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From the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant to the end of NASA"s shuttle program, a great deal of science stories made headlines this year. Science writers Mariette DiChristina, Matt Crenson, Steven Levy, and Paul Raeburn join Ira Flatow to discuss the year's top stories in science.

He's flown the space shuttle five times, and performed eight spacewalks to service the Hubble telescope. Now astronaut and astrophysicist John Grunsfeld heads up NASA's Science Mission Directorate, where he manages scientific investigations on the home planet--and beyond.

Is it possible to hear the music of 2020 without getting lost in the noise? NPR Music's critic Ann Powers studies a year during which nearly everything about loving music was turned upside down.

Events like the mass shooting that killed 12 people and wounded dozes more in Aurora, Colorado can remind survivors of past massacres about their experiences. Edward Smith, a reporter with the Denver Post at the time of the Columbine shooting, and callers talk about what's been learned.

Powerful storms tore through much of the country in June, causing widespread power outages in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave. These recent outages raise questions about the ongoing efforts to restore power, and the overall reliability of the country's power grid.

The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that more than 80 percent of the continental U.S. is either in a drought or considered "abnormally dry". Farmers and ranchers in the corn and soybean belt are feeling the effects, and the impact is rippling through other economic sectors as well.

As one of the most-performed living composers, the Pulitzer winner insists that her music communicate to everyone — from farmers to children to the classical music intelligentsia.

2012 is off to the warmest start since at least 1895, when record-keeping began. While the latest heat wave finally broke across much of the U.S., it factored in dozens of deaths and forced many employers to shift workers' schedules. The intense heat also left many farmers and ranchers scrambling.

As criticism of the Obama administration over a string of scandals grows, conservatives see an opportunity to gain momentum for 2014 races. Host Neal Conan and Political Junkie Ken Rudin talk with political science professor Jack Pitney about the GOP and the re-emergence of the Tea Party. Plus: the week in politics from Anthony Weiner's New York mayoral candidacy to the Senate immigration bill.

From record-breaking temperatures to long droughts, extreme weather events are on the rise. Many meteorologists and climatologists say it's only going to get worse. Many cities are putting plans in place to prepare for a range of costly and deadly weather disasters.