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NPR's Jack Speer reports on the creative ways companies have responded to high oil prices. Many businesses are managing to lower their energy bills with the help of new technology.

Ron McKay, a scientist at National Institutes of Health, joins Robert Siegel in NPR's Washington studios to talk about new guidelines for stem cell research.

The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that the TWA Flight 800 disaster of 1996 was probably caused by an electrical short circuit. The four-year investigation formally ended today, as the board stressed that the flight was NOT brought down by a terrorist action. NPR's Mary Ann Akers reports.

Doug McLennan reviews the two CD set entitled "Serenity" by the Bobo Stenson Trio. (4:00) Serenity by the Bobo Stenson Trio is on the ECM label, http://www.ecmrecords.com

Host Renee Montagne talks to Canadian reporter Hillary MacKenzie and Japanese reporter Yoichi Kato about the way they're covering the U.S. Presidential campaign. MacKenzie is Washington bureau chief for Southam News, Canada's largest news organization. Kato is political correspondent with the Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun.

Host Renee Montagne talks to commentator John Feinstein about this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament, which begins today in New York.

Host Renee Montagne talks to reporter Steven Dudley in Bogota about the latest surge in violence in Colombia. Over the week-end, suspected members of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary forces killed at least 17 people in two separate massacres.

NPR's Guy Raz reports on how college professors are adapting their teaching methods to an Internet world. With course notes on-line and some professors even replacing themselves with CD-ROMs, the changes have been tougher on the teachers than the students.

Jeff Brady of member station KOPB examines the changing roll of county fairs. As more and more ranchers and farmers turn to the Internet to purchase their supplies, fairs have shifted more toward education and entertainment to stay in business.

Commentator Diana Nyad says she's not a fan of the way the U.S. selects its Olympic athletes.

Commentator Jeff Steinbrink talks about the new miniature camera that transmits pictures of the digestive tract. The camera is swallowed in a capsule and offers views of the human digestive system never before seen.

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports that today, the New York Stock Exchange begins changing the way it lists the price of stocks. A few selected stocks will be shown in dollars and cents, rather than dollars and fractions. The exchange plans to have all share prices listed in dollars and cents by April.

NPR's Elaine Korry reports on the record high prices for natural gas and how they're expected to raise heating bills this winter. Supplies of natural gas are the tightest they've been in years. High natural gas prices also drive electricity bills higher, in states such as California, where natural gas is used to generate electricity during periods of peak demand.

Host Renee Montagne talks with Allison Des Forges, a consultant to Human Rights Watch Africa, about the on-going Burundi peace talks. President Clinton, as a personal favor to Nelson Mandela, will address the peace talks later today as part of his trip to Africa. Mandela was hoping to have an agreement from both the Tutsi-controlled government and the Hutu rebels before Clinton's visit, but that agreement has proved elusive.

Host Jacki Lyden speaks to reporter Sherry Devlin of the Missoulian newspaper in Missoula, Montana, about fires that are still burning out of control in western states. Almost six million acres have already been blackened this summer, with another one-and-a-half million still burning.

This is a great weekend to be selling used furniture in Burlington, Vermont. About 12,000 college students flood the area this time of year, and like most students on a budget, they are looking for an affordable way to decorate rooms and shared houses. Host Jacki Lyden speaks to Todd Myers, co-owner of Myers New & Used Furniture, about the annual boom in furniture sales.

Koreans living in this country watched with mixed feelings earlier this month when South Korean families were briefly reunited with their North Korean relatives after 50 years. There are no diplomatic relations between communist North Korea and the United States, and currently U.S. the government does not offer assistance to Korean-Americans seeking reunification with their families. Host Jacki Lyden visits the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia, where she speaks to Koreans who hope the U.S. government will change its policy and begin assisting them in trying to locate their lost relatives.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health issued long-awaited guidelines that will allow scientists receiving federal funds to study stem cells taken from frozen embryos. The embryos used will only be those that are formed as a result of in-vitro fertilization, and are then abandoned at private clinics. Their use has been a deeply-contested issue. Host Jacki Lyden discusses the ethical concerns over this type of research with Dr. Arthur Caplan, Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennyslvannia.

Commentator Jonathan Kaplan surprised a lot of people when he quit his day job to train full-time for a triathlon. He tells us about his decision.

This summer the World Health Organization rated the French healthcare system best in the world. Instead of crowing, French researchers questioned the methodology of the WHO study. The high cost of the health system has plagued the French government for a decade. Still, as NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris, if you have the misfortune to get sick, France is a good place to be.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports from Idaho on the start of a trial that could handicap the Aryan Nation. Two years ago, members attacked a woman and her son as they drove past the entrance to the hate group's compound. The Southern Poverty Law Center is trying to tie the actions of the groups' followers to their leader, Richard Butler.

NPR's Andy Bowers reports on the Teamsters' endorsement of Democrat Al Gore for President. James Hoffa, President of the Teamsters says the decision is based on a poll of the union's one-point-five-million members. Gore received an enthusiastic welcome at the Teamsters' convention in Las Vegas yesterday and then appeared last night at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills, hosted by Rob Reiner.

NPR's Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg reports that the creators of Curious George are about to introduce another character...an adventurous penguin. The penguin was actually invented before Curious George, but his stories have never been published...until now.

Tom Banse reports from Seattle that Americans living along the Canadian border have the option of watching live, unedited Olympics coverage on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Host Bob Edwards shares letters from listeners.