Most Emailed Science News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news.

MOJAVE, Calif. - The sleek, bullet-shaped spacecraft is about the size of a large business jet — with wide windows and seats for six well-heeled passengers to take a thrill ride into space.

Petunias and potatoes may actually be carnivorous plants, scientists now suggest.

COPENHAGEN - A leaked Danish document at the U.N. climate conference provoked angry criticism Tuesday from developing countries and activists who feared it would shift more of the burden to curb greenhouse gases on poorer countries.

The biggest black holes in the universe are also the most perplexing. Scientists have long been confused about just how the earliest, most massive black holes formed, but new evidence now suggests they could have originated inside giant cocoon-like stars.

As world leaders gear up for what is being billed as an historic climate meeting in Copenhagen, scientists offer a grimmer outlook on the outcome that is supposed to replace the last major global climate deal, drawn up in 1997.

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step Monday toward regulating greenhouses gases, concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment.

WASHINGTON — The Interior Department on Monday gave the go-ahead for Shell Oil to begin drilling three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea, a move that opens the door for offshore oil and gas production in the Arctic.

These findings make up one more step on the road to mind-machine interfaces that may one day help people communicate with just their thoughts. Researchers have recently employed brain scans to see numbers and maybe even pull videos from inside people's heads.

STOCKHOLM - Intellectual freedom, independent research and frequent coffee breaks with colleagues helped this year's Nobel Prize winners make their groundbreaking scientific discoveries.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration took a major step Monday toward imposing the first federal limits on climate-changing pollution from cars, power plants and factories, declaring there was compelling scientific evidence that global warming from manmade greenhouse gases endangers Americans' health.

Taking an antidepressant can lead to significant personality changes, likely for the better, a new study finds.

MOJAVE, California – Today's planned unveiling of SpaceShipTwo here at the Mojave Air and Space Port is generating high-altitude hope and a good dose of hype for public space travel, yet there are those who wave an advisory flag.

Unusual fluctuations in the brightness of older sun-like stars have long mystified astronomers, and new, detailed observations of the phenomenon have only deepened the mystery.

WASHINGTON - The refurbished Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the oldest galaxies yet, scientists reported Tuesday.

The human body may be equipped with a separate sensory system aside from the nerves that gives us the ability to touch and feel, according to a new study.

LOS ANGELES - The year's best meteor shower is coming to North America.

1750 — Before Industrial Revolution, atmosphere holds 280 parts per million of heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2).

If asked to describe how skin cream feels, you might use words like "smooth," "thick," or "greasy."

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - A Danish draft proposal for a political agreement "threatens the success" of UN climate talks in Copenhagen, the head of the G77 group of countries said Tuesday at the summit aimed at sealing a historic deal on cutting carbon emissions.

Anger is more likely among the young, those with children at home, and the less educated, a new study finds.

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

A massive volcanic eruption that occurred in the distant past killed off much of central India's forests and may have pushed humans to the brink of extinction, according to a new study that adds evidence to a controversial topic.

At the United Nations meeting on climate change next week, scientists will be discussing some of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth's changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, disappearing lakes, freak allergies, and the threat of long-gone diseases re-emerging.

Wasteful energy policies, overuse of resources, water supply shortages, global climate change, and deforestation are just some of the issues experts say need to be addressed at the U.N. Climate Change summit in Copenhagen beginning this week. Here are 10 technologies - some old, some new, some a bit offbeat - that might help.

Exposing kids to nasty germs might actually toughen them up to diseases as grown-ups, mounting research suggests.

With world leaders gathering at a U.N. summit in Copenhagen to brainstorm ways to quash increasing temperatures and hold back rising seas, LiveScience takes a look at the state of Earth's ecosystems and its inhabitants - from polar bears to us. Here are 10 signs of how well (and not-so-well) our planet is doing.

Kings crabs are among the ocean's largest crustaceans, so you'd think scientists might know quite a bit about them.

_U.S.: President Barack Obama has pledged cutting emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. That represents a 3-4 percent cut from 1990 levels — the benchmark used by most countries. Aims to reach a 41 percent reduction by 2030 and 83 percent by 2050. Requires that Congress passes complex climate legislation.

The revamped Hubble Space Telescope has spied what might be the oldest, most distant galaxies yet seen, astronomers announced today.