Spain's 'Robin Hood Restaurant' Charges The Rich And Feeds The Poor

"On a frigid winter night, a man wearing two coats shuffles into a brightly lit brick restaurant in downtown Madrid. Staff greet him warmly; he's been here many times. The maître d' stamps his ID card, and the hungry man selects a table with a red tablecloth, under a big brass chandelier."

"The man, Luis Gallardo, is homeless — and so are all the diners, every night, at the city's Robin Hood restaurant. Its mission is to charge the rich and feed the poor. Paying customers at breakfast and lunch foot the bill for the restaurant to serve dinner to homeless people, free of charge."

"It's become Spain's most sought-after lunch reservation. The restaurant has poached staff from luxury hotels. Celebrity chefs are lining up to cook once a week. For paying clients, the lunch is fully booked through the end of March."

"The restaurant opened in early December, and is run by an 80-year-old Catholic priest, Ángel García Rodriguez, whom everyone knows simply as 'Padre Ángel.'"

Scientists Discover Prehistoric Giant Otter Species In China

"Six million years ago, giant otters weighing more than 100 pounds lived among birds and water lilies in the wooded wetlands of China's Yunnan province."

"That's according to new research from a team of scientists who discovered a well-preserved cranium of the newly-discovered species in an open lignite mine in 2010. They recently published their findings in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology."

"The researchers concluded that this wolf-sized prehistoric creature is "two to three times larger than any modern otter species," Denise Su, the head of paleobotany and paleoecology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, tells The Two-Way."

"The fossilized cranium was nearly complete, but flattened to about an inch and a half thick. 'The bones are pretty fragile, so we couldn't really reconstruct it physically,' Su said. 'So what we did is we took CT scans of the cranium, and then we digitally reconstructed it.'"

Samsung Pins Blame On Batteries For Galaxy Note 7 Fires

"Samsung announced the results of a months-long investigation into why its Galaxy Note 7 phones spontaneously caught fire last summer, pinning the blame on faulty batteries."

"The bungled launch led to a recall of 2.5 million devices and losses totaling more than $2 billion. The root cause, according to an internal investigation conducted with the help of outside experts, was battery short circuits."

"Both companies that supplied batteries for the Galaxy Note 7 had separate issues leading to the fires, Samsung says, in part due to the rush to replace the originally exploding phones with new ones. The company did not name its battery suppliers."

"'The comprehensive responsibility lies with us. We did not thoroughly vet the parts that were assembled for us,' said DJ Koh, the head of Samsung's sprawling mobile unit."

Women's Marches Go Global: Postcards From Protests Around The World

"As the Women's March on Washington has swelled in support, attracting attention and supporters in the lead-up to Saturday's demonstrations, its name has become something of a misnomer."

"Sister marches have been organized in all 50 states, several U.S. territories and countries around the world. They have tried to express solidarity with the aims of the original march: opposition to President Trump's agenda, and support of women's rights and human rights in general."

"Given the quirks of time zones, many of those marches kicked off before the event that inspired them. In Sydney, London, New Delhi, and other cities, demonstrators broke out their signs and pink hats before even their compatriots in D.C. could."

"Straight from NPR and member station reporters on the ground: Here's a glimpse of the marches Saturday — across the country, and around the world."

PHOTOS: A Drone's View Of The World

"At Goats and Soda we're always watching the developing world."

"A group of international photographers is doing the same thing — but from a drone's perspective."

"We mined the website dronestagram (think Instagram for drone pics) for the most riveting drone photos of the developing world from the past year. Here are a few of the eye-catching images we came across and the stories behind them."

"Zorik Olangi grew up on Malaita, which is part of the Solomon Islands in Oceania. He's now a post-graduate trainee in obstetrics and gynecology in nearby Papua New Guinea but returns home often — along with his drones, which he flies as a hobby to take aerial photos."

5th 'Mars Mission' Simulation Ready For Launch In Hawaii

"Later today, six people will enter a dome on a volcano in Hawaii that will be their home for the next eight months, as they simulate a future mission to Mars."

"It is the fifth such experiment run by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA. The latest mission on Mauna Loa, which ended in August 2016, lasted a full year. It is known as the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS."

"The goal of HI-SEAS is to test what it would be like for people to live on Mars, and what the project designers call "team performance and cohesion" — or how a group of strangers might handle being stuck together for months on end."

"'It could be a long trip to Mars despite recent bold assurances of faster rocket ships, or a long stay on the Martian surface,' a summary of the mission states. 'In either case, astronaut crews far from Earth will rely on a social resilience and team cohesion previously untested in deep space.'"

Not Just A Crock: The Viral Word-Of-Mouth Success Of Instant Pot

"Chances are you or somebody you know has recently become the owner of an Instant Pot, the multifunction electric pressure cooker that can produce fork-tender pot roasts in less than an hour, as well as brown meat, cook beans without soaking, and even do the job of a rice cooker or crockpot. The Instant Pot­­ isn't advertised on TV or in the newspapers, and yet it's become a viral marketing success story, with owners often describing themselves as "addicts" or "cult members." That's the kind of word-of-mouth publicity Instant Pot founders dreamed of when they first began designing the countertop appliances."

"The Instant Pot electric pressure cooker has been around since 2010, but really became the buzz during the last six months of 2016. While the company's electric pressure cookers are sold at Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl's, the bulk of its sales come from Amazon, driven by social media. Deep discounts on Amazon Prime Day and again on Black Friday, along with the viral online sharing of these sales, turned Instant Pot into a household name. With 215,000 units sold on Prime Day alone, the Instant Pot Duo is Amazon's top-selling item in the U.S. market. Not bad for a company that does no TV or print advertising and only recently began the process of hiring a marketing agency."

"The 25-employee Ottawa, Canada-based Instant Pot Company was founded by a group of engineers, not chefs, in 2008. The team focused on designing the appliance's microprocessor and thermal and pressure sensors, which improve safety over earlier stovetop and electric pressure cookers, hoping that the product would speak for itself."

Archaeologists Unearth Pendant That May Be Linked To Anne Frank

"Archaeologists have unearthed a unique pendant buried on the site of a Nazi extermination camp. They say that they know of only one other that is similar, which belonged to Anne Frank."

"Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial announced the find on Sunday, saying that they have ascertained the charm may have belonged to a girl named Karoline Cohn."

"'Aside from similarities between the pendants, both Anne Frank and Karoline Cohn were born in Frankfurt, suggesting a possible familial connection between Frank and Cohn,' Yad Vashem said. 'Researchers are currently trying to locate relatives of the two families to further explore this avenue.'"

The charm bears Hebrew writing that says "Mazel Tov" (Congratulations), the date 3.7.1929 (Cohn's birth date), and the word Frankfurt. The reverse side has the Hebrew letter Hey, which is sometimes used to represent God, and three stars of David

When The Brain Scrambles Names, It's Because You Love Them

"When Samantha Deffler was young, her mother would often call her by her siblings' names — even the dog's name. "Rebecca, Jesse, Molly, Tucker, Samantha," she says."

"A lot of people mix up children's names or friends' names, but Deffler is a cognitive scientist at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Fla., and she wanted to find out why it happens. So she did a survey of 1,700 men and women of different ages, and she found that naming mistakes are very common. Most everyone sometimes mixes up the names of family and friends. Her findings were published in the journal Memory & Cognition."

"'It's a normal cognitive glitch,' Deffler says."

"It's not related to a bad memory or to aging, but rather to how the brain categorizes names. It's like having special folders for family names and friends names stored in the brain. When people used the wrong name, overwhelmingly the name that was used was in the same category, Deffler says. It was in the same folder."

"And there was one group who was especially prone to the naming mix-ups."

After 146 Years, Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Circus To Shut Down

"After its nearly century and a half run, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus plans to shut down 'The Greatest Show On Earth.'"

"The historic American spectacle will deliver its final show in May, says Kenneth Feld, the chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, the producer of Ringling."

"Feld announced the news on the company website Saturday night, citing declining ticket sales — which dipped even lower as the company retired its touring elephants."

"'This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company,' Feld says."

5 Big Ideas In Education That Don't Work

"Small classes. High standards. More money. These popular remedies for school ills aren't as effective as they're sometimes thought to be. That's the somewhat controversial conclusion of education researcher John Hattie."

"Over his career, Hattie has scrutinized more than 1,000 "meta-analyses," looking at all types of interventions to improve learning. The studies he's examined cover a combined 250 million students around the world."

"Out of that, he's identified five common ideas in education policy that he says should be looked at with a critical eye. NPR Ed spoke with Hattie, a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia, about each of these five ideas following the publication of his 2015 paper 'What Doesn't Work In Education: The Politics of Distraction.'"

Scientists Have Twisted Molecules Into The Tightest Knot Ever

"Tying a knot can be tricky. Just ask any kid struggling with shoelaces. And scientists have it even harder when they try to make knots using tiny molecules."

"Now, in the journal Science, a team of chemists says it has made a huge advance — manipulating molecules to create the tightest knot ever."

"'Historically, knotting and weaving have led to all kinds of breakthrough technologies,' says David Leigh at the University of Manchester in the U.K., who notes that knots led to prehistoric innovations such as fishing nets and clothes. 'Knots should be just as important at the molecular level, but we can't exploit that until we learn how to make them, and that's really what we're beginning to do.'"

"The first molecular knot was created by chemist Jean-Pierre Sauvage, one of three scientists who won last year's Nobel Prize in chemistry for work in creating parts for future molecular machines."

U.S. Puts Bumblebee On The Endangered Species List For 1st Time

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the rusty patched bumblebee an endangered species — the first such designation for a bumblebee and for a bee species in the continental U.S."

"The protected status, which goes into effect on Feb. 10, includes requirements for federal protections and the development of a recovery plan. It also means that states with habitats for this species are eligible for federal funds."

"'Today's Endangered Species listing is the best—and probably last—hope for the recovery of the rusty patched bumble bee,' NRDC Senior Attorney Rebecca Riley said in a statement from the Xerces Society, which advocates for invertebrates. 'Bumble bees are dying off, vanishing from our farms, gardens, and parks, where they were once found in great numbers.'"

"Large parts of the Eastern and Midwestern United States were once crawling with these bees, Bombus affinis, but the bees have suffered a dramatic decline in the last two decades due to habitat loss and degradation, along with pathogens and pesticides."

Walking In America Remains Dangerous — Especially In Florida

"Eight of the ten most dangerous places in the U.S. to be a pedestrian are in Florida, according to a study released today."

"Some of the most dangerous metro areas for walkers are Fort Myers, Orlando, and Jacksonville, Fla., as well as Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn."

"The study by a group called Smart Growth America analyzed data from 2005 to 2014, drawn from a number of federal government sources to calculate a Pedestrian Danger Index. This index makes it possible to compare pedestrian safety in cities of different size, density, and rates of walking. Densely populated cities have high numbers of pedestrian deaths, but also larger populations and much higher rates of walking than elsewhere."

Warmer Oceans Could Boost The Toxins In Your Shellfish Dinner

"West Coast crab fishermen just ended an 11-day strike over a price dispute. But a more ominous and long-term threat to their livelihood may be on the horizon. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found a link between warming ocean conditions and a dangerous neurotoxin that builds up in sea life: domoic acid."

"Seafood lovers got a glimpse of that threat in 2015, when record high ocean temperatures and lingering toxic algae blooms raised the domoic acid in shellfish to unsafe levels, shutting down the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery from Alaska to Southern California for several months. Though less dramatic, the problem emerged again this season, when harvesting was again delayed for portions of the coasts."

"Domoic acid is a toxin produced by Pseudo-nitzschia, a micro algae which can accumulate in species like Dungeness crab, clams, mussels and anchovy. It can be harmful to both humans and wildlife, including sea lions and birds. Remember the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds? It was inspired by a real-life incident of California seabirds driven into a frenzy by the neurotoxin."

Global Buzzwords That Will Keep On Buzzing In 2017

"The world of global health and development loves its buzzwords — a word or short phrase that sums up a problem or a solution, like "food insecurity" or "gender equity." The problem is that buzzwords aren't always clear to the average global citizen. And some folks in the development world don't like them either. Here's The International Development Jargon Detector to prove it."

"Still, the latest jargon can reveal a lot about trends and goals. We asked our sources and our audience on Twitter to share buzzwords from 2016 that are likely to be part of the global conversation in the year ahead. And we checked to see what words are trending. Here's a sampling."

Airpocalypse

"A haze of air pollution — think pea soup fog but toxic. The word's been around but resurfaced in the past few months after particularly bad airpocalypses in India and China. In December, Beijing issued its first red alert of 2016 after five days of smog was forecast. Schools were shut down, people wore surgical masks to filter out the fumes and flights were canceled because of poor visibility. There was even a trending hashtag, #themostserioussmog, which prompted citizens across Chinese social media site Weibo to share photos of their experience."

Mystery Radio Waves Are Coming From A (Dwarf) Galaxy Far, Far Away, Scientists Say

"Unexplained, short radio bursts from outer space have puzzled scientists since they were first detected nearly a decade ago."

"The elusive flashes — known as fast radio bursts, or FRBs — are extremely powerful and last only a few milliseconds. The way their frequencies are dispersed suggests they traveled from far outside our galaxy. About 18 have been detected to date. They've been called the 'most perplexing mystery in astronomy.'"

"Scientists are still grappling with why these bursts happen. But researchers have now pinpointed the source of one series of the FRBs — to a dwarf galaxy billions of light-years away from Earth."

"And locating the source of the mystery bursts could hold clues to what is causing them, according to Shami Chatterjee, an astrophysicist at Cornell University. He's the lead author in a paper recently published in Nature."

Blind Art Lovers Make The Most Of Museum Visits With 'InSight' Tours

"Dorlyn Catron's cane is making its radio debut today — its name is Pete. ("He's important to my life. He ought to have a name," she says.)"

"Catron is participating in one of the America InSight tours at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum offers twice-a-month tours, led by specially trained docents, to blind and visually impaired visitors."

"Docent Betsy Hennigan stops the group of nine visitors in front of Girl Skating, a small bronze sculpture from 1907 by Abastenia Saint Leger Eberle. The roller-skating girl is full of joy. The visitors — of varied ages, races and backgrounds — stand close together, hands on top of their long canes, facing Hennigan as she describes the artwork: The little girl careens forward, arms outstretched, her hair and her dress flow behind her."

"Carol Wilson trains the 12 volunteer docents. 'Sight isn't the only pathway to understand art,' she says. Wilson suggests the docents invite visitors to imitate the pose of a sculpture and use other senses in their verbal descriptions."

Some Bizarre Black Holes Put On Light Shows

"People think of black holes as nightmare vacuum cleaners, sucking in everything in reach, from light to stars to Matthew McConaughey in the movie Interstellar. But, in real life, black holes don't consume everything that they draw in."

"'They're actually pretty picky eaters,' says Jedidah Isler, an astrophysicist at Vanderbilt University. She spends most days chipping away at one of the universe's biggest mysteries: How do the huge, overactive black holes, known as quasars, work?"

"'They are billions of times the mass of our own sun,' she says. 'I like to call them 'hyperactive,' in the sense that they are just taking on a lot more than an average black hole.'"

"And these monster black holes tend to do something strange. They not only reject material, but they use it to put on a space version of a fireworks show, shooting out shredded stars and other things in a stream of light and charged particles."

Methane's On The Rise, But Regulations To Stop Gas Leaks Still Debated

"There's more methane gas in the atmosphere than there used to be, by every scientific measure. The Obama administration has been trying to stem the increase of this powerful greenhouse gas, but the incoming Trump administration appears bent on keeping the government's hands off methane."

"The gas comes from agriculture, especially flooded agricultural lands like rice fields, as well as from the digestive tracts of livestock. But it's also the main component of natural gas; some methane escapes from leaky oil and gas operations."

"Whatever the source, scientists have found that, after many years of very little change, concentrations of methane in the atmosphere have increased by 3 percent over the past eight years."

"'Methane concentrations in the atmosphere are surging faster than any time in the last 20 years,' environmental scientist Rob Jackson, of Stanford University, told NPR."