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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some new research throws into question things we say all the time about the Internet. The research focuses on Twitter, the service that lets many millions of people send short messages to each other from computers or cell phones. It's commonly said that social networking like this is revolutionary, that it's created new communities, even that it's obliterated geography. You can connect with people who share common interests, not just people who happen to live nearby. NPR's Shankar Vedantam is here to explode all that. Hi, Shankar.

Steve Inskeep has the Last Word in business.

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(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT")(Singing) Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. Swing low...) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Steve Inskeep talks to former Senator Russ Feingold about his book While America Sleeps. Feingold represented Wisconsin for 18 years, during which he authored landmark campaign finance legislation and was the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act. His book details what he calls the failure of American institutions to respond to the challenges of the post Sept. 11 era.

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(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)NPR's business news starts with lower European markets.) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

Rhythm in music is about timing — when notes start and stop. And now scientists say they've found a curious pattern that's common to musical rhythm. It's a pattern also found in nature.

There area a lot of bad movies out there. Some movies are so bad that they're good. For some reason people love them. Is there an art to making films that are deliberately bad? Can a company be successful by producing bad movies?

The financial battle for the Republican nomination is tightening. Candidates spent a lot of cash in January — what with contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. Also spending a lot of money, as it turns out, were the richly financed superPACS that support the candidates.

Reports filed at the Federal Election Commission on Monday night show just how important a superPAC can be.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: