From AquaPenguin to Charlie the Robo-Tuna, underwater robots are going wild as scientists find nature has often already conquered their engineering challenges.

"Absolutely sensational" new pictures are rare proof that the world's largest toothed whales feed on elusive giant squid. And if researchers are right, the photos may also show a baby whale's hunting lessons.

Coated with a foamy slime, hundreds of seabirds are washing up on the shores of the U.S. Pacific Northwest as an explosion in algae fills the ocean, experts say.

Get spooked by a ghostshark, a "Dracula" fish, a carnivorous sea squirt, and more of 2009's freakiest finds.

In time for Halloween, archaeologists have unearthed a witch bottle—a stone jug that may have contained toenails, hair, and other bodily bits to deter witches and other evildoers.

At Halloween, pause to remember the animal "undead"—before they remember you. From "resurrected" spiders to mind-controlled ants to reanimated frozen frogs, some wildlife is wild "dead" too.

Peer at the universe's most distant galaxy cluster, witness a Puerto Rican explosion as seen from space, gaze at new artful pictures of Mars, and more in the week's best space pictures.

Nearly as long as two buses, a blue whale washed ashore this week in California. The apparent victim of a ship collision, the beached whale is seen as an "amazing" research opportunity.

From "cannibal" water beetles to blind cave eels, hundreds of newfound subterranean animals have revealed unexpected diversity in the dry Australian outback.

A leaping wolf, a feisty pet cat, and two playful Amazon dolphins feature in some of the winning pictures from this year's Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

From awe-inspiring parks to "cruise ship hell"—see what 437 experts say are the best and worst of the world's most iconic travel destinations.

Weighing in at fewer than two pounds, the Chihuahua-size dinosaur Fruitadens haagarorum was an agile omnivore, a new study says.

In a battle for the lightest yet strongest, robotic competitors in the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge hauled hundreds of pounds of simulated moon soil. Winning designs may actually end up on the moon if NASA builds a lunar outpost.

Get an astronaut's-eye view of a volcanic eruption, examine a newfound Martian meteorite, see proof that a NASA craft smashed into the moon, and more in the week's best space pictures.

A steam-shrouded bison, a bikini-clad diver, a seven-year-old shepherd, and other wild wonders stalk our selection of winning pictures from the latest Banff Mountain Photography Competition.