Giant, jelly-like sheets of dead and living organic matter, known as marine mucilages, are spreading throughout the Mediterranean. The blobs may smother marine life and carry diseases dangerous to humans.

A plant "phallus," a hungry sea star, and miniature "dreadlocks" are among this year's award-winning peeks into our small world.

A plant "phallus," a hungry sea star, and miniature "dreadlocks" are among this year's award-winning peeks into our small world.

With its "bombing" of the moon early tomorrow, NASA's LCROSS satellite may beat a telltale signature of water out of a shadowy crater—and all you need to see it is a good backyard telescope.

The inescapable bar code celebrates its 57th anniversary Wednesday, with a little help from Google. Find out how it came to be, why it's still with us, and what's next.

A newfound dark, hot ring circling Saturn would look as wide as the full moon if we could see the ring from Earth—and may hold the secret of Saturn's black-and-white moon.

Hell on Earth has nothing on this newfound exoplanet, where vaporized rock and minerals rise to the skies and create "rock clouds" that rain hot pebbles.

See the strange halo on Mercury that not even astronomers can explain, a new Hubble stunner, a steaming volcano, and more in the week's best space pictures.

Since 1901, the world's most prestigious award has recognized a range of pioneers and luminaries, from Albert Einstein to Al Gore.Video

Digital cameras, YouTube, iTunes—just three modern marvels made possible by the three "masters of light" who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday.

Inspired by the comic superhero, a spiderbot that can shoot cables with magnetic ends and walk on metal surfaces is under development at Israel's Ben Gurion University. Video

The Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has been awarded to three scientists at American universities who are unraveling how the body protects chromosomes—the carrier of the genetic code for life, the Nobel Prize jury announced today.

Intimate HEPA filters, beer bottles as weapons, and waste reduction via panda poop were among the more unusual scientific advances honored at this year's Ig Nobel ceremony.

See the latest, four-winged evidence that birds are dinosaurs in disguise, the guts of Nero's rotating dining room, a new Hubble stunner, and more.

A second earthquake shook western Indonesia Thursday as the death toll rose above 500 from Wednesday's powerful quake. Plus, see a computer simulation of Tuesday's Samoan quake and the resulting tsunami waves. Video.