Boisjoly was the engineer who boisterously warned about problems with the Challenger's elastic seals. That he couldn't do anything about the launch haunted him and turned him into a crusader for ethics in engineering. Boisjoly died at age 73.

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A centrist think tank finds that in several key states, both parties are losing voters relative to the number of newly declared independents. In Colorado, which holds its Republican caucuses Tuesday, declared independents are now about even with registered Republicans or registered Democrats.

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Egypt plans to prosecute 43 people, including 19 Americans, who have been promoting democracy in Egypt. The case has caused a furious reaction in Washington — with lawmakers threatening to hold up U.S. financial assistance to Egypt.

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In his new book, Charles Murray, co-author of the controversial The Bell Curve, argues that in an increasingly economically stratified America, the white working class is slipping behind.

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Entrepreneurs and researchers are looking for ways to bring the cost of eye care down in the developing world. One group is working on technology that turns a smartphone into an eye exam machine, while another has developed glasses with liquid lenses that change prescriptions with the help of a pump.

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The Obama administration has relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba, reinstating Bill Clinton's policy of allowing people-to-people travel. But that's drawing criticism from some Republican lawmakers in the U.S., who say the tourist packages come with a heavy dose of Cuban propaganda.

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So-called helicopter parents have hit the workplace, phoning employers to advocate on behalf of their adult children. Human resource managers say more parents are trying to negotiate salary and benefits and are even sitting in on job interviews.

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On her new album, the violinist teams up with herself as she plays her two Stradivarius instruments.

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The percentage of negative political TV ads has increased sharply in the run up to the 2012 election. Ronald Reagan — revered by the Republican candidates — didn't air a single negative advertisement in his 1980 campaign for the presidency. George W. Bush's campaign didn't air any negative ads in 2000 either, nor did Democratic candidate Al Gore. Audie Cornish talks with John Geer, who tracks political advertising out of Vanderbilt University, about why the landscape has changed so drastically.

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Syrian government forces continued the bombardment of the central city of Homs for the third straight day on Monday. Anti-government activists say over 200 people have been killed in the city since Saturday. As the violence escalated around the country, the U.S. shut down its embassy in Damascus, and the U.K. withdrew its ambassador from the Syrian capital.

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Iran continues to stage military maneuvers amid its threats to close the vital oil shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. And Israel continues to mull a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, while politicians are urging Washington to show Tehran that it faces a credible military threat.

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Twenty years ago, Virginia had a not-so-flattering reputation as a haven for illegal gun runners. Traffickers would buy batches of guns legally in the state, and sell them on the black market. With the Virginia guns turning up at crime scenes up and down the Eastern seaboard, the state legislature decided it was time to act — a law was passed to limit gun purchases to one a month. But gun rights activists have fought to overturn it, and on Monday, the Virginia Senate approved legislation to repeal it. Bill Sizemore, reporter for The Virginian-Pilot, has been following this effort in the state legislature, and talks with Robert Siegel about what propelled it this time around.

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Women's boxing will be an Olympic sport for the first time in London later this year and the trials to choose the U.S. competitors will be held in Spokane in February. Tyrieshia Douglas from Baltimore is one of the competitors. When she was 16-years-old, she was arrested for street-fighting and says her juvenile court judge recommended she take her skills into the gym. Now she's 23-years-old and ranked No. 2 in the country in her weight category.

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Audie Cornish talks with Robert Worth of The New York Times about Iran's attempt to rebrand the Arab Spring. The Iranian government recently flew in hundreds of young activists from around the region for a conference on the "Islamic Awakening." But some delegates there questioned Tehran's staunch support of the Syrian regime, which has continued to crack down on anti-government protesters.

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The rocket scientist who argued vigorously against the fatal launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger has died. Roger Boisjoly led a group of five Morton Thiokol engineers who tried to stop the launch in a series of conference calls with NASA the night before the tragedy. Boisjoly presented data showing cold launch-time temperatures could cause the joints on the shuttle's booster rockets to fail catastrophically. He was also one of two whistleblowers who anonymously revealed the launch decision debate to NPR a few weeks after the launch.

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The Chester Upland School District — a small, mostly minority district outside Philadelphia — is on the verge of going broke. State budget cuts have put the district in such financial straits that teachers and some other employees agreed last month to work without pay for the rest of the school year. A judge ordered the state to advance Chester Upland $3 million, but that will only keep the schools open for a few weeks.

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Monday marks 60 years since the death of King George VI and the ascendancy of a young Elizabeth to the throne. Her reign has been one of the longest in British history, second only to Queen Victoria.

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Websites like Facebook and Twitter played an integral role in last year's Arab Spring uprisings. But they've also brought about change right here at home. Audie Cornish talks to Clay Shirky, a professor of New Media at New York University, about how social media has fueled policy changes from Bank of America to Verizon, and the most recent backlash with the breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

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Iran continues to stage military maneuvers amid its threats to close the vital oil shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. And Israel continues to mull a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, while politicians are urging Washington to show Tehran that it faces a credible military threat.

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Twenty years ago, Virginia had a not-so-flattering reputation as a haven for illegal gun runners. Traffickers would buy batches of guns legally in the state, and sell them on the black market. With the Virginia guns turning up at crime scenes up and down the Eastern seaboard, the state legislature decided it was time to act — a law was passed to limit gun purchases to one a month. But gun rights activists have fought to overturn it, and on Monday, the Virginia Senate approved legislation to repeal it. Bill Sizemore, reporter for The Virginian-Pilot, has been following this effort in the state legislature, and talks with Robert Siegel about what propelled it this time around.

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