Apes laugh too, say researchers who tickled gorillas, chimps, orangutans, bonobos, and human babies—suggesting laughter began in a prehistoric ape-human ancestor. Video.

Tickling baby chimps and other apes—and a few humans—scientists have found the first hard evidence for ape laughter, a new study says.

Nicknamed "Jacques Cousteau" clouds, these "turbulent" seas in the sky could be examples of the first official new cloud type since 1951.

Researchers have discovered ten new emperor penguin colonies by spotting penguin excrement stains on Antarctic ice from satellite images. Video.

Bandages and gels laced with a maggot enzyme may soon be coming to a drugstore or hospital near you, doctors have announced.

Mice genetically engineered to produce a human protein that protects nursing babies from viruses and bacteria could be a first step toward healthier baby formula, Russian scientists report.

Thousands of years before the Joker gassed comic book victims into a grinning death, Phoenicians were forcing smiles on the faces of the dead—and now we know how, scientists say.

A new filling derived from the bile produced during digestion could eliminate the need for mercury and other toxic chemicals in modern dentistry, a new study suggests.

On May 28, 1959, two U.S. monkeys became the first to make it back from space alive. Get to know these national heroes as well as some of the other animals that have been launched into the history books over the past 50 years.

In New York City, where beekeeping is illegal due to health concerns, bee lovers often put hives on rooftops to avoid detection. Video.

See newborn fluorescent monkeys; an elephant pedicure; a tumbling, fumbling cheese chase; and more in the week's best news pictures.

When panda pornography didn't entice a male panda to mate with his female partner at a Thai zoo, staff next tried artificial insemination, which resulted in a surprise birth this week. Video.

On the microbial level, a person's underarms are lush habitats brimming with diversity—and that's a good thing for skin health, researchers say.

See a coin-size snake, the world's first pregnant mother, a flesh-eating slug, and the rest of 2008's top ten new species, as named by an international panel of scientists.

Sperm whales have been filmed "elegantly" stealing cod from fishers' lines in Alaska, giving scientists a rare opportunity to learn about how these deep-diving giants hunt.