State and National News

Colorado's High Park Fire northwest of Fort Collins has topped 46,000 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires in the state's history. It's also destroyed more than 100 buildings. But firefighters are beginning to gain ground and have started containing the blaze.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Wildlife researchers estimate that each year nearly seven million migrating birds die because of communications towers. The big problem, according to researchers at the University of Southern California, are the solid red lights on these towers - lights required by the FAA - in order to that are meant to warn aircraft pilots.

Scientists say the light causes a kind of vertigo and a recent effort in Michigan to temporarily turn the lights off during migrating season cut the number of bird deaths there by more than half.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has brought formal doping charges against cyclist Lance Armstrong.

The Washington Post, which broke the story, reports that as a result "Armstrong has been immediately banned from competition in triathlons."

The Post adds:

The Justice Department is walking away from its case against John Edwards.

Federal prosecutors have announced they will not retry the former Democratic presidential candidate on campaign finance charges. The decision comes soon after jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Government lawyers asked Judge Catherine Eagles to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning they will not take another bite at the apple and try to resurrect their high profile case.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is defending his effort to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in his state after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to stop him on Tuesday.

Scott told NPR's Michel Martin on Tell Me More Wednesday that after learning his state didn't verify the citizenship status of registered voters, he's trying to ensure that the ballots of U.S. citizens aren't diminished:

Scientists Wednesday unveiled the first catalog of the bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that populate every nook and cranny of the human body.

Researchers hope the advance marks an important step towards understanding how microbes help make humans human.

The human body contains about 100 trillion cells, but only maybe one in 10 of those cells is actually — human. The rest are from bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms.

Singer-songwriter Sylvie Lewis makes her third appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown. Lewis is English by birth, but has made her home in Switzerland, Los Angeles, Boston and, lately, Rome. Her wanderlust imparts a worldly sophistication to her lyrics and voice, which call to mind sounds from another era.