Perhaps the most heat-tolerant complex organisms on Earth, Pompeii worms burrow into the sides of hydrothermal vents found deep in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists hope to learn how the worms survive their hellish home.

Most health experts agree that Asian bird flu poses a grave danger and will likely spread unless urgent steps are taken. But some virologists caution that alarmist warnings could harm preparedness plans.

Birdman of Bel Air Mathew Tekulsky shares stories about the feeding habits of scrub jays, birds that will voraciously dine on acorns, peanuts, bread, cheese—even tortilla chips.

Global warming, or climate change, is a subject that shows no sign of cooling down. Here's the lowdown on why it's happening, what's causing it, and how it might change the planet. Includes photo gallery.

See our editors' picks of the oddest and most unexpected discoveries of the year, from cat cloning to hobbit-like humans to bloodsucking bedbugs.

DNA analysis of bison fossils suggests climate and environmental change, not human hunters, triggered herd declines and the extinction of mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and other large mammals in Siberia and North America.

Insurance adjusters and meteorologists are still crunching numbers and analyzing data, but the 2004 U.S. hurricane season will likely go down as one of the most active on record.

New South Wales, Australia, is bracing for what authorities predict will be the worst locust plague in 25 years.

Small, warty, and poisonous enough to kill crocodiles, the cane toad has wreaked havoc in parts of Australia. Experts say climate change is benefiting the invasive species.

Homing pigeons may use a magnetic "map" inside their beaks to navigate, according to new research.

Is it possible to outrun evolution? Two new lizard-behavior studies look at why it's not always just the fittest that survive.

Once harvested almost to extinction in the northeastern U.S., beavers have returned in such huge numbers that they are becoming a nuisance in some areas.

Birder Mathew Tekulsky describes the bathing habits of birds, explaining the dependence of birds on water.

As eco-lodges sprout under the forest canopy and guidebooks roll off the presses, Peru stands ready to showcase itself as a bird-watcher's paradise.

In Spain scientists have discovered 13-million-year-old fossils of a new species of ape. The species may have been the last common ancestor of humans and all great apes living today. Includes photo gallery.