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The U.S. military plans to send an Army brigade to Africa next year. Some 4,000 soldiers would deploy — in small units and at different times — to help train and advise African troops. It's part of an Obama administration plan to address the growing challenge posed by terrorism in Africa.

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

An IBM computer that analyzes flavor molecules and develops recipes is on the way in five years, scientists say. They are hoping to find not only novel and tasty flavor combinations, but ones that will appeal to us without adding to our waistlines.

Ann Powers picks her favorite chart-topping, radio-dominating songs of 2012.

The Seattle songwriter covers unsettling topics, including teen suicide and his own mother's experience with sexual abuse.

This year has seen an explosion of professional online videos, eclipsing home videos of cats and babies. In 2012, 8 of the top 10 YouTube videos were professional — and Hulu, Netflix and multichannel networks like MiTu all produced exclusive new programming.

Google has incorporated the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game into its search function. Morning Edition's David Greene goes to the movies and traces the history of the iconic college game. (This piece initially aired on September 14, 2012 on Morning Edition).

The dog wandered away from home during a big snowstorm last week. The family feared they'd never see their pet again, since she was lost as temperatures fell to 40 below zero. The local newspaper reports the dog's nose led her to the home of a vet, who posted her picture on Facebook.

The call to the online shoe retailer lasted more than 10 hours. For one thing, the customer on the line wanted to know how the Zappos employee likes living in Las Vegas. The conversation even ended with a sale of Uggs boots.

Water managers are scrambling to find a way to maintain wild populations of the Rio Grande silvery minnow after the annual fall census failed to locate…