It's not as elegant as some languages, but neither is it as impenetrable as, say, an economics textbook or the iTunes user agreement.

"We have our own language on Capitol Hill," says Don Ritchie, head of the Senate Historical Office.

That language — the budget terms and political euphemisms that fly freely through the air in Washington, D.C. — often ends up seeping into the nation's discourse.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, residents are using wood stoves to heat their homes during the frigid winter months. But, smoke created by these wood burners is contributing to some of the worst air pollution in the country. Cathy Cahill discusses air quality in the Last Frontier.

A week after a meteor exploded over Russia on the same day that an asteroid swung closely past Earth, experts discuss how the potential threats posed by near-Earth objects should be addressed. Astronomers Donald Yeomans and John Tonry weigh in on how to keep the planet safe.

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY, I'm Ira Flatow. The Internet is the new battleground.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.

President Obama has told Congress the last of about 100 troops has arrived in Niger, where they'll assist French troops with intelligence work. France has an ongoing military operation in neighboring Mali, where troops are pushing out Islamist militants.

Louie talks with Dr. Yolanda Leyva, Chair of the UTEP Department of History.  Leyva talks about the Museo Urbano - a public history project which actively promotes the rich history of El Paso's Segundo Barrio.  The Museo Urbano recently received the 2013 Outstanding Public History Project Award for serving as a model for other communities. 

On Saturday, Feb. 23, 1-5 p.m., the public is invited to "The Mexican Revolution and Beyond: The History of South El Paso," a project in which historical photos are placed on the outsides of buildings to connect them with their histories.  The Farm Worker Center at 201 E. 9th Street (9th & Oregon) will be added to the project, and talks are scheduled about the history of farm workers in El Paso and about the Flores Magon brothers, political icons who helped spur the Mexican revolutionary movement.

www.facebook.com/MuseoUrbanoElPaso

Aired Feb. 22, 2013.

Bat Cuisine.  Aired Feb. 22, 2013.

No place has been as riveted by Oscar Pistorius and the Valentine's Day shooting death of his girlfriend as South Africa.

But even before this sensational story burst into the headlines, South Africans were fiercely debating issues that are more or less permanent fixtures in this country — crime, and violence against women.