Science & Technology

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ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And I'm Audie Cornish. This afternoon, investors watched even more closely than usual as Apple released its quarterly earnings. The numbers beat Wall Street's gloomy expectations. But for the first time in a decade, Apple's profits fell from the same period a year earlier. NPR technology correspondent Steve Henn joins us from Silicon Valley to talk about today's results. Hey there, Steve.

STEVE HENN, BYLINE: Hi.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We've reported on how cheap natural gas is revolutionizing the energy industry. It's plentiful, thanks to the drilling technique known as fracking. Well, that's also changing American manufacturing. Factories are turning to natural gas to replace oil and even biomass sources like woodchips. And here's an example, a paper mill in East Millinocket, Maine.

Jay field of Maine Public Radio has the story.

Update at 5 p.m. ET:

Reuters reports that Apple has posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings of $43.6 billion, "reflecting strong sales of the iPad and iPhone." Wall Street had forecast revenue of $42.3 billion, the wire service says.

We pick up our original post here:

Investors are waiting, many not so eagerly, for a look at how Apple for the second quarter.

Last week, the New York Post ran a front page photo of two teenage runners under the headline "Bag Men," implying that they had something to do with the Boston Marathon backpack bombs.

It turns out those kids had nothing to do with the attacks. But they came to the public's attention after their images were scooped up and pored over by hundreds of online amateur sleuths.

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan in Washington. And now it's time for the Opinion Page. Investigators in the Boston Marathon bombings used all kinds of images to identify the suspects in Boston: pictures from cell phones, portable video recorders and from TV. But the most useful came from surveillance cameras placed to monitor public places like the entrance to the Lord and Taylor department store and Forum Restaurant.

Now in its 43rd year, Earth Day has become an international day dedicated to promoting environmental awareness and action. Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, explains what's changed, as concern about climate change and green energy have come to the forefront of the movement.