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San Diego County's winter rains are getting the blame for a massive swarm of insects. Thousands of moths, butterflies and long-legged crane flies have been spreading across the county this past week.

A number of studies have touted the health benefits of canine companions. But a new study says dogs can make for a happier, more productive workplace, too.

Buck O'Neil, a famed baseball player and manager for the legendary Negro League team the Kansas City Monarchs, died Friday at 94. He was the first African American coach in Major League Baseball, working for the Chicago Cubs in the 1960s. O'Neil recently was nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame, falling one vote short of induction.

As global temperatures rise, many plants and animals are moving to higher elevations to keep their cool. But a new study found plants in northern California are actually moving downhill, where it's wetter. "These plants are tracking water availability more so than temperature," one researcher says.

Imagine having a revolutionary idea, and then sitting on it for more than 20 years. That's what Charles Darwin did. His theory that nature — not God — was responsible for the marvelous variety of life on Earth was heretical. But then a young butterfly collector forced Darwin's hand.

Who says moviemakers are out of ideas? Hollywood studios may not always score, but for at least the third year in a row, foreign directors, indie auteurs and documentarians have served up enough eye-opening films that NPR's critic had trouble narrowing his best-of list to anything near a Top 10.

President Bush's eight-day trip to the Mideast continued Tuesday with another round of talks with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at the monarch's desert horse ranch. The president also dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Baghdad to urge Iraqi leaders to speed reconciliation efforts.

Charles Darwin is known as the father of evolution. But another British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, played a major role in developing the theory of natural selection before fading into obscurity. A trip to what's now Sulawesi in Indonesia, and the unique animals he found there, helped form his seminal ideas.

A new study finds that moths can remember things they learned when they were caterpillars — even though the process of metamorphosis essentially turns their brains and bodies to soup. The finding suggests moths and butterflies may be more intelligent than scientists believed.

Steve Inskeep talks about the highlights of Friday's wedding ceremony for Prince William and Kate Middleton, then hears from NPR's David Greene in St. James Park and Philip Reeves in London, who monitored the day's events.