Science News Headlines

There are gadgets that change everything (the iPhone, the first Intel Centrino laptops, Bose's noise-canceling headphones), and then there are devices that are so spectacularly bad that they should be immortalized in their own way. The last few decades have seen all kinds of flops, from a not-so-world-changing scooter to …

Pity the Gowanus Canal. A forgotten relic of Brooklyn's industrial past, the garbage-choked waterway is now home to a putrid stew of toxic waste.

The 17-year-old sex-crazed cicadas of Brood II have started to stir in Staten Island.

Thirteen years of supersized earthquakes, such as today's (May 24) magnitude-8.3 in Russia, have contaminated GPS sites around the world, a new study finds.

The Irish potato famine that caused mass starvation and approximately 1 million deaths in the mid-19th century was triggered by a newly identified strain of potato blight that has been christened "HERB-1," according to a new study.

A microbe discovered in the Canadian high Arctic thrives at the coldest temperature known for bacterial growth.

"Checking Facebook should only take a minute."

Frequented by the rich and famous, Main Beach in East Hampton on Long Island, N.Y., has been named the top beach of 2013.

Between the faction of gay Christians who are happy with their sexual identity and "ex-gays," who say they've removed their homosexual yearnings, is a third group that gets little attention. These so-called Side B Christians identify as gay and believe it's not sinful to do so. But because they see acting on their orientation …

SAN FRANCISCO — Levels of a stress hormone released by the placenta could predict a woman's risk of developing postpartum depression, new research suggests.

The body of King Richard III was buried in great haste, a new study finds — perhaps because the medieval monarch's corpse had been out for three days in the summer sun.

Get ready for a busy and possibly "extremely active" hurricane season, said forecasters who today (May 23) unveiled their predictions of the number and intensity of storms expected in the Atlantic Ocean basin during the 2013 hurricane season.

Wallabies in captivity carry antibiotic-resistant gut bacteria, which they could potentially transmit to wild populations, a new study finds.

Clear skies and a passing space station combined for an extraordinary view of Alaska's erupting Pavlof volcano on May 18.

It's likely that the new H7N9 bird flu virus can spread through the air on a limited basis, according to a new study that looked at how the virus spreads in animals.

In the ongoing battle between humans and cockroaches, the insects have a leg up. A new study finds that roaches evolved their taste buds to make sweet insecticide baits taste bitter. As a result, the roaches avoid the baits and thrive, to the frustration of homeowners everywhere.

The strikingly beautiful, milky coats of white tigers are caused by a single change in a known pigment gene, a new study finds.

The "seven-minute workout" is getting a lot of attention these days, and it sure sounds enticing. But experts say the express exercise routine is not as effective — or as short — as it sounds.