National

Hundreds of Muslims in Murfreesboro, Tenn., gathered on Friday afternoon for prayers in a new mosque that has — at times — divided the community.

Debate over the building coincided with disputes over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque in New York. The congregation in Murfreesboro weathered a bomb threat, arson attempts and a court challenge. But members say the pain was worth the prize — a proper mosque to worship in after decades meeting in a cramped office space.

The imam called it a day of forgiveness. He also spoke against violent extremism.

A memorial service was held today for the shooting victims at a Sihk temple in Wisconsin. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the service.

The Royal Spanish Academy — the official arbiter of the Spanish language — recently announced that it will add the word "Espanglish" to the 2014 edition of its dictionary. This is a big deal for the traditionally conservative academy, and it's a big deal for supporters who feel that mix of Spanish and English has officially been ignored for more than a century.

Over the past several years, Lainey Hamrick and the volunteers at Colorado Supporting Our Troops have sent hundreds of care packages to members of the military in Afghanistan, Iraq and bases all over the world. In December, the group shipped 160 boxes of goodies overseas.

Southern California will be broiling through the weekend, as a heat wave that has brought record-breaking temperatures continues, the Los Angeles Times says.

That's why the managers of California's power grid have issued a "flex alert" to customers.

They're asking that residents:

-- "Turn off all unnecessary lights."

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY, I'm Ira Flatow. Earlier this week, yet another potential cure for Alzheimer's failed. Pfizer called off additional studies of its intravenous drug bapineuzumab, an antibody designed to seek and destroy plaques that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

This week, I managed to return from press tour, but we are still without Trey Graham. Fortunately, that means that the lovely Barrie Hardymon joined us for this episode, which kicks off with me fully (and exhaustively — sorry!) debriefing the team about fall television as I experienced it out in Los Angeles.

If you feel like your employer is more interested in your health lately, you're probably right.

There is something special about Eastern Kentucky University: We call it "the Power of Maroon."

Eastern Further, a group of Eastern alumnae who recognize the positive impact that EKU has had on our lives, has organized a running team to compete in the Disney Princesses Half Marathon in February 2013.