Scientists have discovered a mysterious species of fly with males bearing highly unusual mis-matched right and left wings. The oddly paired wings might be an extraordinary type of ornament for wooing females, they said.

A weevil from the tropical forests of Australia may hold the clue to the artificial manufacturing of opals. The discovery could lead to less expensive opals in the jewelry store, and benefit computer and telecommunications companies.

After a new case of SARS was confirmed in China, officials there ordered the widespread culling of civets, an animal that has been linked to the transmission of the virus. But some experts now warn that the slaughter of a "scapegoat" species may be a terrible mistake.

Researchers have found that the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymma scolopes) uses a unique built-in flashlight to hide its shadow from predatory fish on the seafloor. The light organ is composed of silvery reflector plates and luminescent bacteria. The find may inspire a new generation of high-tech, nanotechnology gadgets.

Want to beat the world's best stone skipper? Toss your stone at the "magic angle" of 20 degrees. The hint comes from a team of French scientists who constructed a stone-skipping machine to find out the optimal speed, spin, and angle to achieve the maximum number of bounces.

One million species or more may head towards extinction if the continuing warming of Earth's climate results in the computer-predicted impact on their habitat over the next 50 years, an international group of scientists reported recently. They urged immediate reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions to try to minimize the potential catastrophe.

Using sophisticated computer models, astronomers have mapped a ring-shaped disc in the Milky Way that shows the highest potential for extraterrestrial life in our galaxy. Researchers found that 75 percent of the stars in this habitable zone are older than our sun, holding out the possibility that any potential life-forms would have an evolutionary head start over Earth's.

NASA's Mars rover transmitted its first color photographs early this morning from the red planet after a successful landing late Saturday night. The high-resolution, "3-D" photographs showcase the Martian landscape from Spirit's landing site in Gusev Crater.

In less than 72 hours, NASA's Stardust probe will approach Wild 2, a comet some 424 million miles (389 million kilometers) from Earth. Using a tennis-racquet-shaped collector filled with gaseous jelly, the probe will attempt to collect dust particles from the comet before returning to Earth.

The Hubble Space Telescope is now living on borrowed time. Original plans for the observatory called for it to be retrieved at the end of its life and placed in a museum. But NASA now plans a more unceremonious demise for the telescope: crashing it into the ocean.

Scientists are clinging to hope that Europe's first probe to land on Mars will speak up and be heard, though no signal from Beagle 2 has been received since it touched down on the red planet Christmas Day.

How do you make something as miniscule and abstract as nanoscience, which operates on a scale of atoms and molecules, appear real to the ordinary eye? A new art exhibit in Los Angeles attempts a solution while exploring the cultural ramifications of the new technology.

Beagle 2 is on its way to Mars. The British-built spacecraft separated successfully from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter earlier today, beginning its descent for a landing on the red planet's surface due to take place on Christmas Day.

Over the past decade, dino-hunter Paul Sereno has led five extended expeditions to the Sahara Desert, one of paleontology's least understood and explored regions. With the help of a corps of researchers, he's amassed a stunning menagerie of new dinosaur species and other ancient animals.

Astronomers running computer simulations of planet formation have found that Earthlike planets with enough water to support life could be fairly common.