In a small village in northeastern Afghanistan, it's estimated more than half the residents are addicted to opium. Even the youngest of children are given the drug.Video.

In the Washington, D.C., area, acupuncture is becoming a more popular option for treating a variety of animal ailments, from arthritis and nerve damage to constipation. Video.

Thousands gather at a temple in southern India each year to have coconuts smashed on their heads in a plea to the gods for health and success. Video.

Just as Hercules had the multi-headed hydra to contend with, ocean predators tussle with two-headed sea snakes—or so it appears.

Like Bruce Wayne switching to his Batman voice, orangutans may be going deep to deter predators, and some are even using tools to sound more intimidating, a new study says. With audio.

"We don't think they are poisonous, but they certainly taste bad," an ecologist says of Australia's corroboree frog, an endangered species that has now been successfully bred in captivity. Video.

Gotham City has the Bat-signal; the "I've fallen and I can't get up" lady has her Life Call pendant; and now, mutant corn has a chemical to call for a hero when villainous vermin attack.

Denture wearers take note: Science is one step closer to growing replacement teeth. For the first time an honest-to-goodness tooth has grown from stem cells in a jaw.

A loggerhead sea turtle seemingly injured by a shark was recently fitted with "trial" prosthetics as part of efforts to give the rare animal fully functioning flippers. Video.

An Irish snorkeler gets bogged down, a Japanese polar bear takes a plunge, a bridge collapses in quake-ravaged China, and more in this week's best news photos.

A new swarm of giant jellyfish is building up off China's coast, and experts are warning fishers in Japan to brace for an inundation like the one that devastated their catch in 2005.

Despite the slight mohawk, the bare-faced bulbul is the first known bald songbird in mainland Asia, conservationists say.

Jellyfish that can grow up to 6.5 feet wide and weigh 440 pounds are poised to invade Japan. They are Nomura's jellyfish, and scientists and fishers who recall the last major inundation in 2005 are bracing themselves for the next potential wave.

Once upon a time in England, swan was a delicacy, prompting expeditions to "brand" wild, unclaimed fowl as royal property. The queen's swan marker continues the tradition today, but the aim is protection not consumption. Video.

On a farm in India, Mani the monkey uses her own mysterious methods to tend dozens of goats without any supervision or training, according to the Associated Press. Video.