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President Obama is staying home from next year's Winter Games, sending openly gay athletes instead to scold Russia for its anti-gay policies. This isn't the first time politics has intruded on the Olympics. Although the games are intended to be an apolitical athletic gathering, they have frequently provided a platform for protest.

Along with submissions for our Weekly Innovation post, we've also received ideas for things that haven't been created yet, things that NPR readers want to see become a reality (like reversible tattoos or steering wheel fans). As we look ahead to 2014, here are our favorite ideas of the past year.

Three years after bariatic surgery, most people experienced health improvements. Yet some people benefited much more than others. Figuring out those differences would help doctors and patients understand who should have surgery and who should avoid it.

ESPN sports commentator Howard Bryant talks to Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon about the week's top sports stories, including the NBA conference finals, the NHL, and Serena Williams' dominance at the French Open tennis championships.

The British-American actress co-stars opposite Eric Bana in the surveillance-state thriller Closed Circuit. She joins NPR's Robert Siegel to talk about playing a barrister, working with her celebrated Shakespearean father and being inspired by her opera-singer mom.

As President Obama begins a week of diplomacy overseas, he faces domestic and international challenges. Steve Inskeep talks to contributor Cokie Roberts and Russia expert Stephen Sestanovich.

The U.S. plans to give up oversight of the nonprofit that manages Internet names and addresses. Technology reporter Gauthem Nagesh of The Wall Street Journal explains what this means for the Internet.

The Puente Hills Landfill received waste from all over Los Angeles County for more than 50 years, and eventually grew higher than 500 feet. But with the site's closure, the trash won't just disappear.

Primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio serve as the kickoff for an intense two-month stretch of elections. Did we mention former American Idol star Clay Aiken is on the ballot?

A Chinese company plans to buy U.S. pork giant Smithfield Foods for nearly $5 billion. The deal may undergo review by an interagency panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. The panel has played a significant role in shaping foreign investments in this country for nearly four decades.