Most Emailed Science News

A child's never-ending "why's" aren't meant to exasperate parents, scientists say. Rather, the kiddy queries are genuine attempts at getting at the truth, and tots respond better to some answers than others.

GENEVA - The world's largest atom smasher used its accelerator Tuesday to speed up proton beams for the first time as scientists moved ahead in efforts to learn more about the universe.

Several lines of evidence point to the possibility of a past ocean on Mars, from apparent ancient shorelines to chemicals in the soil.

If you experience impotence, instead of a little blue pill maybe you want to apply shockwaves to your privates instead.

GENEVA - The number of people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS — about 33 million — has remained virtually unchanged for the last two years, United Nations experts said Tuesday.

Texting long messages can be a pain in the neck - literally.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - It's time for Atlantis and its seven astronauts to leave the International Space Station.

Knowledge is power, unless that knowledge comes with so much baggage that it becomes crippling. Such is the trouble with many cancer and health screening tests.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Radioactive dust unexpectedly blew out of a pipe being cut by workers during weekend maintenance at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and officials on Monday were trying to determine exactly how and why it happened.

For older people, gabbing on a cell phone while walking across the street may increase the chances of being run over, according to a new study, although earlier research did not find the same connection among younger people.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.

Darwin is going digital. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," the manuscripts detailing the theory of natural selection are being placed online.

More brains doesn't necessarily equal more smarts, a new comparison of animal noggins reveals.

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - Even 150 years after it first appeared in print, Charles Darwin's "On The Origin of Species" still fuels clashes between scientists convinced of its truth and critics who reject its view of life without a creator.

BOULDER, Colo. – Call it Operation: Plymouth Rock. A plan to send a crew of astronauts to an asteroid is gaining momentum, both within NASA and industry circles.

A tiny chameleon species with a scaly horn atop its snout and blue dots on its limbs has been discovered in Tanzanian forests.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of animal species thrive in the ocean depths beyond the reach of sunlight, between 200 to 5,000 meters below the surface, an international team of scientists has reported after nearly 10 years of research.

A new website will let people play a form of "cosmic slot machine," matching up images of colliding galaxies with millions of simulated mash-ups to find the best model.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A network of valleys discovered on Mars show that the red planet was likely once covered by a vast ocean that fed a humid, rainy climate, according to research published Monday.

SHANGHAI - Praxair Inc.'s Chinese unit has signed a multiyear agreement to sell gases that MAGI Solar Energy Technology Co. will use to make solar cells and modules, Praxair announced Monday.

A new solar telescope, scheduled to launch this winter, will probe the sun's atmosphere and inner workings, helping scientists better understand how solar storms.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama sought to boost hopes of a landmark deal at the Copenhagen climate summit, as a new report showed the crisis facing the planet is deeper than previously thought.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at U.N. climate change talks in Copenhagen in December with an eye toward winning support from U.S. lawmakers who must agree to put it into law.

Scientists have long suspected that smoking increased the risk that a transplanted heart would be rejected. Now they have a smoking gun.

TOFTE, Norway (AFP) - Norway unveiled the world's first osmotic power plant on Tuesday, harnessing the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater to make clean electricity.

Massive stars in the process of forming likely rely on magnetic fields to steer gas onto their surfaces and help them grow into adults, according to new images.

It's no secret to students that coed dorms are more fun than same-sex dorms. But they can also fuel very unhealthy behavior that might otherwise be moderated.

MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii - The readings at this 2-mile-high station show a troubling upward curve as the world counts down to crucial climate talks: Global warming gases are building in the atmosphere at record levels from emissions that match scientists' worst-case scenarios.

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia's opposition leader Tuesday pledged his party's support for contentious legislation proposed by the government aimed at curbing the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

BEIJING - A panda research center in northwestern China has been closed to visitors as a precaution to protect the endangered species from catching swine flu, state media reported on Tuesday.