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Forget high-tech gadgets that are supposed to make your life easier. Today, we're writing about ... Nothing. Pim de Graaff, a copywriter from Amsterdam, creates handmade black wooden blocks called Nothing to remind you that you already have enough stuff.

For the first time in five years, worldwide military spending is expected to go up, with China and Russia leading the way. The U.S. military budget is facing pressure, but the $600 billion in annual spending is roughly the same as the next 14 countries combined.

Host Michel Martin checks in on the Winter Olympics, from the athletes to security. She talks with NPR's Sonari Glinton, and McClatchy's William Douglas, who are in Sochi for the Games.

The Jamaican bobsled team is always an underdog at the Olympics. Mayor George Fitch of Warrenton, Virginia put the first team together in 1988, and helped inspire the Disney film Cool Runnings. Mayor Fitch speaks with host Michel Martin about the legacy of the team and his thoughts on this year's Games.

Scientists think an asteroid killed the dinosaurs. In today's extinction, humans are the culprit.

The cyber-dating industry is stretching far beyond its mass-market beginnings, with niche dating sites for every lifestyle or preference. "You name the obscure interest, there's probably a site for it," says online dating expert Dan Slater.

Barbara Mancini was charged with assisting her father's suicide by providing him with a lethal dose of morphine. A judge's decision in her favor is the latest in a series of developments signaling a reluctance of courts and state legislatures to criminalize medical care that may hasten death.

"I want to start by saying thank you," New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter tells fans. The idea of Jeter retiring from pro ball has been a subject of debate in recent years, driven in part by his age and a nagging ankle injury.

When bad weather shuts down school or delays its openings, it locks out many needy kids from a key source of nutrition. Some 70 percent of U.S. schoolchildren who eat school lunches get them for free or at reduced prices.

Eager to follow their House colleagues out of Washington for a break, senators Wednesday cleared a raise to the debt ceiling for the president to sign into law. It will take the issue of limiting U.S. debt off the table until March 2015.