Talk of the Nation

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NEAL CONAN, HOST:

This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. The numbers from Syria can leave you numb: nearly 700,000 refugees now in neighboring countries, and the U.N. says their numbers grow by 5,000 every day, maybe two million internally displaced, 60,000 dead again according to the U.N., and that estimate came before the most recent intensification of combat in and around Damascus.

Next up in an ongoing series of Talk of the Nation conversations with filmmakers nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the Oscars: NPR's Neal Conan talks to the filmmakers behind The Invisible War, which investigates the extent of sexual assault in the military.

Through a series of in-depth interviews with victims, the film documents the repercussions of reporting sexual assault and makes an argument for changes in the military adjudication system.

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JOE PALCA, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY; I'm Joe Palca. Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? These days if you're not careful, your phone knows where you are, and there's a good chance somebody else does, too. Or you've noticed that the ads on sites you visit are starting to look a little too personalized, like how did they know I was planning a vacation to New Orleans.

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JOE PALCA, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Joe Palca.

You know the theory that a big collision, a comet or an asteroid, something like that, helped kill off the dinosaurs? The idea has been around for a while. But this week, new research published in journal Science provides more accurate dates for the giant impact and the dino demise.

We spend a lot of time sleeping (roughly one-third of our lives, according to the National Institutes of Health). But how much downtime do our brains really need? Experts discuss the links between sleep, memory and cognition, and why our sleep patterns change as we age.

John Brennan, the CIA director nominee, faces questions about the use of drone strikes and torture during his confirmation hearings. In particular, questions will focus on how the U.S. justifies targeted killings in countries where we're not engaged in warfare.

When electorates in Colorado and Washington State voted to legalize recreational marijuana, they thrust their states into uncharted territories. While it's one thing to say pot is legal, it's another to set up regulatory, law enforcement and business practices that work for the industry.

NPR's Political Junkie Ken Rudin discuss the week in politics from Ed Koch's passing to Ashley Judd's political future. John Collegio, communications director for American Crossroads, discusses the group's new campaign to beat far right candidates in Republican primaries.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases involving detector dogs and the limits of reasonable search and seizure. Surrounding the cases are larger questions about the effectiveness of detector dogs and the legal questions that arise when they are used for law enforcement.