Author Ellen Ruppel Shell talks about her new book “Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.”
Producers: MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
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Eye Hospital in India Restores Sight with Free Surgeries
Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from India on the Aravind system of eye hospitals and clinics that subsidizes sight-restoring surgery for impoverished patients and provides top-of-the-line care for patients who can pay.
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In Tanzania, New Push to Combat Malaria
Between 60,000 and 80,000 Tanzanians die from malaria each year. Ray Suarez looks at a mult-million-dollar effort to slow the spread of the disease through the distribution of bed nets.
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Alaskan Village Copes with Impacts of Climate Change
In Shishmaref, Alaska – a 600-person village 20 miles south of the Arctic Circle – residents are feeling the effects of climate change: earlier sea ice melts and increasing storm surges. Tom Bearden reports on how the residents are coping.
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Students Build Biological Machines
Scientists in the growing field of synthetic biology use basic biological “building blocks” – snippets of DNA – to engineer useful living organisms, like bacteria that can break down plastic. Tom Bearden reports on a do-it-yourself biology competition for college students.
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Young Engineers Envision Cities of the Future
Correspondent Tom Bearden reports on a competition of young engineers designing ecofriendly urban centers of the future.
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In Iraq and Afghanistan, Military Relies on Robots
The military has deployed thousands of robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the machines search for IEDs and conduct aerial surveillance. NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden reports on the future of military robots.
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Behavioral Economist on Money, Morality and Rationality
In the latest in economics correspondent Paul Solman’s ‘Making Sense’ series, behavioral economist Dan Ariely mulls decision-making mechanisms in finance and they ways in which many people rationalize their unethical actions.
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Deep Sea Chemicals
Scientists are studying coral reefs for the next medical breakthrough. It is hoped that they will provide raw materials for life-saving drugs.
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Scientists, Students Study Space Storms
High school students and teachers in Alaska are helping NASA scientists collect data for a mission that aims to learn more about the space weather that causes the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.