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USDA taking applications for Cattail eradication

AP - THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009 1:40 A.M.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Federal wildlife officials are taking applications from farmers who want the government to remove cattail-infested wetlands, the preferred habitat of sunflower-snacking blackbirds....

More species invasions feared for Great Lakes

AP - THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009 1:34 A.M.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Dozens of foreign species could spread across the Great Lakes in coming years despite policies designed to keep them out, causing significant environmental and economic damage, a federal report says....

Environmental group backs canal for Calif. delta

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 6:07 P.M.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A national environmental group recommended Wednesday that California overhaul its water-delivery system by building a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta....

How big Jurassic flying reptiles got off ground

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 4:28 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Jurassic version of jumbo jets - huge flying creatures weighing hundreds of pounds - is a mystery of dinosaur-era flight: How did something so big get off the ground? A Johns Hopkins University biologist thinks he has figured out the answer....

GAO: Dolphins, whales lack protection from fishing

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 3:13 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration has failed to provide protections required by law to more than a dozen marine mammals potentially at risk of death or injury due to commercial fishing, congressional investigators said Wednesday....

Obama taps spending watchdog, eyes Social Security

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 2:21 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pointing with concern to "red ink as far as the eye can see," President-elect Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to tackle out-of-control Social Security and Medicare spending and named a special watchdog to clamp down on other federal programs - even as he campaigned anew to spend the largest pile of taxpayer money in history to revive the sinking economy....

Feds say wayward dolphins in NJ rivers are dying

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 2:16 P.M.

BRIGANTINE, N.J. (AP) -- More than two-thirds of the 16 bottlenose dolphins inhabiting New Jersey rivers since summer have died or disappeared, federal officials say....

Increase of sick brown pelicans baffles experts

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 1:35 P.M.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Wildlife experts are trying to figure out why sick, disoriented and bruised California brown pelicans are being found in record numbers along more than 1,000 miles of coastline....

Study: Black holes seem to form before galaxies

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 1:35 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When galaxies initially formed, they weren't the first in the cosmic neighborhood. The supermassive black holes, which reside at the center of galaxies, probably moved in first, a new astronomy study suggests....

Gulp! Mexico tells citizens to swallow their gum

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 12:59 P.M.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The country that gave the world chewing gum is getting gummed up: The average square yard (meter) of Mexico City sidewalk has 70 blobs of discarded chew....

Grand Canyon, Loch Ness compete as nature wonders

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 4:11 A.M.

GENEVA (AP) -- The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and Loch Ness will vie with more than 200 other spectacular places in the next phase of the global competition for the New 7 Wonders of Nature, organizers said Wednesday....

Bush establishes 3 marine monuments in Pacific

AP - TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009 11:59 A.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the largest marine conservation effort in history, President George W. Bush on Tuesday designated what he called "three beautiful and biologically diverse areas of the Pacific Ocean" as national marine monuments....

Gov't projects $6.5M in bailout costs through Jan.

AP - TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009 9:43 A.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government estimated Tuesday that it will spend $6.5 million by the end of January in salaries and other administrative costs for the $700 billion financial rescue program....

Milky Way _ the galaxy _ not snack-sized anymore

AP - MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 9:01 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Take that, Andromeda! For decades, astronomers thought when it came to the major galaxies in Earth's cosmic neighborhood, our Milky Way was a weak sister to the larger Andromeda. Not anymore....

Milky Way - the galaxy - not snack-sized anymore

AP - MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 2:30 P.M.

Mars rover mission reaches 5th anniversary

AP - SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2009 11:03 P.M.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Five years after the NASA rover Spirit landed on Mars, the six-wheel robotic geologist and its twin Opportunity are still on the job....

More small quakes rattle Yellowstone National Park

AP - FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2009 2:34 P.M.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) -- More earthquakes are rattling Yellowstone National Park....

Exploiting nature to cut mosquitoes' life short

AP - THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2009 9:39 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Old mosquitoes usually spread disease, so Australian researchers figured out a way to make the pests die younger - naturally, not poisoned....

Study: Hawaii's pygmy killer whales stay close

AP - THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2009 5:35 P.M.

HONOLULU (AP) -- A new study of pygmy killer whales - one of the least understood marine mammal species - shows that those living off Hawaii tend to stay close to the islands and don't swim out to the open ocean....

NASA chief's wife to Obama: Don't fire my husband

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2008 6:13 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Late on Christmas Eve, one last wish was sent, by e-mail: Please let NASA Administrator Michael Griffin keep his job. It was from his wife. Rebecca Griffin, who works in marketing, sent her message with the subject line "Campaign for Mike" to friends and family. It asked them to sign an online petition to President-elect Barack Obama "to consider keeping Mike Griffin on as NASA Administrator."...

New NASA report details final minutes of Columbia

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008 6:31 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the first of many loud alarms sounded on the space shuttle Columbia, the seven astronauts had about a minute to live, though they didn't know it. The pilot, William McCool, pushed several buttons trying to right the ship as it tumbled out of control. He didn't know it was futile. Most of the crew were following NASA procedures, spending more time preparing the shuttle than themselves for the return to Earth....

Ancient ship found buried near Argentine river

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008 1:57 P.M.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Workers digging to lay the foundation of a luxury apartment complex in Argentina uncovered a Spanish ship believed to be from the 18th century....

Just a second, 2009 _ the Earth needs to catch up

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008 12:36 P.M.

AT THE GREENWICH PRIME MERIDIAN, England (AP) -- Just a second, 2009. It's going to take a little longer to say goodbye to the worst economic year since the Great Depression, but all for good cause. The custodians of time will ring in the New Year by tacking a "leap second" onto the clock Wednesday to account for the minute slowing of the Earth's rotation. The leap second has been used sporadically at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich since 1972, an adjustment that has kept Greenwich M...

Remembering shuttle Columbia's 7 astronauts

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008 10:25 A.M.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- In a new report, NASA reviews the way the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed and how the astronauts died as part of an effort to design a better spacecraft for the future. Here is a look at the seven who perished Feb. 1, 2003....

Hard to hear at holiday parties? Blame your brain

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 3:07 P.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's almost New Year's Eve, a time for plunging into boisterous crowds bathed in loud music. And for some of us, that means turning to an old friend and hearing things like this: "Did you know (BOOM-da-da-BOOM) went over (Bob! You look wonder-) so she said (clink-clink) and then I (Here, have another one) what would you do?" Huh? Too noisy to hear! But wait - how come these younger people understood what she said? What's wrong with your ears? Actually, part of the probl...

Doctor says surgery on Weis' right knee successful

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 2:50 P.M.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis underwent knee replacement surgery Monday....

Obama returns to gym, vacation

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 11:17 A.M.

KAILUA, Hawaii (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama returned Monday to a military gym where he has spent all but one morning since beginning a 12-day vacation in his native Hawaii....

Sculptor Robert Graham dies at age 70

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 5:59 A.M.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- Sculptor Robert Graham, whose massive bronze works mark civic monuments across America, including the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, has died at 70....

Amateurs are trying genetic engineering at home

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2008 8:44 A.M.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The Apple computer was invented in a garage. Same with the Google search engine. Now, tinkerers are working at home with the basic building blocks of life itself....

Single male rhino, 20, seeks mate to save species

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2008 4:28 A.M.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- He probably hasn't dated in two decades, but the survival of a species may depend on whether Tam can get lucky soon....

US, Russian space station crew conduct spacewalk

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2008 3:27 A.M.

MOSCOW (AP) -- American and Russian crewmen installed a probe Tuesday aimed at tracking down problems with a Russian module attached to the international space station and conducted an array of other maintenance and scientific work during a six-hour spacewalk....

4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs unveiled near Cairo

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2008 9:34 P.M.

SAQQARA, Egypt (AP) -- A pair of 4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs discovered at Saqqara indicate that the sprawling necropolis south of Cairo is even larger than previously thought, Egypt's top archaeologist said Monday. The rock-cut tombs were built for high officials - one responsible for the quarries used to build the nearby pyramids and another for a woman in charge of procuring entertainers for the pharaohs....

Israelis unearth Byzantine gold hoard

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2008 12:30 P.M.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli archaeologists said they have unearthed more than 250 gold coins from the seventh century on the edge of Jerusalem's walled Old City. A British tourist volunteering at the dig discovered the trove on Sunday....

Pope marks Galileo anniversary, praises astronomy

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2008 7:18 A.M.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI is marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of a telescope....

NY exhibit unveils women's lives in ancient Greece

AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2008 6:31 A.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman's place has never been just in the home - not even in ancient Greece....

Researchers probe scat for clues to orca decline

AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2008 5:05 A.M.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Using a trained dog to sniff for poop and petri dishes attached to long poles, scientists are analyzing killer whales' scat and breath samples in the hopes of solving the mystery of Puget Sound's dwindling orca population....

American Indian cremation pit found on Ga. island

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008 2:55 P.M.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- Exposed by erosion at the edge of a crumbling bluff, the pit discovered beneath 2 feet of sandy dirt at first appeared to be a grave just long and deep enough to bury a human body. Excavation by archaeologists on Ossabaw Island revealed something more puzzling - just a few small bones, apparently from fingers or toes, mixed with charcoal, bits of burned logs and pottery shards predating the arrival of the first European explorers by at least a century....

Wildlife experts ponder gender of Santa's reindeer

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008 2:38 A.M.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions....

Mars find suggests area may have been hospitable

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 8:55 P.M.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An orbiting spacecraft has discovered a key mineral in bedrock on the Martian surface that suggests the planet might once have had an environment hospitable to life, scientists reported Thursday....

New ban imposed on regulating global warming gases

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 4:32 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is trying to make sure in its final days that federal air pollution regulations will not be used to control the gases blamed for global warming....

Nobel jurors face bribery probe for China trips

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 10:08 A.M.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Nobel Prize jurors who accepted all-expenses-paid trips to China to discuss the coveted awards are being investigated on suspicion of bribery, a Swedish prosecutor said Thursday....

Mont., fed gov't loosen rules on Yellowstone bison

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 2:27 A.M.

BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- State and federal officials have agreed to allow bison to migrate into parts of Montana from Yellowstone National Park - a move expected to slow but not stop an annual slaughter of the animals....

Want a retired space shuttle? They're up for grabs

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 12:24 A.M.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA's soon-to-be-retired space shuttles are up for grabs....

US proposes protecting 7 penguin species

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 4:16 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Seven penguin species have reason to have happy feet: The Bush administration is moving to protect them. But three other types of penguin - including the stars of recent movies - got the cold shoulder....

Scientists find hole in Earth's magnetic field

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 4:07 A.M.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Recent satellite observations have revealed the largest breach yet seen in the magnetic field that protects Earth from most of the sun's violent blasts, researchers reported Tuesday. The discovery was made last summer by Themis, a fleet of five small NASA satellites....

Protected habitat proposed for sea otter in Alaska

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 7:22 P.M.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A federal agency proposed nearly 6,000 square miles of southwest Alaska shoreline be protected habitat for a threatened population of northern sea otters....

Strange dark energy acts as galactic diet enforcer

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 3 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mysterious dark energy, which likely causes the universe to keep expanding, seems to have another effect: It prevents the biggest clusters of galaxies from getting too fat. Astronomers used X-rays to study the formation of galactic clusters billions of years ago. Their research supports the hard-to-fathom concept of dark energy as a potent force that governs the growth of the universe....

Over 2T tons of ice melted in arctic since '03

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 4:10 A.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming....

Rare New Mexico fish to swim free in Texas

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 1:02 A.M.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Biologists braved the cold and snow as they loaded thousands of endangered minnows into trucks for a 12-hour trip to Texas, where the tiny fish will be released into the Rio Grande near Big Bend National Park....

Saturn moon Titan may have active ice volcanoes

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2008 8:12 P.M.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Observations from the international Cassini spacecraft suggest Saturn's largest moon may have active or recently active ice volcanoes....

Scientist says he has found oldest spider web

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2008 5:29 P.M.

LONDON (AP) -- The tiny tangled threads of the world's oldest spider web have been found encased in a prehistoric piece of amber, a British scientist said Monday. Oxford University paleobiologist Martin Brasier said the 140-million-year-old webbing provides evidence that arachnids had been ensnaring their prey in silky nets since the dinosaur age. He also said the strands were linked to each other in the roughly circular pattern familiar to gardeners the world over....

Australia to cut pollution 5 to 15 percent by 2020

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008 10:35 P.M.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia said Monday it plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by as little as 5 percent by 2020 - a reduction that critics say undermines international efforts to reach an effective global pact next year to avert dangerous climate change....

Obama left with little time to curb global warming

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008 9:36 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid....

Seeds of hope: Freezing vaults guard Earth's flora

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008 9:58 A.M.

ARDINGLY, England (AP) -- The underground bunker can block nuclear fallout, withstand a direct hit by a jetliner, and is cooled to a deathly chill....

Nearly frozen sea turtle heading to rehab

AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2008 4:18 P.M.

BOSTON (AP) -- His name is Herb, and he was very, very cold when he was found on a Cape Cod beach....

Explorers ID 19th-century schooner in Lake Ontario

AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2008 7:02 A.M.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- Two explorers conducting underwater surveys of Lake Ontario have uncovered an aquatic mystery - a rare 19th-century schooner sitting upright 500 feet under the waves....

Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 10:07 P.M.

LONDON (AP) -- British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise - an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old - the oldest ever discovered in Britain. One expert unconnected with the find called it "a real freak of preservation."...

Vatican hardens opposition to stem cell research

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 2:16 P.M.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization. But in a major new document on bioethics, it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and left open questions surrounding embryo adoption....

EU hails climate deal as example for the world

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 2:03 P.M.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European nations on Friday dared the United States, Russia and China to follow their lead on global warming after agreeing on a plan to meet the so-called "20-20-20" targets: reducing greenhouse emissions by 20 percent and ensuring that 20 percent of energy comes from wind, sun and other renewable sources by 2020....

Poor nations to get funds to fight climate change

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 10:30 A.M.

POZNAN, Poland (AP) -- Negotiators at a U.N. climate conference broke through red tape and freed up millions of dollars Friday to help poor countries adapt to increasingly severe droughts, floods and other effects of global warming....

Commission agrees to cut tuna catches in Pacific

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 8:45 A.M.

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A commercial fishing commission agreed Friday to cut the catches of bigeye tuna in parts of the Pacific Ocean, a small step in an effort to save a threatened species that is a favorite among sushi lovers....

Despite downturn, Calif. adopts tough climate plan

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 9:20 P.M.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California on Thursday adopted the nation's most sweeping plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions, issuing rules that could transform everything from the way factories operate to the appliances people buy and the fuel they put in their cars....

Study: Elephants live longer in wild than zoos

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 6:23 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Zoo elephants don't live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to stir debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Myanmar. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life spans twice that or more of their relatives in zoos....

Greenhouse gases warming North America unevenly

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 6:23 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Climate change caused by greenhouse gases is warming the United States, though unevenly, government researchers said Thursday....

Bush revises protections for endangered species

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 4:09 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just six weeks before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the Bush administration issued revised endangered species regulations Thursday to reduce the input of federal scientists and to block the law from being used to fight global warming....

Sumatra quake likely in few decades

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 11:01 A.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Another devastating earthquake along the coast of western Sumatra is likely during the lifetime of many people now living there, researchers are warning....

Study: More nano research needed

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008 8:57 A.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government needs a more comprehensive plan for studying the risks of nanotechnology, the National Research Council said Wednesday....

Scientists try to mitigate climate change effects

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2008 11:15 A.M.

POZNAN, Poland (AP) -- Scientists studying the changing nature of the Earth's climate say they have completed one crucial task - proving beyond a doubt that global warming is real....

Feds laud conservation deal with private entities

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 6:11 P.M.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- The federal government signed agreements Monday with an oil and gas company and a rancher to help protect two rare New Mexico species, deals that federal officials hope will pave the way for cooperative conservation efforts across the country....

Wait a second: 2008 gets extended by timekeepers

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 6 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With a brutal economic slowdown, 2008 may feel as if it will never end. Now the world's timekeepers are making it even longer by adding a leap second to the last day of the year....

Studies show dogs have sense of fairness

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 6 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- No fair! What parent hasn't heard that from a child who thinks another youngster got more of something? Well, it turns out dogs can react the same way. Ask them to do a trick and they'll give it a try. For a reward, sausage say, they'll happily keep at it. But if one dog gets no reward, and then sees another get sausage for doing the same trick, just try to get the first one to do it again. Indeed, he may even turn away and refuse to look at you....

Texas, NC students win $100,000 science contest

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 11:30 A.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Medical research projects by a student from Texas and a team from North Carolina won $100,000 prizes Monday in a prestigious high school science competition....

Some see energy future in old mill dams

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008 9 P.M.

WINDSOR, Vt. (AP) -- More than 150 years after it helped power the industrial revolution, the waters of Mill Brook that spill over a series of dams past the old Armory may be called back into service....

Native hunters: Climate is thinning caribou herds

AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008 8:27 A.M.

POZNAN, Poland (AP) -- Chief Bill Erasmus of the Dene nation in northern Canada brought a stark warning about the climate crisis: The once abundant herds of caribou are dwindling, rivers are running lower and the ice is too thin to hunt on....

Farmers target EPA report they say might tax cows

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008 3:27 P.M.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- For farmers, this stinks: Belching and gaseous cows and hogs could start costing them money if the federal government decides to charge fees for air-polluting animals....

Climate change, drought to strain Colorado River

AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008 1:38 A.M.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Seven Western states will face more water shortages in the years ahead as climate change exacerbates the strains drought and a growing population have put on the Colorado River, scientists say....

Groups protest drilling-lease auction in Utah

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 7:25 P.M.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Conservation groups filed formal protests Thursday against what they call a "fire sale" of oil-and-gas drilling leases in Utah being conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management....

Countries looking to US leadership on climate

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 5:33 P.M.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Countries around the world are looking to Barack Obama for leadership in reaching a global climate treaty next year, but no nation will be able to singlehandedly deliver a final agreement, a senior U.N. official said Thursday....

NASA delays Mars mission to 2011

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 3:50 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA is delaying a mission to Mars that already had been over budget and will get even more costly....

NASA sets May date for Hubble telescope repairs

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 3:30 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA has set a May date for its space shuttle mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope for a final time....

Conservation group sues for walrus protection

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 3:13 A.M.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A conservation group is going to court to force the federal government to consider adding the Pacific walrus to the list of threatened species....

Team studies perennial fix to perennial problem

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 1:56 A.M.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The solution to a perennial problem of farming could be, well, perennials....

Study illuminates star explosion from 16th century

AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 1:11 A.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than 400 years after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe challenged established wisdom about the heavens by analyzing a strange new light in the sky, scientists say they've finally nailed down just what he saw....

Greenhouse gas emissions increase in US

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 3 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The amount of U.S. greenhouse gases flowing into the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, increased last year by 1.4 percent after a decline in 2006, the Energy Department reported Wednesday....

Scientists ask: Is technology rewiring our brains?

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 2:07 P.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people? These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they're coming from brain scientists....

Study raps Web sites touting stem cell therapies

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 12:10 P.M.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers should be wary of Web sites from clinics that offer stem cell treatments, says a study that found a lack of firm medical evidence to back up their claims. The Web sites in the study generally portrayed their therapies as safe, effective and ready for routine use, but published research doesn't support that "overoptimistic" picture, the study authors said....

Activists vows to protect whales from Japanese

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 4:25 A.M.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- The leader of a militant conservation group that has skirmished violently with Japanese whalers said Wednesday he will not retreat from confrontation during his bid to stop this season's hunt in Antarctic waters....

Multitasking canola: A California miracle crop?

AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 2:15 A.M.

FIVE POINTS, Calif. (AP) -- A hardy but pedestrian plant is doing triple duty in California's agricultural heartland....

Body-swap illusion tricks mind in new study

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008 1:22 P.M.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much. Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body....

Search for ivory-billed woodpecker to begin anew

AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008 2:01 A.M.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Last year, Allan Mueller thinks he saw the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker. The wildlife biologist wants to make sure of it this winter....

Dirty teeth reveal ancient diet

AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 2:01 P.M.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thanks to poor dental hygiene, researchers are getting a more detailed understanding of what people ate thousands of years ago in what is now Peru....

Mandates driving surge to the river for hydropower

AP - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2008 9 P.M.

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- Many decades ago, cost-conscious Henry Ford turned to hydroelectric plants to power his car factories like the one by the Great Miami River, near this Cincinnati suburb. That assembly plant is long gone, but the power plant and the technology behind it isn't....

Food crunch opens doors to bioengineered crops

AP - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2008 5:28 P.M.

KUNMING, China (AP) -- Zeng Yawen's outdoor laboratory in the terraced hills of southern China is a trove of genetic potential - rice that thrives in unusually cool temperatures, high altitudes or in dry soil; rice rich in calcium, vitamins or iron....