Science News

Hurricane Iselle suddenly gained strength over the Pacific Ocean Monday, becoming a Category 4 hurricane with wind gusts reaching 140 mph, U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Meteorologists say the hurricane is headed s...

There's been plenty of news surrounding a NASA "impossible" space engine that could get astronauts to Mars in a matter of weeks, with propulsion from microwaves rather than fuel. That kind of technology would revolutioni...

Older people with depression may benefit more from playing computer games aimed at improving their thinking skills than from taking an antidepressant drug, a new study suggests.

As thousands of vacationers hit the beach this summer, many of them will expose their unprotected bare limbs to direct UV sunlight, potentially putting them at risk of skin cancer later in life. To fight back, scientists...

By carefully controlling the position of an atomic-scale diamond defect within a volume smaller than what some viruses would fill, researchers have cleared a path toward better quantum computers and nanoscale sensors. Th...

A chance discovery about the 'wonder material' graphene -- already exciting scientists because of its potential uses in electronics, energy storage and energy generation -- takes it a step closer to being used in medicin...

A woman began having three to five spontaneous orgasms daily after she started taking a drug to treat her Parkinson's disease.

Scientists have long known that a molecule's behavior depends on its environment. Taking advantage of this phenomenon, a group of researchers at the University of Chicago developed a new technique to map microscopic envi...

Physicists have identified a mechanism that may help explain Zipf's law - a unique pattern of behavior found in disparate systems, including complex biological ones. The journal Physical Review Letters is publishing thei...

A Canadian project centered around a hitchhiking robot aims to explore the state of artificial intelligence and the culture of human kindness.

Everyone knows that thoughts cause actions which cause habits. What if this is the wrong way round, asks psychologist Claire Gillan (full text available to subscribers)

A hitchhiking robot, named hitchBOT, is making his way across Canada, relying on the kindness of strangers to give him a ride. Among other things, the project is designed to investigate how humans interact with artificia...

From corneas to nasal cells, biology is evocative art.

Narcissists can be reliably identified using just one quick survey question, new research suggests.

Recently physicists at Chapman University's Institute for Quantum Studies introduced the Quantum Cheshire Cat. Now they have introduced another quantum animal: the Quantum Pigeon.

An experimental drug made from tobacco plants appears to be saving two Americans infected with Ebola. The biotechnology drug produced by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., a San Diego company with nine employees, had been test...

Saudi Arabia is blocking Hajj pilgrims from three West African countries suffering large Ebola virus outbreaks from making the iconic Muslim visit to Mecca, while a Saudi man is being tested for the hemorrhagic fever aft...

Nigerian authorities in Lagos say Africa's most populous city has eight suspected cases of Ebola after a Liberian-American man fell ill and died there three weeks ago, Reuters reported Tuesday. UPDATE 12:36 PM EDT: A man...

A Japanese scientist who was among a team of researchers accused of falsifying the results of two stem cell studies committed suicide Tuesday at a government science institute in western Japan. Yoshiki Sasai, deputy dire...

A couple of surfers off the northeast coast of England had a close encounter of the adorable kind, when a curious young seal paid them an unusual visit.

There are some biological markers linked with a higher chance of surviving Ebola, experts say.

Scientists recently found a new hotspot for juvenile whale sharks in the Red Sea that could offer clues about their life history.