A newly announced ban on all parrot sales in Mexico may keep the country's exotic birds from dying during clandestine smuggling operations, conservationists say.

Springer spaniels are training to do battle to save an Australian island from a rabbit boom. The rabbits are destroying vegetation, thereby threatening other species.

A hiker in eastern California found an ID and other items belonging to Steve Fossett, the adventurer who vanished on a solo flight more than a year ago, authorities said Wednesday.

The virus first appeared at least three decades before researchers had thought, and it may have been triggered by rapid urbanization in west-central Africa during the early 20th century.

Amazon forests in Brazil are shrinking three times faster than in 2007, officials say. A key culprit is the national government itself, according to reports.

In South America's highlands warmer temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns are seriously affecting staple crops such as the potato.

Research is underway to turn algae into biodiesel that developers hope could eventually fuel jet airplanes.

Australia is one of the only major beekeeping countries free of a parasitic mite that is killing bees throughout the world. The battle is on to prevent an infestation.

An Earth-spanning boundary separates the Northern Hemisphere's pollution from the more pristine atmosphere of the south, a finding that could help map future movements of harmful chemicals.

The entire planet comes into stunning focus using a new technique that removes atmospheric distortion.

Growing acidity in the world's oceans may create an underwater racket that hinders whales and other animals that rely on sounds for survival, a new study says.

A temperature-driven trend toward more females and fewer males in Australia's spotted skink may increase populations in the short-term, a finding that contradicts previous studies.

The U.S. adventurer's plane "disintegrated" when it hit a California mountain, experts said. The presence of bears and other scavengers may help explain why so few remains have been found.

Periods of high solar activity create features that make the sun appear to have bigger "love handles," according to a new study of the star's true shape.

A bear wandered into a Subway sandwich shop in Canada, startling an employee, and sampling some food before letting itself out.

Singing to females lights up reward centers in male zebra finches' brains, a new study shows. The effect possibly "addicts" the birds to courtship.

Some bald eagles are turning to seabirds as their main food, and in a roundabout way, the new diet is traceable to a 1990s otter collapse, researchers say.

People may have lived in Florida over 10,000 years ago—earlier than previously thought—according to evidence uncovered by National Geographic researchers.

The annual Ig Nobel Prizes are given to scientists whose work made readers both laugh and think. This year's honors went to research on everything from puzzling placebos to spermicidal soda.

Truffle hunters in France believe global warming has led to an increase in parasitic attacks on wild truffles—spurring a boom in hothouse versions of the luxury fungus.

The African elephant, Cuban crocodile, and Asian fishing cat are among species elevated to more critical categories on the updated global Red List of Threatened Species.

Researchers can now mass-produce the receptors humans use to detect odors, a discovery with implications for law enforcement, medicine, and the military.

The small space rock won't hit the planet, say astronomers, who note that this marks the first time they have been warned of an object approaching so close to Earth.

The 2008 Red List of Threatened Species details dismaying trends. A new "Dow Jones index" approach aims to stem the tide by tracking selected species like stocks.

Iceland's glaciers could all be gone by the next century, thanks to global warming, a new government report says.

A five-year review done by experts from 130 countries paints a grim picture for the world's 5,487 known mammal species.

The first of this year's Nobel Prizes, awarded for medicine, has been jointly won by scientists who identified the viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer.

Arrows and abandoned huts are fresh evidence that isolated indigenous tribes are being displaced by illegal logging, conservation groups say.

A worldwide spike in severe illnesses could be most immediate consequence of climate change, according to a new report.

Life thrives at nearly five miles under the sea, researchers found. A group of snailfish are the deepest species ever seen alive.

See the glittering display put on by the Jules Verne unmanned cargo ship as it burned up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

The MESSENGER spacecraft's second swing past the innermost planet shows that the tiny world appears to bear striking similarities to Earth's moon.

An American and two Japanese physicists will share the prize for their work explaining why matter continued to exist after the big bang.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, killing at least nine people.

An orphaned white rhino has bonded with a Kenya park ranger, who looks after the animal to protect him from poachers and predators.

Newly evolved earthworms found at old mining sites eat toxic waste and could help cleanse polluted industrial land.

A Philippine scientist has developed wallboard using chicken feathers. He says it could replace traditional woodchip wallboard used in construction.

A recession would likely push conservation to the bottom of government priority lists for years to come, warns an expert who says environmentalists should be "really worried."

The parasites make themselves invisible to the human immune system via elaborate molecular "disguises," two new studies reveal.

Two U.S. scientists and a U.S.-based Japanese researcher will share the 2008 honor for discovering and developing fluorescent proteins that are now ubiquitous tools in medical research.

Several penguins that mysteriously washed onto the beaches of Brazil this year have been nursed back to health and sent "home" to Argentine Patagonia.

Scientists have derived stem cells from adult, human testicles for the first time, which could allow therapies to be developed without destroying embryos.

National Geographic researchers trap an Alaskan brown bear for research, and the bear is not at all happy.

In Ethiopia farmers are being taught how to use livestock dung as a renewable energy source to create gas for cooking.

Bird species worldwide are in decline—a sign that the planet's health is also faltering, according to a new report.

The biggest land animals that ever lived grew huge and were an evolutionary success in part because they swallowed large quantities of food whole, new research suggests.

A family in India chooses to opt out of surgery to correct a congenital condition known as syndactyly, in which one or more digits are fused together.

Shrimplike organisms that linked together in single-file rows 525 million years ago represent a bizarre and previously unknown type of animal grouping, scientists say.

From November to April, part of the Northern Pacific humpback whale population migrates to the Mexico Pacific to mate or give birth. The species's future is brighter but still threatened.

Scientists have found 274 new species of corals, starfish, sponges, shrimps, and crabs 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) beneath the surface of Australia's waters.

The world's first complete double arm transplant was performed successfully in Germany. The recipient, a farmer who lost his own arms in an accident, is doing well.

A controversial fossil find suggests that animals were walking around the planet about 570 million years ago—30 million years earlier than previously believed.

The discovery at a Virginia aquarium marks the second time scientists have used DNA testing to verify what would have been a "virgin birth"—if the pups hadn't died.

African pirates threatened Friday to blow up the arms-laden Ukrainian ship they've hijacked--the latest salvo in a crisis that's boosting shipping costs and cutting off aid to millions of Somalis.

The first ever photo of a live Sumatran muntjac is also the first record of the species in 80 years and establishes the muntjac as a "new" species, exerts say.

The chimpanzee subspecies known for resolving conflict with sex has been observed hunting and killing other primates, according to new research that challenges the bonobo's peacenik reputation.

West African chimpanzees have declined by 90 percent in the last 18 years in an African country that is one of the subspecies' "final strongholds," a new study stays.

An African park infamous for gorilla murders is reeling from fresh rebel attacks captured in a harrowing video. The fighting threatens the Congo park's 72 mountain gorillas.

Once obscure Amazon fruits like açaí are riding health claims to supermarket success. Could a scaly palm fruit with three times the vitamin A of carrots be the rain forest's next popular export?

A new spiky-faced Triceratops relative, its head festooned with "bony bells and whistles," offers insight into how dinosaurs grew up, evolved, and behaved, scientists say.

A small town in Brazil's Amazon region uses Asian water buffaloes instead of trucks to collect rubbish.

Metalmark moth caterpillars are now the only creatures other than spiders known to use silk threads to detect intruders, a new study says.

An American multi-millionaire, who paid for his adventure through Russia's space program, arrives on the International Space Station.

The space telescope could be functional as soon as October 17, after NASA engineers switch to an onboard backup system.

Huge vortices that dramatically outpower Earth-roving hurricanes are likely driven by thunderstorms deep in the atmosphere, researchers say.

With hundreds of wheels attached to it, a cathedral in China is being rotated, as if on a turntable, to make way for a new road.

Believing dogs have easy pregnancies and births, pregnant Japanese women pray at shrines on the Day of the Dog in hopes of having "canine" birth experiences.

The larvae can remember a pattern of beats for 20 seconds, a new study shows. The skill could help the fish evade dragonfly predators.

The skull of a 375-million-year-old walking fish reveals new clues to how our fish ancestors evolved into land dwellers, a new study says.

A surge in development has taken its toll on Abydos, a sacred destination for ancient pilgrims. But plans are underway to renovate the threatened archaeological site.

A young pulsar that had been undetectable to radio, visible, or x-ray observatories has been found by the recently launched Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.

A newly developed RNA "device" allows scientists to "program" molecules to directly interact with cells.

A sandstorm in Baghdad, Iraq, strafes residents, who use scarves or masks to ease breathing.

Warmer waters around Antarctica could actually benefit a threatened population of gray nurse—or sand tiger—sharks, scientists say.

Lambeosaurs likely used their boney head crests to produce deep calls and may have been able to recognize individuals based on their voices alone, new scans suggest.

Fossil hunters searching woods behind a suburban Massachusetts strip mall discovered the impression, which one expert described as "winning the lottery."

Archaeologists in Rome have discovered what's believed to be the tomb of a wealthy man on whom the main character of the movie "Gladiator" was based.

NASA engineers have "stopped trying to activate science" aboard the ailing space telescope after encountering a problem during remote repairs.

A pair of unrelated anomalies forced engineers to stop trying to remotely revive the space telescope, which officials think won't be back to full science operations until late next week.

A northern Mexico valley may hold the first human footprint in the Americas, and could even provide the basis for discovering organisms on Mars, according to a NASA scientist.

Mining methods, including dredging and river diversions, have damaged rural landscapes and local lifestyles, activists say.

The slumping tourism industry in Kenya is having a negative impact on efforts to fight poaching in the country's scenic Maasai Mara.

Winds that reach speeds of 7,000 miles (11,265 kilometers) per hour can carry heat from the sunny side to the dark side of Jupiter-like exoplanets, a new study shows.

Aquatic snails use an amazing method to propel themselves across the water's slippery surface, new research shows.

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered two religious temples more than 3,000 years old, the remains of which are still in excellent condition.

Threatened by the squirrel pox, spread by gray squirrels, red squirrels are developing immunity to the disease, researchers say.

A Jurassic "party" left more than a thousand footprints and rare tail-drag marks at an ancient oasis in Arizona, a new study says. But some experts doubt the marks were left by dinosaurs.

The online auction house announced the ban a day before a report by an animal welfare group revealed the site to be a major driver in illegal trade of wildlife products.

The environmental group Greenpeace warns that if Indonesia doesn't eliminate rapid deforestation in the country, its forests could be gone in 10 years.

Researchers have discovered more than 300 new species, including a new stingray, living in the waters off the Australian coast.

The carved figurine--most likely of a hedgehog or a pig--was discovered during an excavation of a wooden fence near the prehistoric stone monument.

Scenes of everyday life discovered in the country's remote Northern Territory suggest that Aborigines interacted with neighboring cultures centuries before the British arrived, archaeologists say.

A new pigeon-size species found in Mongolia had long, ribbon-like tail feathers that suggest plumage first evolved for ornamentation rather than for flight, scientists say.

The pre-Inca Tiwanaku civilization may have sniffed drugs for medical and religious purposes, and used wide-ranging trade routes to obtain the substances, a new study says.

Trained stallions kick, bite, and stomp each other in banned contests in the Philippines, a Sky TV report says. The games reportedly maim and wound thousands of horses each year. Warning: video contains graphic imagery.

Aiming to redraw lunar maps, India has launched its first moon mission, joining other countries in a new space race.

The space telescope, which had been out of commission since late September, should have some key instruments turned back on by early Saturday, engineers report.

The tiny-limbed creature is the first of 14 new species to be identified from a January expedition to Brazil's central savanna.

The next astronauts on the moon will ride in style thanks to lessons learned from the Apollo missions and technology culled from decades of consumer car designs.

NASA's new prototype lunar rover improves on the original moon buggies by incorporating 35 years of technology, including an anti-rollover mechanism used in SUVs.

The oscillations of three stars within 200 light-years of Earth could help astronomers refine models of how stars like our sun operate on their insides.

Built with bamboo and tiny engines, do-it-yourself trains are ferrying Cambodians who, faced with unreliable public transportation, took matters into their own hands.

People who hold, say, hot drinks judge another person more favorably than people holding cold items do, a new study shows.

As South Africa reels from a major HIV/AIDS epidemic, health workers are turning to cell phone technology to get the word out about testing for the virus.

Cow's emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas, can be reduced with a more natural diet, farmers are learning. Methane is a powerful contributor to global warming.

Costa Rica's Cocos Island National Park, nicknamed "Shark Island," has what might be the highest concentration of sharks anywhere. But even here, sharks are vulnerable.

Poaching of female brown bears leaves thousands of cubs orphaned in Russia each year. Now two human-raised orphans have been returned to the wild.

Rebel forces have seized Virunga National Park's headquarters, crushing efforts to rebuild the park and further threatening its population of rare mountain gorillas.

Get the facts on Halloween history, today's most popular costumes, record-breaking pumpkins, and more in National Geographic News's Halloween roundup.

Permanent servants who lived at the royal estate were brought there from many parts of the Inca Empire, according to a new study of bodies found at the site.

The first ever tracking of juvenile Pacific salmon from mountain headwaters to the Pacific Ocean suggests hydropower dams are not the main cause of their poor survival.

In a twist worthy of a Halloween horror movie, Siberian moths have acquired a taste for blood, and scientists believe they're seeing evolution in action. With video.

Just in time for Halloween, bloodsucking moths have been found in Siberia—evidence of evolution at work, scientists say.

The auction in Namibia sold tons of tusks to Asian bidders Tuesday, raising money for elephant conservation. Some conservationists worry such sales will encourage poachers.

Made infamous by recent gorilla murders, a Congo refuge is seeing its endangered apes—and thousands of humans—under increased threat as rebels storm Virunga National Park.

Ancient copper mines in Jordan were productive when the Bible says Solomon built Jerusalem's first temple, according to a new study.

Shamanism is making a comeback in the Russian region of Tyva (Tuva). Harshly suppressed during the Soviet era, Tyvan shamans combine magic and medicine.

Faint electrical signals in Titan's smoggy atmosphere suggest the moon has lightning, which some experts believe helped life form on Earth.

At least one crater contained enough lava to fill the Baltimore-Washington area to a height 12 times that of the Washington Monument, new images reveal.

Egyptian mummies with malaria and two skeletons from Israel that had tuberculosis are helping scientists understand how and why disease-causing organisms evolve.

A 3,000-year-old temple—featuring the image of a deity that's part spider, bird, and cat—may have been located in a capital of ancient religious worship.

In U.S. TV ads, oilman T. Boone Pickens touts energy independence via wind and natural gas. Critics say his plan is expensive, is inefficient, and may keep the country in thrall to foreign fuels.

A major earthquake rocked southwestern Pakistan Wednesday. Hundreds of mud and timber houses were destroyed.

In a burgeoning "sport" in Nigeria, rams fight each other for their owners' fun and profit. Prizes include microwave ovens and other household goods.

Salt-deprived animals and insects living far inland from some coasts may benefit if global warming increases hurricane intensity, a new study suggests.

Huge vertical jolts can accompany side-to-side shaking usually felt during quakes, a movement not factored into today's quakeproof buildings, a new study says.

A far cry from the faux Palins, pirates, and princesses of today, costumes during Halloween's precursor included animal skins and heads, drag getups, and mechanical horse heads.

The oldest intact human mummy, Otzi, comes from a genetic line that has either died off or become extremely rare, according to a new DNA study.

Barack Obama has already won a landslide among one demographic. Shamans in Peru burned incense over a llama fetus and threw flowers on posters of Obama and John McCain to send good vibes to the candidates.

From Roman fig-cumin balls to medieval candied violets, a number of authentic, old-school treats can be bought or made to delight, surprise, or perhaps repulse your Halloween guests.

These ancient maritime traders who introduced the alphabet to the world may have also left behind a large genetic footprint, with 1 in 17 men in the region still harboring Phoenician DNA, according to a new study.

In the Brazilian Amazon rain forest, a nongovernmental organization is using satellites to uncover deforestation the Brazilian government doesn't find.

An 18th-century relic found under the streets of Annapolis, Maryland, is one of the earliest examples of African religious rituals in the U.S., according to archaeologists.

A fungus associated with Arctic and Antarctic soils has infected bat colonies in the northeastern U.S., though it's unknown if the organism kills the mammals, a new study says.

A new species of fungus discovered in Belize also represents a new genus from a group used in Asian herbal medicines and immune disease treatment.

Get the facts behind the U.S. daylight saving time system, including when to change your clocks this weekend and why the system is run by the Department of Transportation.

Early Homo sapiens began to spread around the globe amid social and tool-making advances, not climate change, as previous research had suggested, a new study says.

The oldest known Hebrew inscription has reportedly been found where David and Goliath are said to have fought in Israel. If the controversial claim is true, it bolsters biblical accounts.

Already threatened by deforestation, rare Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkeys face doom as their babies are sold for a few dollars and their genital hair is taken as a trophy.

A monk seal, raised in captivity in Greece, has been released into the wild with a cell phone that sends text messages about her location.

Hundreds of penguins march seaward, a European tree frog sits on a zoo keeper's finger, and more in our weekly roundup of animal photos.

A red deer stag roars during mating season, a rescued penguin returns to the sea, and more in our weekly update of animal photos.

A Persian leopard cub looks into the camera, a two-headed turtle is discovered, and more in our weekly update of animal photos.

A Chihuahua wins a canine costume contest, a tiger cub stalks a pumpkin, and more in our weekly update of animal photos.

From European missionaries to WWII planes, a newfound collection of rock art in northern Australia chronicles Aborgine culture through the centuries.

A "hairy" crab, spiky sea stars, and a bright red shrimp are among the 274 new species found during a research survey of Australia's deep ocean.

An ultra-rare cat, a snake-frog death match, and a whale close encounter are among the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

A beetle dances on a pin, nanotubes glow like a microscopic sun, drugs yield crystal rainbows, and more in the top ten micro-photos of the year.

From "eclectic" medieval towns in Belgium to McMansions encroaching on Civil War sites in Virginia, a new annual survey ranks the most authentic--and most imperiled--historic places.

Hundreds of hot air balloons prepare for flight, firecrackers explode at a vegetarian festival in Phuket, and more in our weekly update of culture photos.

Brazilian Christians pray before a mass baptism, a lizard sculpture eyes chefs at the Culinary Olympics, and more in our weekly update of culture photos.

A Chihuahua struts during a Halloween dog show, a vendor strings marigolds for a Hindu festival, and more in our weekly update of culture photos.

Roughly 38 percent of the world's known species are near extinction, according to a comprehensive survey done to create the 2008 Red List of Threatened Species.

Hundreds of fruit species flourish in the Amazon region, but relatively few--like antioxidant-rich acai, a wild palm fruit --ever reach international markets. Experts say fruits are a vital part of the Amazon's wealth and may provide important alternatives to timber.

A mining boom in Mongolia is threatening to destroy the country's essential watersheds and is forcing nomadic herders to abandon their land and traditional way of life, environmentalists warn.

A 2008 expedition to the Xe Bang Fai River cave in the central part of the country uncovers "spectacular formations," and some of the largest cave rooms on Earth.

NASA gets a close look at Mercury, massive young stars drive stellar birth, and more in our weekly roundup of space photos.

A Russian rocket carries an American space tourist, the Hubble Space Telescope discovers a "Cosmic Eye," and more in our weekly update of space photos.

A 12-billion-year-old cosmic collision is discovered, Santa Ana winds drive smoke across the Pacific, and more in our weekly update of space photos.

An American space tourist returns to Earth, India launches first mission to the moon, and more in our weekly update of space photos.

A lion mounts a horse, a skull is knifed, China celebrates its first space walk, and more in our picks of the week's news photos.

The Western Wall, the Queen Elizabeth 2, Iceland's financial meltdown, and more are featured in our picks of the week's news photos.

Boxed penguins, blazes in L.A., a ball of "lightning," and a big shipwreck are captured in some of the week's best news photos.

A supersonic car, a brand-new mosque, and Los Angeles wildfires are captured in some of the week's best photos.

Hubble's snaps back with a stunning shot, martial artists kick up a dust storm, and more in the week's best news photos.