Science News

Weather around the U.S.A.

A wet Independence Day was forecast for much of the nation, with showers and thunderstorms projected for the Pacific Northwest, the mid-Atlantic, the Ohio Valley and the Southeast. Clear skies were expected over the northern Plains, the Great Lakes and the Southwest.

MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Douglas weakened to a depression off Mexico's coast on Thursday and was forecast to die at sea.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scientists with the US Phoenix lander will make their first analysis of Martian ice fragments in coming days but it could be the last done in one of the probe's small ovens, NASA said on its website Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volcanic activity has played a central role in forging the surface of Mercury, scientists said on Thursday based on data collected by a NASA spacecraft that zoomed past the closest planet to the sun in January.

A NASA spacecraft's first flyby of Mercury has yielded a wealth of information about the inner-most planet, some of which confirms volcanism occurred there, settling a longstanding debate.

Officials are alarmed by a plunging tiger population in the Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, a refuge that once boasted among the highest densities of this endangered species in the Eastern Himalayas.

PARIS (AFP) - Some endangered species may face an extinction risk that is up to a hundred times greater than previously thought, according to a study released Wednesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan is ready to spare humpback whales from its Antarctic hunt for another year if international whaling talks make progress, a senior Japanese official said Wednesday.

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Scientists with the Virginia Museum of Natural History have confirmed the discovery of a 500 million-year-old fossil called a stromatolite.

WASHINGTON - Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth's history, which should help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land.

SALT LAKE CITY - A newly discovered batch of well-preserved dinosaur bones, petrified trees and even freshwater clams in southeastern Utah could provide new clues about life in the region some 150 million years ago.

PARIS (AFP) - A review of the European Union's procedures for vetting genetically modified crops does not imply the policy will undergo far-reaching change, a French environment minister said Friday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have linked 32 genetic variations to Crohn's disease, a bowel disorder, highlighting the complexity of many common diseases and the difficulties facing researchers seeking treatments.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Genes can affect whether people tend to vote in elections or not, according to a US study released this week that suggested that the urge to cast a ballot is inherited.

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Friday it will not take further steps to dismantle its nuclear program until the U.S. and its other negotiating partners award fuel oil and political benefits promised under an aid-for-disarmament deal.

LE CREUSOT, France - France will build a second new-generation nuclear reactor, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday, pledging a "new industrial revolution" in an era in which fossil fuels have grown too expensive.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq on Thursday said it would be guided by the principle of competition when awarding contracts to global energy companies hoping to cash in on the country's vast oil and gas fields.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists are opening a cave sealed for more than 30 years deep beneath a Mexican pyramid to look for clues about the mysterious collapse of one of ancient civilization's largest cities.

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government declared a state of emergency at the Pompeii archaeological site on Friday to try to rescue one of the world's most important cultural treasures from decades of neglect.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new strain of West Nile virus is spreading better and earlier across the United States, and may thrive in hot American summers, researchers said on Thursday.