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The inability to send coherent text messages, or 'dystextia,' is helping doctors diagnose neurological problems. In one recent case, a series of garbled text messages was an early signal that a woman was having a stroke.

Since the uprising began, Ibrahim Abazid has been a protester, a rebel fighter and an aid worker. Now he is looking to form a city council that could run his hometown in southern Syria.

The flow of good classical Christmas albums seems to have slowed to a trickle. And that's got one holiday listener longing for holiday albums from years past, from Jessye Norman's Christmastide, Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite and carols led by Robert Shaw.

To celebrate Christmas, Fresh Air listens back to a concert given by the late singer and actress on Feb. 11, 1997. Clooney spoke then with Terry Gross about her childhood, being on the road as a young performer with her sister, and working with Bing Crosby and Billy Strayhorn.

At a store near Boston, Cameron Sylvester, 3, had his chance to meet Santa. But the boy, who's legally deaf, stayed back. Santa saw his hearing aids and in sign language asked the magic question: "Are you a good boy?" Cameron's mother told WCBV news she wanted to cry. "A lot of people don't know sign language," she said, but then, "there's Santa."

In a study, a biology professor argues the animals pulling Santa's sleigh might actually be young caribou. North American Caribou have a "greater power to mass ratio" than Siberian reindeer. They are leaner and have longer legs.

Christians the world over are celebrating Christmas. India, the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, marks the birth of Jesus with a national holiday. In this land of great religions, Christians and non-Christians join in the festivities of this season with song and special meals.

Few people today remember E.T.A. Hoffmann, but most everyone is familiar with his most famous creation: The Nutcracker. NPR's Robert Siegel traces the history of everyone's favorite Christmas ballet all the way back to its much darker original version.

An IBM computer that analyzes flavor molecules and develops recipes is on the way in five years, scientists say. They are hoping to find not only novel and tasty flavor combinations, but ones that will appeal to us without adding to our waistlines.

Ann Powers picks her favorite chart-topping, radio-dominating songs of 2012.