (or Italy), Greece and Spain."
But recently, pigs of an altogether different variety made headlines in Berlin.
Brian Shaffer tests an exoskeleton developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University at a rehabilitation center in Franklin, Tenn. The exoskeleton locks around the legs and feet. To stand up, a paralyzed person simply leans forward.
Credit Courtesy of Robert Markowitz/NASA
NASA recently announced the development of an exoskeleton for paraplegic rehabilitation use and astronaut strength training. NASA engineer Shelley Rea demonstrates the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton for resistive exercise, rehabilitation and mobility augmentation.
Credit Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Paralyzed from the waist down, Amanda Boxtel walks with the aid of a bionic exoskeleton in London in 2011. Users learn to walk in the Ekso Bionics device with rehabilitation technicians controlling their steps before walking on their own.
Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Claire Lomas, a paraplegic, walks the last mile of the London Marathon in May 2012. Starting out with 36,000 other runners, she averaged two miles a day with the help of a bionic ReWalk suit by Argo Medical Technologies.
Credit Courtesy of Parker Hannifin Corp/Ekso Bionics/Argo Medical Technologies/Rex Bionics
From left to right, the Vanderbilt exoskeleton, the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton, ReWalk by Argo Medical Technologies and Rex by Rex Bionics.
Credit Shepherd Center
A patient wears the Vanderbilt device in his wheelchair. The Vanderbilt researchers say that it has some advantages over others. It's lighter, breaks into three parts and fits in a small wheelchair.
Credit Adrian Malloch / Rex Bionics
Engineers at Rex Bionics in New Zealand developed an exoskeleton that allows people paralyzed from the waist down to walk again. Unlike other models, the Rex exoskeleton has a joystick control and doesn't require crutches.
Credit Joy Wilson / University of Houston
Steve Holbert (center), a paraplegic, demonstrates NeuroRex, a bionic exoskeleton suit augmented with a neural interface cap, developed by researchers at the University of Houston. Holbert controlled the robot's movements with his thoughts.
Credit Argo Medical Technologies
Robert Woo and Theresa Hannigan, both paraplegics, complete a one-mile walk in the ReWalk exoskeleton, developed by an Israeli company called Argo Medical Technologies. Argo's devices have been approved for personal use in Europe, but need FDA approval for sale in the U.S.
Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Claire Lomas walks the last mile of the London Marathon on May 8, 2012 in London, England. After a riding accident left her paralyzed from the waist down in 2007, Lomas completed the race walking 2 miles a day over 16 days with the help of a ReWalk bionic suit (by Argo Medical Technologies).
Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 8:31 am
Update at 10:25 a.m. ET. Pelosi Confirms:
Saying that she wants to work on "empowering women .... growing the economy ... [and] a healthy political climate," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California just confirmed that she intends to remain as leader of the Democratic caucus in the House.
Spectators react to Mitt Romney's concession speech early Nov. 7 in Boston. President Obama won virtually every swing state and comfortably won the electoral vote despite some polls projecting a Romney victory.
If voters were surprised to watch TV networks call the election for President Obama over Republican Mitt Romney minutes after polls closed in California last week, perhaps it was because of earlier statements like these:
--"Romney has pretty much nailed down Florida."
--"I think in places like North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, we've already painted those red, we're not polling any of those states again."
Eight days after his re-election, President Obama today holds his first full-scale news conference in the East Room of the White House since March.
It's safe to think that the White House had hoped the focus would be on subjects such as the fiscal cliff, taxes, the economy and the president's thoughts on what he can get accomplished in his second term.
Journalist Tom Ricks talks with NPR's Steve Inskeep on 'Morning Edition'
"No one should leap to any conclusions" about whether the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan did anything inappropriate when he was communicating with a Tampa socialite, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters today.
A driver delivering for a Chinese restaurant left his car running while he ran in an order. He comes back and his car is gone. He called his boss who called the next customer on the route to apologize --- but they had their take out. The car thief made a few extra bucks. But at the next house, the cops were waiting.
