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Robots from around the world are competing in a Pentagon-sponsored robot "Olympics" this weekend. The challenge is to build a robot that can do human tasks and even go into disaster zones.

For decades, the world's two biggest handbell companies — headquartered down the street from each other in Pennsylvania — were at each other's throats.

Degree-granting institutions are responding to austere budgets by catapulting themselves into the world of online education. But some professors point to low online completion rates as evidence that these "massive open online courses" do a disservice to students.

A scientist who studies tornadoes says there's still much to be learned about how they form and how to better forecast them. Still, the storm chasing and research communities will be reevaluating their procedures in the wake of three colleagues' deaths.

"The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit," the president wrote Sunday. He also unveiled a $7 billion "Power Africa" initiative, to bring electricity to the continent.

Egypt's military has played a dominant role in the country since a 1952 military coup. The military reasserted its power as it staged a coup on Wednesday.

Homemade sodas are hot these days: Americans bought more than 1.2 million home carbonators last year. For the Fourth of July, we asked mixologist Gina Chersevani to help us tap into the trend with a soda float inspired by Independence Day.

Guest host Rebecca Sheir speaks with NPR's Brian Naylor about the latest reports on the Asiana Airlines flight that crash landed at San Francisco International Airport.

The death of an elderly man in Las Vegas is being blamed on temperatures that have soared past 110 degrees in many places. The National Weather Service warns that it's going to stay brutally hot in the Southwest for at least a few more days.

Alice McKennis has a metal plate and 11 screws in her leg after breaking it in 30 places in March. She's had other injuries before that, but she says it gives her an edge over the competition. "To make the Olympics is extremely hard," she says, "so it takes a certain kind of toughness."