
China's 1-child law makes less competitive adults?
They're called "little emperors" — the children born in China under a law that generally limits urban families to having just one child. They grow up ...
Locals say shifting sea ice frees trapped whales
About a dozen killer whales trapped under sea ice appeared to be free after the ice shifted, village officials in Canada's remote north said Thursday, ...
Whew! Big asteroid no longer threat to Earth
Upon further review, a big scary-sounding asteroid is no longer even a remote threat to smash into Earth in about 20 years, NASA says. Astronomers got ...

Drug companies forge partnerships with top schools
In their quest for the next big drug discovery, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly teaming up with some of the nation's top universities, ...
Archeologists in Egypt unearth 3000-year-old tombs
Egypt's Antiquities Minister says Italian archaeologists have unearthed tombs over 3000 years old in the ancient city of Luxor. Mohammed Ibrahim says ...

Indian park battles poachers targeting rhino horn
Out of the early morning mists and tall grass of northeast India emerges a massive creature with a dinosaur-like face, having survived millions of ...
Giant squid filmed in ocean depths for 1st time
After a hundred dives deep into the Pacific, scientists and broadcasters say they have captured video images of a giant squid in its natural habitat ...

Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer
For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported encouraging signs that one day, ...

US seared during hottest year on record by far
America set an off-the-charts heat record in 2012. A brutal combination of a widespread drought and a mostly absent winter pushed the average annual U
Bill Taylor to be awarded John A. Bonner Medal
Visual effects supervisor Bill Taylor is being honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The academy says Taylor will be awarded the ...
Year of oppressive US heat illustrated in numbers
Last year was by far the hottest year on record in the United States. Here's 2012's heat by the numbers: — Average annual temperature: 55.32 degrees ...

Texas company: Microwave keeps bread mold at bay
Attention, bread shoppers: A Texas company could have the answer to some consumers' unwelcome discovery that just-purchased loaves contain mold.

Chicago lottery winner died from cyanide poisoning
With no signs of trauma and nothing to raise suspicions, the sudden death of a Chicago man just as he was about to collect nearly $425,000 in lottery ...

Mock Mars trek finds down-to-Earth sleep woes
Astronauts have a down-to-Earth problem that could be even worse on a long trip to Mars: They can't get enough sleep. And over time, the lack of ...

Study: Billions of Earth-size planets in Milky Way
Our Milky Way is home to at least 17 billion planets that are similar in size to Earth, a new estimate suggests. That's more than two Earth-size ...
Court won't stop embryonic stem cell research
The Supreme Court won't stop the government's funding of embryonic stem cell research, despite some researchers' complaints that the work relies on ...
Spaceport wants protections from tourist lawsuits
Spaceport America officials are urging legislators to limit potential lawsuits from wealthy outer space tourists who take off from New Mexico, saying ...

Atom smasher hiatus sets stage for more discovery
The world's largest and most powerful atom smasher goes into a 2-year hibernation in March, as engineers carry out a revamp to help it reach maximum ...

Lens maker Cooke Optics to receive technical Oscar
The first Oscar recipients of the new year were announced Thursday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Lens makers Cooke Optics ...

Rare San Francisco river otter stumps researchers
A rapt crowd followed a trail of bubbles that zipped over the surface of a seaside pond in the ruins of a 19th century bath in San Francisco.

Martian rock from Sahara desert unlike others
Scientists are abuzz about a coal-colored rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara desert: A yearlong analysis revealed it's quite different from ...

Google chairman heading to North Korea
When he lands in North Korea, even Google's executive chairman will likely have to relinquish his smartphone, leaving him disconnected from the global ...
Fla. man pleads guilty in NY in dinosaur dispute
A Florida fossils dealer pleaded guilty to smuggling charges Thursday and agreed to give up a celebrated $1 million dinosaur skeleton seized by the U.
Road trip on tap for NASA's Mars rover in new year
Since captivating the world with its acrobatic landing, the Mars rover Curiosity has fallen into a rhythm: Drive, snap pictures, zap at boulders, ...
Annual bird counts give scientists climate clues
Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour ...