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Scientists have manipulated cells of duck and quail embryos so that the duck would have the beak of a quail and the quail would have the bill of a duck. To find out why, NPR's Lynn Neary talks with Jill Helms, associate professor, department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, and senior author of "The Cellular and Molecular Origins of Beak Morphology." The article is in the current issue of Science magazine.

With this year's Sundance Film Festival under way, we revisit a success story from last year's festival. The film Better Luck Tomorrow, about delinquent, affluent Asian-Americans in Orange County, was championed by film critic Roger Ebert and finally makes it to theaters next month. Beth Accomando of member station KPBS reports.

NPR's Ivan Watson in Istanbul reports that Turkey hosted talks among key Middle Eastern states Thursday, searching for ways to avert a new war in Iraq. Representatives from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt and Jordan are expected to send Baghdad a message, urging compliance with U.N. disarmament demands.

NPR's Guy Raz reports from London that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's close alignment with the White House on Iraq is increasingly making Blair the odd man out in Europe. Analysts say Blair risks damaging Britain's relations with Europe. What's more, the British public is strongly opposed to war in Iraq and the tabloids have taken to calling Blair "Bush's poodle."

Scientists fear that widespread disease will mean that key species of banana will go extinct within a decade. As NPR's Eric Niiler reports, genetically modified bananas that can resist disease have already been created. But growers don't want to plant them because Europe and some other nations are firmly opposed to GM foods.

The image of Denmark is of a tolerant Scandinavian nation, one of the world's most generous donors of foreign aid. In reality, a xenophobic populist party has successfully played on the public's fears in the national debate about immigration. The country has adopted new rules to limit the number of asylum-seekers by making it harder for Danes to marry foreigners... pushing some loving couples abroad. Nick Spicer reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel and Lynn Neary muse on the number of times the cliche "when X gets a cold; Y catches pneumonia" is used in print. The formation applies to countries, economies, businesses.

NPR's Lynn Neary talks to Vinny Boulanger, who runs the Broken Spoke Saloon in Laconia, N.H., about the frigid temperatures there, and the hot drinks people have been ordering.

A Texas travel agency offers a package to a nudist resort in Cancun. And passengers on a chartered plane are invited to get an early start on dishabille as soon as the "fasten seat belt" light goes off.

Host Scott Simon talks with Lee Dassler, Director of the McLaughlin Garden in South Paris, Maine. Friends of the Garden misplaced their clothes to be photographed in the nude for a 2003 calendar titled "Altogether for the Garden." Proceeds from the calendar sales are paying down the Garden's debt.