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European scientists were alarmed in 2008 when they discovered streams of methane bubbles erupting from the seafloor in Norway's high Arctic. This gas, which contributes to global warming, was apparently coming from methane ice on the seafloor. A follow-up study finds that methane bubble plumes at this location have probably been forming for a few thousand years, so they are not the result of human-induced climate change. But continued warming of ocean water can trigger more methane releases in the Arctic, with potentially serious consequences to the climate.

Health care costs grew at 3.7 percent in 2012, the fourth year of a trend of smaller annual increases. The Obama administration says that the Affordable Care Act is a factor. But the actuaries who wrote the report beg to differ, saying the recession is a more likely cause.

Morning Edition listeners test the physics of extreme cold with some home-made science experiments.

You think it's cold? You ain't seen nothing! Imagine what it's like at science's coldest places: from the Eastern Antarctic Plateau to the moons of Saturn to the coldest labs.

The coldest temperatures in years and gusty winds that blasted the Midwest are expected to travel as far south as Brownsville, Texas, and Central Florida. The arctic air has caused temperatures to drop 20 to 40 degrees below average in several states and forced businesses and schools to close.

Mark Brown's raccoon Rebekah was confiscated after he posted videos of him dancing and showering with his pet. Tenn. law prohibits keeping native animals captured in the wild as pets. Brown tried but failed to get the law changed.

Pioneering Hong Kong movie producer Run Run Shaw has died. His studio popularized the kung fu genre that influenced Quentin Tarantino and other Hollywood directors. He was 106.

On the 2010 album Scratch My Back, Gabriel covered songs by the musicians he loves. For the follow-up, he invited those artists — who include Arcade Fire, Randy Newman, David Byrne, Regina Spektor, Lou Reed, Bon Iver and more — to cover his own material.

After a procedural vote in the Senate on a bill that would temporarily extend emergency insurance for the jobless, President Obama held a White House press conference to pressure Congress to keep the momentum going. But Republican leaders say they need spending cuts or job-creation plans in return.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday considers President Obama's nominee to enforce civil rights at the Justice Department. Debo Adegbile will need to overcome the opposition not only of voter fraud activists but also the Fraternal Order of Police.