NPR News

The massive heat wave that has baked much of the country's eastern half has scorched millions of acres of farmland, threatening crops and likely leading to higher prices at the supermarket, experts say.

Corn, which is at the crucial pollination stage in many areas of the Midwest, is especially vulnerable, but experts warn that if the high temperatures persist into August, the soybean crop could also take a hit.

President Obama has notified Congress that all the requirements have been met to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that banned gays from serving openly in the military.

The policy will come to end in 60 days.

The secretary of Defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certified the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will not harm military readiness. That's a crucial step that will lead to the end of the law that barred homosexuals from serving openly in the United States military. Michele Norris talks to NPR's Rachel Martin, who has the latest from the Pentagon.

A experimental device that delivers electrical pulses to the forehead can help control epileptic seizures, say scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The device works by stimulating the trigeminal nerve, which runs just beneath the skin covering the eyebrows. Electrical signals follow that nerve to areas in the brain where seizures often begin, researchers say.

Sweltering heat continued Friday, moving from the Ohio Valley to the East Coast and straining regional power grids.

As temperatures head into near record-breaking territory, demand for power is also getting close to capacity, but authorities in New England say they don't expect to top the record usage set in the summer of 2006. And they're confident they can continue to meet demand.

It's as sure as spring turning to summer. Every time temperatures soar past 90 degrees, fans and conditioners fly off store shelves.