Morning Edition

Perched on his homemade bike, Felix Guirola rides around Havana. The bike is so tall; he can peer over buses and second-story windows. Hanging traffic lights do pose a problem.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

When Ray Bradbury died this week, he was hailed as one of science fiction's great writers. Best known for works like "The Martian Chronicles," Bradbury himself didn't think science fiction was a good label for his work. He said science fiction was about what could happen, and believed most of his work was actually fantasy. And yet, in the real world of space exploration, Bradbury was revered. Science writer Andrew Chaikin, for one, considers Bradbury the poet laureate of space exploration.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with NASDAQ compensating clients.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MONTAGNE: The NASDAQ stock exchange will pay $40 million in compensation for botched trades that occurred during Facebook's initial public offering. NASDAQ clients lost millions of dollars on Facebook's May IPO because of computer glitches. The opening trade was delayed by more than half an hour, and many investors were unsure if their trades had gone through.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

We're going to hear now about some surprising consequences of the weak housing market in this country. It turns out that the value - even on a paper - of a home can affect the college choices that a family makes.

NPR's science correspondent Shankar Vedantam regularly joins us to discuss social science research. He's here this morning to talk about those new findings. And good morning.

SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Renee.

MONTAGNE: This new research, describe it for us.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is in Kabul, Afghanistan. He arrived this morning for a quick, unannounced visit with troops and also to check in on the progress of the war. Panetta's trip comes a day after a Taliban attack in southern Afghanistan left over 20 dead and at least 50 people wounded. Also yesterday, NATO forces were being blamed for allegedly killing civilians in an early morning strike.