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A new nonprofit organization that's supposed to take charge of expanding scientific research on the International Space Station has had a rocky first year but now is starting to show what it can do.

The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space just signed one agreement with a company not traditionally linked to research in space: the sporting goods company Cobra Puma Golf.

The Morning Edition mailboxes are always overflowing with books sent by publishers. And recently, a fair number have fallen into a category you might call "dog memoirs" — books about how dogs transform their owners' lives.

When Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. ruled that Twitter owns tweets made by OWS protester Malcolm Harris, and, furthermore, that these tweets would not be considered private in the eyes of the law, his opinion invoked the following metaphor:

Turkey's state TV is reporting that a Syrian general and 85 soldiers have defected and are seeking refuge in Turkey.

The AP reports that this just adds to a growing wave of defections. The AP adds:

Every day at 11 a.m., a few big banks tell the British Bankers' Association what it costs them to borrow. Out of that comes LIBOR — the London Interbank Offered Rate, a dull but vital interest rate that underpins trillions of dollars of transactions globally, from home mortgages and personal credit cards to major corporate lending.

There's fresh evidence that cats can be a threat to your mental health.

To be fair, it's not kitties themselves that are the problem, but a parasite they carry called Toxoplasma gondii.

A study of more than 45,000 Danish women found that those infected with this feline parasite were 1.5 times more likely to attempt suicide than women who weren't infected.

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The election of Egypt's first Islamist president could alter alliances across the Mideast. Diplomats and analysts are trying to figure out how Egypt's relations with Iran, Israel and other countries may change now that a member of the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood will be leading the country.

From Cairo, NPR's Peter Kenyon has our story.

Cooking can be hazardous to your health and to the environment, particularly if you are cooking indoors over an open fire and burning wood and dung, as many people in poor, rural areas of the world do every day.

Michael Phelps, the American Olympic swimming star, will not try to repeat his incredible feat of Beijing. Phelps collected eight gold medals in 2008, which essentially cemented his place as the the best swimmer the world has seen.

The New York Times reports that Phelp's coach, Bob Bowman, announced today that Phelps will not compete in the 200-meter freestyle in London, which reduces his event load to seven.

The Times adds:

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In what could be a troubling sign for the U.S. economy, manufacturing activity started contracting last month. U.S. manufacturing has been a much-needed bright spot, with companies adding jobs and selling more products.

But today, as NPR's Chris Arnold tells us, we got evidence that things might be changing.

Whenever a car or truck turns off busy Channahon Road onto the long drive to the Caterpillar plant in Joliet, Ill., a handful of union workers on a picket line scream, "Scab! Scab!!"

As strikers try shaming the few workers and managers who cross the line, even a clearly marked sandwich delivery car gets shouted down.

Approximately 800 workers at this plant, which makes hydraulic systems for Caterpillar's heavy construction and mining equipment, are about to enter their third month on strike.

Negotiations Fail

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block and it's time now for All Tech Considered.

(SOUNDBITE OF THEME MUSIC)

BLOCK: In this week's Look Ahead with NPR's Laura Sydell, another nail in the coffin for Kodak.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE: You know, I feel like you should bring on the violins for that one.

BLOCK: Cue the sad music.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SYDELL: Today begins this very sad process. It's really the end of an era.

Urban life is multifaceted and complex. But, sometimes you need to just go with the flow and this chart may (or may not) show you if you're really an urbanite.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

There is increasing awareness of cities as a defining trait of humanity and their importance to our health, economy and the environment. Here, some basic nuts and bolts about cities and the people who live, drive, work and play in them

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

There apparently isn't a unified Republican message on whether President Obama has introduced a big new tax through the Affordable Care Act.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a top aide to Mitt Romney, said Monday that the Republican presidential candidate's position is that the penalty under the new law — the one for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but don't — is not a tax.

The Supreme Court last week upheld the health care law's individual mandate on the grounds that it is a permissible tax, in a 5-4 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.

An interesting technological case has emerged from the Occupy Wall Street protests of last fall. At issue is whether prosectors can simply subpoena the tweets of Malcom Harris, one of about 700 protesters arrested last year while walking on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. had already ruled on this once before saying Harris had no jurisdiction to challenge the subpoena because his tweets belonged to Twitter.

Airbus, the European aviation giant, announced that it was opening its first assembly plant in the United States.

The AP reports this is a significant and symbolic step in its rivalry with the American Boeing.

The AP adds:

"The French-based company said the Alabama plant is expected to cost $600 million to build and will employ 1,000 people when it reaches full production, likely to be four planes a month by 2017.

It was much rumored as soon as the 5-4 decision that upheld President Obama's signature health care law was announced.

Chief Justice John Roberts had sided with the liberal wing of the court and he had done so after initially voting in favor of striking down the individual mandate, the part of the law the required every American to obtain health care.

If you've grown numb to the federal fraud charges settled by drugmakers one after another, shake it off and take note of today's huge settlement by GlaxoSmithKline.

An eventful term of the U.S. Supreme Court ended Thursday with the landmark 5-4 ruling affirming the legality of the Affordable Care Act. Much attention has focused on the pivotal role of Chief Justice John Roberts in the case — and whether some elements of his opinion in the health care ruling will have a conservative influence on future cases.

"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

That's CNN's Anderson Cooper in an email to The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan, which Sullivan posted this morning.

Why say that now? As Cooper says in the email, he's been asked "the gay question" before about what had been an open secret for years and not publicly addressed it.

Now, he says in the email:

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This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. We're continuing our conversation with a roundtable of doctors, checking in with them about their thoughts about the Affordable Care Act in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to uphold most of the provisions of the act.