In a windowless New York City lab, scientists are simulating conditions that triggered two of the most explosive volcanic events in recent history: the eruption of Mount Mazama and Mount Vesuvius. The project seeks to better understand and predict volcanic eruptions.

A pair of Argentine paleontologists have discovered numerous 90-million-year-old fossils of a new type of sphenodontian—an ancient lizard-like reptile thought to have gone extinct about 120 million years ago except for a few relicts that live today in New Zealand, the tuatara.

Undersea noise from naval exercises appears to give beaked whales the bends. Scientists for years have suspected a link between sonar activities and mass strandings of marine mammals. Autopsies performed on a group of beaked whales that stranded themselves on beaches in the Canary Islands four hours after military sonar activities commenced there support this connection.

The advent of canopy walkways, the networks of elevated bridges and platforms that tower high in the treetops, has allowed scientists to study ecosystems that were once out of reach. Today, tourists are increasingly taking to these aerial sidewalks to peer eye-to-eye with canopy-dwelling creatures and glimpse rare blooms.

About 100,000 years ago the top of Volcano Alcedo in the Galápagos Islands exploded in a violent eruption that smothered the region in pumice and blew away all but one lucky lineage of the giant tortoises that lived there, according to a new study.

An ambitious new NASA research project aims to answer perhaps the most vexing and profound of scientific mysteries: How did life on Earth begin? Using space probes and telescopic observations, scientists hope to better understand how organic molecules form in interstellar clouds and how comets might deliver them to planets.

Bomb-sniffing dogs may be next in line to lose their job to machines. Researchers have developed a miniature mechanical "nose" capable of detecting TNT vapor. The device, which can detect less than a billionth of a gram of explosive vapor, may surpass the ability of dogs.

Think your job stinks? You're not alone. Wildlife biologists make a living by locating feces of endangered species—treasure troves of information about the density and health of the animals. Now they're getting help from specially trained dogs that seem to revel in the smelly task.

Paleontologists have unearthed in Canada the world's oldest intact shark fossil—a 409-million-year-old specimen of a small, primitive species that was found with its braincase, jaws, and teeth attached in their correct anatomical position. The find answers and raises important questions about the origin of sharks.

A big American crocodile repeatedly lumbered into a village near Costa Rica's Tarcoles River and devoured some local dogs—not an unlikely occurrence in this region. This is just one of several "problem crocs" returning home after relocation. Researchers are testing a new GPS-cell-phone system to track the animals.

Scientists have completed a rough sketch of the canine genome. The results may explain why dogs are humans' best friend: Their genes are similar. Researchers say the cheaper technique used to map the dog genome will make more mammal DNA studies affordable.

Far from being a pristine wilderness prior to Columbus's arrival in the New World, parts of the Brazilian Amazon more closely resembled a pre-historic version of urban sprawl, archaeologists have discovered. Interconnected villages were built according to a very large-scale plan, suggesting knowledge of mathematics, architecture, astronomy, and engineering.

Eleven turtles equipped with satellite transmitters are on a voyage of scientific discovery. This is despite four of them swimming straight into Hurricane Isabel after setting off from North Carolina in the U.S. Having survived the ordeal, researchers say these long-distance travelers are providing crucial data about their mysterious lives at sea.

A study of bones of ancient Britons has found that there was a sudden change in their diet about 5,000 years ago. Apparently they stopped eating seafood in substantial quantities. Did this, scientists wonder, coincide with the dawn of livestock farming? The beginning of the British passion for roast beef?

One hundred miles (160 kilometers) off the Californian coast, and a mile (1,600 meters) below the surface, researchers have discovered a totally new kind of nesting site. In the dark and rocky fissures of a submarine plateau, hundreds of odd-looking fish and octopus gather to care for their eggs.