Astronomers have given Pluto an official number to represent its downgraded status as a "dwarf planet." The icy body nicknamed "Xena" has also received an official name: Eris.
The hunt for extraterrestrial life has a new tool: a system of "fingerprints" scientists will use to compare alien worlds with Earth as it has appeared over the eons.
Astronomers say they have discovered the largest planet ever found, a supersize gas giant about 1.4 times the size of Jupiter that's unlike any other known world.
As patients in the United States increasingly turn to acupuncture, herbal remedies, and other treatments of so-called alternative medicine, researchers are taking a much closer look to find out which techniques work, which are harmful, and which could lead to new medical insights.
Recent measles outbreaks in the U.S. are revealing the vulnerability of two groups, experts say: those given ineffective vaccines in the mid-1960s, and those refusing to get vaccinated today. (Part one of a three-part series on the resurgence of diseases once thought wiped out.)
The announcement of a successful five-mile-deep (eight-kilometer-deep) oil well in the Gulf of Mexico might herald a new age of deepwater drilling, experts say.
This week: many dinosaurs still to be found, kangaroo birth control, eagle ancestors may have eaten early humans, rare cloud in Antarctica, death of "Crocodile Hunter," more.
Pencil and paper are so last-century. New software developed by international researchers can create and manipulate 3-D models of ancient inscribed artifacts.
A concept abandoned in the 19th century is being revived by a physicist as an alternative to dark matter, despite recent announcements of proof of the theoretical substance.
Gas giants that orbit close to their stars likely migrated inward, shaking up debris that could coalesce into Earthlike worlds, new computer models predict.
New software that replicates the way a fly sees could help the next generation of cameras pick out details obscured by movement or washed out by variations in light levels.
Our radio shows have already reached dozens of planets in nearby star systems. If there are intelligent beings on these worlds, what are they listening to, and why haven't they replied in kind?
