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What happens when you make robots that are smart, independent thinkers — and then try to limit their autonomy? A $10 million gift is aimed at answering such questions at Carnegie Mellon University.

Now that Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) has announced his resignation, the focus is on possible successors. Lt. Gov. Jim Risch is widely regarded as the likely front runner. But many Idahoans angrily claim that Republicans in Washington forced Craig to quit solely to protect the party.

A team of volunteer space cowboys may have to say goodbye to ISEE-3 and to their dream of reviving for a final mission the creaky, 36-year-old hardware. Failed tests Wednesday suggest a fuel problem.

NPR's Scott Simon reflects on his time in Castro's Cuba and how its people struggled to persevere while under the rule of its dictator.

Latino icon Noé Montoya died of COVID-19 on Thanksgiving Day at age 66. The son of Mexican farmworkers, he was an actor, musician and an employment counselor who helped people enter the workforce.

The quiet Wyoming town of Riverton -- population 10,000 -- got a shock recently: their town was about to become the headquarters of the World Church of the Creator, a group associated with white supremacy and racial violence. NPR's Howard Berkes reports on how the town is responding to the move, and how it's confronting its own history of intolerance. Listen to an extended interview with church "hastus primus" Tomas Kroenke.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the Ukraine expert who became a star witness in President Trump's impeachment hearing, was escorted out of the White House Friday. His lawyer said Trump sought revenge.

Russian-born violinist Nataly Merezhuk explores the history of jazz in the former Soviet Union in her new album: Jazz on Bones.

National party conventions have received taxpayer funds for years, but new legislation will end that — just as parties and the media are rethinking the relevance of those quadrennial extravaganzas.

The baby boomer generation came into politics with a liberal challenge to the establishment, but that hasn't made it a reliably Democratic voting block. This middle-aged group is deeply dissatisfied with the economy and frustrated with the president.

The Democratic-led Senate takes up legislation that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, defying a White House veto threat. The bipartisan bill is nearly identical to one that the president vetoed last year.

Growing emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, could make projections for global warming far worse than estimated. Katey Walter, 31, is one of the first scientists to measure methane released from thawing permafrost in Alaska and Siberia.

Loneliness is a modern, cross-generational plague. Some people are looking to an old German tradition for a tried and true remedy.

As the Iraqi army crumbled before militants this month, the nation's ethnic Kurds are taking back long-sought areas and revisiting the dream of declaring themselves an independent state.

Six months after flooding from Hurricane Helene swept through Southern Appalachia, some towns there are still struggling to rebuild.

A border station linking a Mexican village called Boquillas to a U.S. national park has reopened in west Texas. Before it was sealed, the border had been an abstract one that people on either side ignored. When it closed, Boquillas' economy and residents felt it hard.

Artificial intelligence is changing how people shop, with consumers using AI tools, like Google's Gemini and Open AI's Chat GPT, to research items and find the best deals.

Four months in, Congo's Ebola outbreak is one of the largest ever recorded. Officials and outside experts can't agree on whether it's finally slowing down.

Peter Jackson takes his audience back to Middle-earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, set in a time before the Lord of the Rings films. NPR's Bob Mondello says that where the Rings films struggled with what to omit, The Hobbit labors to justify its three-hour running time.

It's been 60 years since Japan's bullet train first entered service. Could the technology be coming to Texas?

A new study finds telehealth for cancer treatment could make a big difference in reducing carbon footprint of health care. Health care generated 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and there’s a growing effort in medicine to find ways to reduce this impact.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi wants residents who desire to help Hurricane Harvey victims to be mindful of disaster relief charity scams.

Sen. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, said her colleagues need to quickly review the suspension but added that she hopes they don't “rubber-stamp anything.”

Palestinian pop artist Bashar Murad is an openly gay singer who uses his music to address a number of societal issues. NPR's Daniel Estrin visited him at a recording studio in East Jerusalem.

Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn noted in testimony before Congress about the U.S. Capitol insurrection that he was called the N-word after he said he voted for President Biden.