Hurricane Ike isn't the first epic storm to slam Galveston, Texas. See scenes of the devastation from what is still called the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

Bringing high winds and a 12-foot (3.6-meter) storm surge, Gustav slams into the U.S. Gulf Coast, flooding streets and breaking trees but leaving the Big Easy's levees intact.

Hurricane Gustav barreled toward Louisiana Monday morning, prompting what is now the largest evacuation in state history.

Hurricane Gustav battered the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts Monday, sending waves over New Orleans' levees but leaving officials optimistic that the city would be spared catastrophic flooding.

As Hurricane Gustav churns over the Big Easy, find out how human changes to the landscape have affected how well the city can withstand a powerful storm.

Two factors intervened to keep the storm from becoming a disastrous hurricane that would have devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast.

In sharp contrast to the situation in 2005, animal welfare groups got thousands of pets and their owners safely away from the U.S. Gulf Coast before Hurricane Gustav hit.

Follow Gustav's path from its formation in the eastern Caribbean to its eventual landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the Louisiana coast.

Despite weakening before landfall, Hurricane Gustav left widespread damage along Louisiana's coast. New Orleans' levees appear to have held, and now the damage assessment begins.

New temperature measurements back up a controversial 1998 study that suggested global warming is not mainly due to natural variability.

We're not in the clear yet, according to predictions of at least four more hurricanes this month. And storms brewing in the Atlantic seem poised to prove the forecasters right.

A new Japanese-led study that says minke whales have gotten thinner over time did not justify the killings of thousands of the animals for research, conservationists argue.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin helped scientists collar a huge Siberian tiger by shooting it with a tranquilizer gun.

More than 2,000 years older than the oldest Egyptian mummy, the world's earliest known intentionally preserved mummies are on display in Santiago, Chile.

A foot with intact toe pads and part of a tail are all that remain of a hundred-million-year-old gecko found in Myanmar (Burma), researchers report.

Melting Greenland ice could cause oceans to swell by more than a foot over the next hundred years, according to a study of the ancient Laurentide ice sheet.

A long, hot summer has ice shelves on Canada's Ellesmere Island disintegrating at an alarming pace, satellite images show.

Newfound troops of two endangered species numbering in the thousands are "undoubtedly" the largest remaining global populations of their kind, conservationists say.

Found near Cancun, Mexico, "Eve of Naharon" may be 13,600 years old—and she's not alone. She and three other skeletons could change how we think the Americas were first populated.

Australia sees little snow, but that doesn't stop some enthusiasts from "dogsledding." How? Just add wheels.

"Fishing wolves" in coastal British Columbia forgo their usual prey and eat salmon almost exclusively in the fall, says a new study that "absolutely shocked" its authors.

A supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way has wound up in the crosshairs of a virtual telescope spanning 2,800 miles.

While exploring Venezuelan wilderness, scientists discovered a new catfish. And they got a closer look at a fish species that lives for almost exactly one year.

"If I couldn't swim, I would have been dead," said one Haitian survivor after tropical storm Hanna caused massive flooding, cutting off one city and killing dozens.

A Manhattan-size ice chunk, from an ice shelf believed to be thousands of years old, is among many pieces breaking off shelves in the Canadian Arctic this summer.

Oceans will likely not rise a cataclysmic 16 feet suggested by some scientists, but the increase will still be substantial, a new glacier study predicts.

Global warming is making the most powerful hurricanes even stronger by warming the oceans, a new study says.

Siberia's last woolly mammoths, which died out about 10,000 years ago, descended from North American stock, according to new research. But others question the conclusion.

The intertwining songs of tropical wrens serve as weapons and help males and females find each other in dense forests, a new study says.

Tropical storm Hanna may hit the mid-Atlantic U.S. tonight. Meanwhile, powerful Hurricane Ike—part of a fierce breed of African storm—looks to be a major threat for Florida.

Hurricane Ike is forecast to hit the islands early next week as a major hurricane. Given the limited escape routes, officials have ordered evacuations to begin Saturday.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have a unique view of Hurricane Ike as it crosses the Atlantic Ocean.

The prehistoric site near Nazerat (Nazareth) is unusual in its lack of female symbolism and oddly arranged skeletons, archaeologists say.

A major earthquake this year in China had a lasting impact on the population of giant pandas, killing at least one of the animals—plus five people who had been working to preserve the species.

A plume of superheated rock from deep in Earth's crust welled up between the ancient continents, pushing them apart until they collided to form Pangaea, a new study proposes.

A more-than-90-foot (27-meter) tower with candles is carried through an Italian village to honor St. Rose, who died more than 750 years ago.

An agreement between the country's wildlife authority and the army to move troops may help preservation efforts at Virunga National Park, home to rare mountain gorillas.

The space probe Rosetta made a close flyby of asteroid Steins, hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, and transmitted high-resolution photos.

Horse rescue organizations are near the breaking point as the skyrocketing cost of hay and a sluggish economy has horse owners struggling to keep their steeds.

Follow Hurricane Ike—storm news, photos, and video.

The Gulf of Mexico's warm waters and "soft and stable" upper atmosphere could supercharge Hurricane Ike as it barrels toward a Saturday landfall on the Texas coast.

Boulders, some the size of apartment buildings, tumbled from cliffs above a Cairo shantytown Sunday, killing at least 31.

Our closest relatives also had a harder time of child bearing and possibly child raising—a possible explanation for why modern humans outcompeted Neanderthals, the study says.

When the world's biggest atom smasher starts up this week, most experts say we won't feel a thing. But if they're wrong—though it's not likely—a golf-ball size black hole could absorb Earth.

The Large Hadron Collider will begin zinging protons together at nearly the speed of light, the first of many experiments that scientists hope will solve the most enduring mysteries in physics.

Huge tracts of prehistoric rain forest ravaged by global warming have been found preserved underneath the U.S. Midwest, scientists say.

Thanks in part to their hollow hairs, polar bears at a Japanese zoo have turned green from algae in their pond.

Surging over buildings as tall as five stories, waves from Hurricane Ike pounded a Cuban town on Monday. The hurricane is headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The biggest science experiment ever has begun underneath Europe. Scientists hope the Large Hadron Collider will recreate conditions like those just after the big bang.

The atom smasher's first step toward recreating post-big bang conditions was a success. "Oh wow," exclaimed one scientist at the event, "it actually worked!"

The most luminous star in the Milky Way, Eta Carinae, got its title from a newly identified type of fiery blast, not stellar winds as previously thought, experts say.

The fifth and final trip by shuttle astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in mid-October will leave the orbiting observatory more capable than ever, senior NASA officials said this week.

The shallowness of the Gulf of Mexico just off Texas could result in Hurricane Ike pushing a massive amount of water ashore later this week, experts say.

Even before the Large Hadron Collider fired up, it had spawned a phenomenon never before detected in the universe: a hit rap about physics. Watch the video and get the story behind it.

Developers have created robots that appear to make human expressions and show human-like emotions.

The Italian volcano's rising magma reservoir may make severe Pompeii-like eruptions less likely in the future, new research says.

The prehistoric predator used the sharp teeth protruding from the roof of its mouth to snag large prey, scientists say.

Some remains of an ancient Roman harbor and town off Israel's coast, partially submerged, can be viewed only by visitors wearing diving or snorkeling equipment.

A gold-bedecked warrior helmet and gold mask—among other treasures—have been unearthed at a cemetery near Alexander the Great's birthplace in Greece.

Far from besting their competition in a long struggle to become Earth's dominant land animals, dinosaurs may have just been more fortunate, new research suggests.

A village in China of about a thousand people was buried in a mudslide from an illegal mining operation. At least 128 people are reported dead so far.

Peru archaeologists have found what may have been a pre-Inca pregnant woman sacrificed for an important religious event.

A small village in India has about a hundred pairs of twins, mostly same sex and 90 percent born in the last 20 years. No one can explain the phenomenon.

The sun-dappled body of a mammal with a distinctive zebra-striped rump represents one of the first photographs of an elusive okapi in the wild, scientists report.

A prehistoric whale had back legs, a tail like a dog's, and a hip-wiggling swimming style, says a study that may shed light on the origin of modern whales' wide, flat back ends.

Like sports fans performing the wave at a stadium, thousands of Southeast Asian giant honeybees can create a ripple effect that may confuse wasps and hornets, new research reveals.

Genetic testing of captive oriental white-backed vultures suggests the diversity needed to ensure the species' future will taper within three years, a scientist says.

Twenty-five-foot storm surges and massive flooding are likely as the storm heads for the Texas coast, prompting government officials to issue a stern evacuation warning.

In addition to solving big mysteries of the universe, the massive atom smasher may help treat disease, improve the Internet, and open the door to faster-than-light travel, scientists say.

Ancient ceremonies at the monument in southern England were apparently movable feasts: New analysis suggests the cattle and the revelers came from far and wide.

A late swerve by Hurricane Ike as it approached Texas Saturday spared Galveston from an expected 25-foot storm surge, meteorologists say. But Ike still delivered a punishing hit.

See scenes of Hurricane Ike's devastation from a wide swath of coastal Louisiana and Texas, including flooding, fires and wind damage in Galveston and Houston.

An estimated 140,000 Texas residents ignored evacuation orders before the hurricane hit. Now many are stranded amid debris and floodwaters, stuck in attics or on roofs, and without power.

The May 12 quake that devastated China's Sichuan Province increased stress along three nearby fault lines, doubling the chances of another major seismic event in coming years, scientists say.

Hurricane Ike will be entered into the record books for the severe damage it inflicted in and around Galveston, Texas, experts say.

See aerial footage of Hurricane Ike's worst damage: flooded neighborhoods, destroyed homes, boats on land. The hurricane struck Saturday, devastating Galveston, Texas, and other Gulf Coast towns.

Some 80 human remains found at two sites may shed light on the ancient Inca city's role as a regional center of trade and power, scientists say.

A hot, young body 500 light-years from Earth could be the first planet outside our solar system circling a sunlike star to have its picture taken, astronomers report.

A typhoon—as hurricanes are called in parts of Asia—produced heavy rain and floodwaters that washed away part of a highway bridge in Taiwan, plunging cars into the raging river below.

A total crackdown on the trade of wild animals for food could prove disastrous for people in Central Africa, who have few alternative sources of protein and income, experts say. Warning: graphic imagery

A camp for working elephants helps preserve the mahout way of life in Thailand—and helps the beasts get back to nature.

Improved planning for pet owners helped some animals weather the storm, but uncounted others with their stranded owners may still need rescue, disaster response teams say.

An ant with no eyes and a pale body is so different from other known ants that it earned an extraterrestrial name, say biologists who found the new species.

A typhoon—as hurricanes are called in parts of Asia—caused massive flooding and a major landslide that buried a tunnel entrance in Taiwan.

Cleopatra's palace sank long ago, but visitors to Alexandria, Egypt, may eventually walk among the palace's ruins via the world's first underwater museum.

Fallow deer bucks with the deepest groans are most popular with does, a new study shows.

The outer rim of a small galaxy is clearly visible in front of a larger spiral galaxy, offering scientists a first look at dark "tentacles of dust" on the smaller galaxy's edge.

NASA animations show dramatic Arctic ice melt again in 2008, which saw the second smallest Arctic sea ice cover on record, scientists announced this week.

Watch as some Hurricane Ike victims in Texas get their first glimpses of the storm damage in their communities.

Redheaded like her Flintstones namesake, Wilma—the first recreation of a Neanderthal based on DNA evidence—makes her debut this week.

The sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean has shrunk to the second smallest area on record, despite 2008's "natural" summer conditions. The ice may disappear in the summer within a couple of decades, experts say.

Dramatic scenes of destruction along Texas' Bolivar Peninsula have many state officials reconsidering the risks of coastal development in low-lying beach towns.

Some Iranians are actually gaining weight during the fasting month of Ramadan. Now doctors are warning about overeating after each day's fast ends at sundown.

A recent survey has found scores of previously unknown marine animals in popular dive areas. "People have been swimming past these big, showy animals for years," said one marine scientist.

Barack Obama and John McCain's frequent calls for change may be alienating a little-known constituency: easily startled people. A controversial new study links stronger physical reflexes with voting in favor of the status quo.

Light-emitting comb jellies, squat lobsters, and shrimp that can kill with sound are among hundreds of new species discovered along reefs off Australia.

About half the stars in our celestial neighborhood may have traveled great distances through the Milky Way, according to a new study, which suggests our sun may be one of them.

Identified by DNA evidence, the newly named fish increase Australia's known shark and ray species by a third.

The world's largest stone dome built without pillars is near completion in India at the site of a gigantic pagoda.

In Kenya researchers are using satellite technology to track the rare green turtle's migratory patterns in an attempt to save the species.

A failed electrical link between two superconducting magnets sparked a helium leak that will shut down the atom smasher for at least two months, officials say.

Excessive groundwater extraction in Iran is resulting in some of the fastest sinking land in the world, according to new satellite image analysis.

The remains of mussels, fish, and other marine life found in two caves on Gibraltar suggest that Neanderthals, like modern humans, actively sought out seafood.

The yellow-nosed reptile, discovered in the central Fiji Islands, is named after the Fijian word for "hello."

After traveling thousands of miles, Magellanic penguins have begun arriving on the shores of Argentina for their annual mating rituals.

Ancient frozen soil did not easily melt during past periods of global warming, suggesting that modern permafrost may not thaw and release as much carbon as previously thought, a new study says.

A giant shaking platform in a warehouse-size Japanese lab simulates earthquakes on full-size models of buildings, and it's a smashing success.

For a hundred episodes, Dog Whisperer's Cesar Millan has brought difficult pets into harmony with their frustrated masters. And it's not always just the dogs who need training.

A Galápagos Island tortoise thought to be extinct since the 1800s may not be gone after all, researchers said.

The world's largest atom smasher won't resume operation until next year after suffering an electrical glitch, a move that one official called a "psychological blow."

Amid controversy over who found the object, the last official dwarf planet is named Haumea after a Hawaiian fertility goddess.

You don't have to wake up to smell the roses: Exposure to a rose scent means pleasant dreams, while smelling rotten eggs gives dreams a negative cast, researchers found.

China rolled out a Shenzhou spacecraft in preparation for Thursday's planned blastoff. The mission is expected to include the country's first space walk.

Looking like a cross between a catfish and a stingray, the rare wobbegong shark species has been bred in captivity in Australia. Some of the sharks have now been tagged and released to aid researchers.

After years of deterioration, the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon is suffering anew in the wake of war.

The mission, which launches Friday, furthers an ambitious space program that aims to build a base on the moon—in cooperation with NASA or not.

A closer look at a 385-million-year-old fish fossil shows the fish had digit-like stubs in their fins--"dismissing" a theory that hands and feet evolved randomly, experts say.

The bones of 72 mountain gorillas, including many of the animals studied by the murdered primatologist, are being prepared for forensic analysis.

On live TV, a Swiss pilot will attempt to rocket into the history books by crossing from France to England using a single, jet-propelled wing attached to his back.

Scientists have populated a small island near Puerto Rico with a thousand rhesus monkeys, creating a vast and unusual outdoor lab.

Solar activity is at its lowest level in 50 years, a decline that may shrink the invisible buffer that protects Earth from cosmic rays, a NASA space probe found.

The mission furthers an ambitious space program that aims to build a base on the moon—in cooperation with NASA or not.

A reproduction of the 66-foot (20-meter) long dinosaur, known for its long neck and small brain, will go on display this week at Rio de Janeiro's Science House.

Tests of the pink birds, which live in Kenya's Lake Nakuru, show heavy metals and pesticides—leading experts to suspect growing industry as the cause.

On live TV, a Swiss pilot will attempt to rocket into the history books by crossing from France to England using a single, jet-propelled wing attached to his back.

China launched three men into space Thursday on its most ambitious mission yet. One astronaut, called a "taikonaut," will attempt the country's first ever spacewalk.

Needle-free syringes use air pressure or gases to deliver drugs, and a Japanese inventor says he's gone even further to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Bedrock in Hudson Bay, Canada, possibly formed not long after the solar system was born nearly five billion years ago, new research suggests.

The "anteater" of its time, a tiny, bizarre-looking dinosaur newly discovered in Canada feasted on termites 70 million years ago.

A rough-skinned frog species thought to have gone extinct more than 20 years ago may have been found alive in a Honduran rain forest.

Why did so many residents refuse to evacuate, despite warnings of "certain death"? Experts point to an anti-government attitude, TV news, a chaotic 2005 evacuation, and more.

Strapped to a jet-powered wing—and with little more than a helmet for protection—Jet Man rocketed across the Channel in 13 minutes Friday.

High-resolution images taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest Mars may have stayed wet a billion years longer than previously thought.

The rapid melting has left the region with just a little more ice than in 2007, when ice cover hit the lowest levels ever seen.

The U.S. $700-billion financial bailout under scrutiny by Congress may put a dent in the federal budget for science and research, scientists say.

In Australia a dolphin female and calf are trapped in a lake, unable to find their way out. They apparently swam up a narrow creek.

Yves Rossy, known as Fusionman or Jet Man, flew across the English Channel using only the jetpack and wings strapped to his back.

The Phoenix Mars Lander recorded ice crystals coming from clouds and found evidence of soil minerals that support Mars's history as a watery world, researchers announced.

A newly discovered meat-eating dinosaur with a birdlike breathing system may help scientists better understand how bird lungs evolved.

The primates can identify photos of their acquaintances' rears and match them with the right faces--an ability that may elude humans, experts say.

A mechanical failure on board the space telescope caused transmissions to cease, forcing a delay of the final servicing mission possibly until next January, NASA officials said.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds, and its soil testing shows further evidence of the planet's watery past, scientists say.

A dust cloud surrounding a nearby star 300 light-years from Earth may be all that remains from the collision of two Earth-size planets, researchers say.

Economies built on fishing shrinking stocks of shark are putting some Baja fishers in a precarious place.

Workers recently began installing donated solar panels on the papal auditorium's roof, part of Vatican City's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

Huge waves may have hurled massive coral boulders onto the South Pacific island of Tongatapu within the last 7,000 years, according to scientists who think a volcano triggered the tsunami.

From squid suckers fit for a horror flick to an undulating landscape of polymers, see some of the winners of this year's International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.

Pigs race and dive, a rescued lion is cremated, a giant fish is confiscated, and more in our weekly roundup of animal photos.

A southern white rhino learns fighting skills from its father, a man frees a rehabilitated eagle, and more in our weekly roundup of animal photos.

Pet owners evacuate animals ahead of Hurricane Gustav, a western lowland gorilla holds her new baby, and more in our weekly roundup of animal photos.

Red panda cubs debut in China, a surfing dog shakes after catching a wave, and more in our weekly roundup of animal photos.

Scientists discover a tiny "ant from Mars" in the Amazon, a one-horned rhino is recaptured, and more in our weekly update of animal photos.

Liverpool celebrates with a giant mechanical spider, Coney Island's Astroland closes, and more in our new weekly roundup of culture photos.

Hindus honor the elephant god Ganesh, Japanese Buddhists celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary, and more in our weekly roundup of culture photos.

Fans say goodbye to Yankee Stadium, North Korean gymnasts jump rope en masse, and more in our weekly roundup of culture photos.

Paul McCartney performs in Israel, a German jigsaw puzzle may be the world's largest, and more in our weekly roundup of culture photos.

With towering glass "sails" and fiberglass tunnels on the seafloor, a futuristic underwater museum in Alexandria may bring visitors deep into the site of Cleopatra's sunken palace.

Reef fish send out a scarlet luminescence that may allow them to communicate with other fish, scientists found.

Coming ashore as a powerful Category 2 storm, Gustav sent floodwaters pouring over -- but did not break -- levees in New Orleans.

Chilling warnings of "certain death" have residents of the Texas coastal town gearing up for the worst -- and recalling the devestating 1900 storm that killed 6,000.

Coming ashore as a strong Category 2 storm, Hurricane Ike blew out windows, flooded streets, and forced rescue crews to wait to begin helping the thousands of residents who chose to stay put.

See how the major storm pummeled the Texas coast, shredding buildings, flooding streets, and knocking out power for millions of people.

The deluge, caused by a dam break in Nepal, has destroyed more than 250,000 acres of farmland, killed at least 90 people, and left at least a million people homeless.

Light-emitting jellies, green shrimp, and other oddities are among the animals found by an Australian expedition that netted hundreds of new species.

A newly discovered predatory dinosaur with a birdlike breathing system may help scientists better understand the evolution of avian lungs.

A skinny saw shark, a swell shark that looks like it swallowed a Frisbee, and a river shark are among the oddities that have surfacing in a new study.

The space station offers a view of Hurricane Ike, a debris arc orbits with Saturn's moon, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

NASA chooses the next Mars-bound robotic spacecraft, a stellar explosion creates a massive gamma-ray burst, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

A supermassive black hole is revealed, two space shuttles occupy launch pads at Kennedy Space Center, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

The ESA's Jules Verne spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere, the Circinus galaxy appears in a composite image, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

A new image reveals the "thousand-ruby galaxy," Mars's poles may indicate planet's climactic history, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

Giant diamond discovered, Hurricane Ike victims return to ruins, and more in our roundup of the week's best news photos.

Hurricane Gustav inspired a bit of bathing, virgins awaited a king in Africa, hail spurred "snowball fights" in Kenya, and more.

A bear-bones attraction, a frozen fighter jet, the new September 11 memorial, and more are featured in our picks of the week's news photos.

Horses fight, Hurricane Ike stirs up a storm of memories, Baghdad turns red, painted soldiers celebrate, and more in the week's best news photos.