Dangerously Hot Oceans; Credit Card Gaming; Barbie Makeover

Plus, how the U.S. hacked ISIS.

By Suzette Lohmeyer Stories You May Have Missed Elaine Thompson/AP A new U.N. report says that oceans are getting hotter and higher, and that marine heat waves, a new phenomenon, are causing a cascade of changes in marine life. The report also notes that oceans are getting more acidic, which could lead to mass extinction of marine organisms, especially animals with shells, such as oysters and clams. Juul Labs will stop advertising e-cigarettes in the U.S., and it says that its CEO has stepped down as regulators examine hundreds of cases of people who are sick from what appears to be a vaping-related lung disease. One mom who testified before Congress compared the disease to a food poisoning outbreak, stating: "If this was romaine lettuce, the shelves would be empty." With more imports from China facing tariffs, some companies are trying to avoid the taxes by falsely labeling Chinese products as made elsewhere. One case traces to a dusty pencil factory in the Philippines. Who gets to be a “genius” this year? The MacArthur Foundation unveiled the winners of this year's MacArthur fellowships — recognizing 26 artists and scholars for their work. "They give us reason for hope," said the foundation’s president, "and they inspire us all to follow our own creative instincts." NPR Impeachment Coverage Evan Vucci/AP According to the Ukraine call whistleblower, "senior White House officials had intervened to lock down all records of the phone call," which the whistleblower says "underscored to me that White House officials understood the gravity of what had transpired in the call." On Thursday, the nation's top spy told lawmakers that he supports the whistleblower whose complaint (read it here ) sparked the Ukraine affair but said he struggled to deal with how to handle the case inside the Trump administration. Video Of The Week NPR What if aging wasn’t inevitable? Scientists have developed promising clock-turning treatments for mice. Could pills that mimic the benefits of exercise help humans? In this Future You video: the effort to stop the symptoms of growing old. This Week's Listens Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images “I Will Survive” saves marginalized people a spot on the dance floor. Recorded after a traumatic period in the singer's life, Gloria Gaynor's disco hit quickly found its true audience: LGBT communities, survivors of domestic violence and others pushed aside by society. Meet the credit card obsessives who travel the world by gaming the system. Points earned from credit card gamesmanship can open the door to extraordinary experiences for those with time and discipline (think world travel and low-cost appliances). But one survey found that nearly 60% of reward-card holders don't pay off their balances each month.  How the U.S. hacked ISIS. In 2016, the U.S. launched a classified military cyberattack against ISIS to bring down its media operation. NPR interviewed nearly a dozen people who lived it. Read Doll About It Becky Harlan/NPR Move over, Malibu Barbie, and make room for ecologist TreeTop Barbie. Determined to increase the number of women conducting canopy research, ecologist Nalini Nadkarni and her colleagues came up with the idea of TreeTop Barbie, a canopy researcher.  Picture Show Pick Lee-Ann Olwage A photographer documented how drag artists in townships put on their drag — drawing from traditional garb for both men and women rather than the sequins and feather boas of RuPaul’s Drag Race queens. In interviews, the “girls” (as they call themselves) talk about the stigma they face and the difficulty of obtaining health care. How We Work At NPR we want to be as transparent as possible about our decision-making and how we produce the journalism that reaches you online, over the air, in apps and on other platforms. Our mission and guiding principles are below. Have any questions about our work, our methods, or anything else about NPR? 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