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Finding the Higgs boson was an important discovery. But for all of the publicity the particle has received, how many could explain what it does? Host Scott Simon talks with the researchers who have turned the recently discovered Higgs boson into music.

It's been a big day for Serena Williams. First, she started the day by winning her first individual Olympic gold medal. Then she won a chance for another gold in women's doubles, playing with her sister, Venus. The pair defeated the Russian team of Nadia Petrova and Maria Kirilenko.

The non-partisan budget office also estimated that repealing "Obamacare" would increase the deficit by $109 billion.

Weighing 400 grams, the Olympic gold medals that are being doled out at the London 2012 Summer Games are the heaviest ever, according to reports. But that doesn't mean they're the most valuable: at an estimated $620.82, they're nearly $590 short of the $1,207.86 value held by a gold medal from the Stockholm Games of 1912.

New York City officials are experimenting with a new way to fund social programs normally paid for with tax dollars. New York City officials say the prison intervention program could keep many of the nearly four thousand adolescent males that enter the jail system each year from returning. WNYC's Colby Hamilton reports Goldman Sachs is set to make a nearly $10 million investment in a social impact bond.

During a festival this week at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, scientists from around the world showcased the latest toilet technologies. Bill Gates himself awarded top-performing commodes, including a solar-powered toilet and one that dehydrates waste within 24 hours.

There's a lot at stake in the fall election, including control of Congress and the White House. But important questions will also be decided at the state level. Ballot initiatives will let voters in several states decide on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to marijuana legalization.

Matt Bissonnette, the former Navy SEAL who wrote No Easy Day, reportedly plans to give part of his proceeds from the book to the Navy SEAL Foundation, a non-profit that aids Naval Special Warfare personnel and their families. But the group says it won't accept any money from the book's sales.

A federal court has rejected part of Florida's new election law that would have restricted the number of early voting days. The ruling, affecting five counties, is a win for groups who say the new law was meant to suppress voter participation in areas with large minority populations.

Some of the cost variations from a UnitedHealthcare database are startling. For treating a basic asthma episode, cases in the 10th percentile of distribution cost $98 each while those in the 90th percentile the cost was $1,535 per case.