No longer an exclusive asset for the upper classes, second-home ownership has exploded in recent decades, becoming an integral part of global tourism.

Giant tsunamis are more likely to hit the U.S. Pacific coast than to hit Asia, scientists say. Coastal residents may have only 15 minutes' warning.

Did you know that Mars has polar caps made of dry ice and a volcano the size of Arizona? Read more surprising facts about our celestial neighbor.

Designed to work for 90 days and to travel little more than half a mile (one kilometer), NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have shattered those expectations, collecting a trove of data along the way.

While some 150,000 people were killed by last month's tsunami, few animals seem to have been caught off guard. Do animals have a sixth sense about such danger?

New research shows how a part of the brain helps us recognize fear in other people's facial expressions. The discovery may one day aid people with autism.

Did you know that about a hundred tons of space debris, including comet particles, falls to Earth each day? Read more facts on comet science and history.

Shepherds on an island off Africa whistle to communicate across great distances. Their brains, a new study says, interpret the sounds just as if they were spoken words.

They might not actually count the calories, but spiders and predatory insects actively seek a balanced diet, according to a new study.

Was Tutankhamun murdered? In an effort to solve that mystery and others, scientists CT-scanned the 3,000-year-old mummy of the ancient Egyptian king yesterday.

The great tsunami of 2004 was one of the worst disasters in history. Read our latest news stories and learn how tsunamis are generated, where they can strike, and what you can do to protect yourself.

When the December 26 tsunami struck Abdul Razzak's island in the Indian Ocean, he remembered what he had seen on National Geographic documentaries—and helped save some 1,500 lives.

Seated in one of the world's most geologically active regions, Sumatra is ripe for more cataclysmic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, scientists say.

Locust plagues may predate biblical times, but today scientists still struggle to fully understand and control the swarms that can bring famine to thousands.

At 12, Oscar Torres joined a guerrilla movement to fight in El Salvador's civil war. Torres has co-written a film based on his experience, which spotlights the plight of child soldiers.

The tides of Atlantic salmon that flooded many European and North American rivers last year may signal efforts to restore the fish are working, activists say.

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Satellite surveys have detected a sharp decline in plankton in several of the world's oceans, according to U.S. scientists. The situation could threaten the marine food chain and undercut one of the world's natural buffers to global warming.

Tools like the Hubble Space Telescope have given astronomers a new view of the cosmos, allowing them to gaze deep into the universe to observe far-off galaxies. But a new digital telescope here on Earth has opened a revelatory view of the universe as well as our own galactic neighborhood.

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The little-known smalltooth sawfish has become the first U.S. marine fish to be listed as an endangered species. The sawfish, a relative of sharks and rays, is believed to have dwindled to less than 5 percent of its population at the time of European arrival to the New World.

Environmental activist Maude Barlow believes the world is poised to experience a freshwater crisis of "monumental proportions." The Canadian author shares her views on global water use and abuse with National Geographic News.

NASA engineers launched their Deep Impact spacecraft today. The missions aims to smash an 820-pound (370-kilogram) projectile into comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005.

Two weeks after the tsunami swamped the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh, thousands of bodies still cover the area. Looters are picking through the debris, and survivors wait for medical help, photographer Chris Rainier reports.

Lions in the Tsavo region of southeastern Kenya are prone to prey on livestock during the rainy season: Researchers hope the finding can help ranchers—and save lions.

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Cambodian rangers march through Bokor National Park, machine guns slung over their shoulders—they are fighting a war against illegal loggers and poachers. Nearby, a special police squad uses undercover agents to catch traders in illegal wildlife. This story airs tonight on our U.S. cable television program National Geographic Today.

The fossil studded cliffs of Britain's East Devon and Dorset, where 180 million years of geological history is laid out to view like the layers of a sandwich, have been declared a World Heritage Site, of equal importance to the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef.

The discovery of florescent proteins in corals and sea anemones has provided new tools to researchers studying AIDS, cancer, and other diseases.

Two fossil finds in China suggest that prehistoric mammals were bigger and badder than previously thought. At least one even ate dinosaurs for dinner.

December's tsunami clogged shipping lanes, rearranged coasts, and created new islands. Now geographers are helping redraw the region so relief can reach ports in need.

Using special tags, scientists have learned where gray-headed albatrosses fly between mating seasons. The finding may aid 19 threatened species.

Terrorism is a symptom of global insecurity brought on by poverty, disease, and environmental degradation, the State of the World 2005 report says.

Drugs used to treat human seizures can delay aging in worms by as much as 50 percent, researchers report. The findings offer hope for an anti-aging drug for humans.

After plunging through the hazy atmosphere and landing on Titan early Friday morning, the Huygens space probe has transmitted dozens of images of Saturn's moon.

Scientists have invented the first spray-on plastic that can turn the sun's infrared rays into electricity.

As mass-produced artificial spider silk looks more and more feasible, scientists speculate on possible applications: body armor, sutures, and more.

Scientists who just returned from a deep-ocean expedition say they are closer to understanding how life thrives at seafloor cracks spewing scalding water.

The destructive force of the recent tsunami is evident along coastlines throughout the Indian Ocean. But what was the impact on life beneath the waves?

With seating for 555 passengers and a wingspan the length of a football field, the new Airbus will be the world's largest commercial airplane.

Presidential Inaugurations involve casts of thousands and audiences of millions. How did they become such spectacles?

A lesson that British schoolgirl Tilly Smith learned from her geography teacher helped save her family during the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

Can't get going without your morning coffee? You may have a mental illness, according to doctors who want caffeine withdrawal classified as a psychological disorder.

Crescent City, California, takes tsunami warnings seriously. Reminders of a 1964 tragedy are abundant in the only town in the continental U.S. where people have been killed by a tsunami.

Unearthed with rhino, giraffe, monkey, hippo, and antelope remains, fossil fragments are adding detail to the earliest chapters of human evolution.

An award-winning tourism program at Gunung Rinjani—Indonesia's second largest volcano—ensures that tourist fees support local conservation and culture.

Cougars are increasingly common in the U.S. Midwest and the suburbs of the West—areas where the cats have been all but invisible for a hundred years.

Sydney's Taronga Zoo has twin female platypuses with a problem: They can't find good males with which to settle down and have babies.

More than 50 nations plan to link their networks of satellites and other Earth observation sensors to create an early warning system for natural disasters.

In the wake of December's deadly tsunami governments are scrambling to set up early warning systems worldwide—but experts caution that technology alone may not be enough to avert another disaster.

Mice with human brain cells and humans with pig tissue are only two real-life examples of chimeras—creatures that are part human, part animal. But is it safe—and ethical?

Scientists have recreated part of the genetic code of a shrewlike species that is thought to have been the most recent common ancestor of most placental mammals, including humans.

Isolated tribes on islands off India were feared extinct after the December 26 tsunami—until they shot arrows at air force helicopters. Now an expert tells who the tribes are, and how they may have survived.

Scientists are working to develop a handheld scanner that can instantly identify plant and animal species by their DNA "bar codes."

People around the world are loaning the unused power on their PCs to help scientists model Earth's past and future climate.

The tsunami of one month ago has been widely reported by eyewitnesses who published their own stories and images online. But not all the stories—or images—are true.

With nearly 60 percent of its fossil record still missing, the evolutionary history of the bat has been largely unknown. A new study is changing that.

Are obese people who are sedentary intentionally lazy? Not according to a new study, which says some people are natural-born couch potatoes.

Reviving an early Native American practice, conservationists are setting fire to New England forests to protect communities and save species.

The Shroud of Turin may be Jesus' burial cloth after all, a new study says.

As Iraqis prepare to vote freely for the first time in decades this Sunday, two experts discuss the major challenges for Iraq during and after the election.

Debate around the use of shark nets to protect swimmers in Australia has reignited after two great white sharks killed a surfer last month.

This week's TravelWatch column profiles an award-winning Barbados resort that protects its coastal environment and helps guests engage in authentic island life.

For millennia, it seems, almost nothing has been safe from these summer tempests—not World War II warships, not treasure-filled galleons, perhaps not even dinosaurs.

Archaeologists hope to prove a skeleton is that of the first leader of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. The answer may lie in the DNA of two of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold's relatives—and the search begins today.

Students at South Africa's Southern Cross School spend as much time in the bush or sitting under shade trees as they do sitting in traditional classrooms.

With shooting out of the question now, park managers in Australia are debating how to control damage caused by herds of wild horses.