In order to date landslide deposits in Sichuan, China, scientists look for bones, charcoal and fossil snails.

Scientists say that current concerns over a tipping point in the disappearance of arctic sea ice may be misplaced.

Researchers isolate a rare mutation that erases fingerprints in some people

Observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.

Scientists have found that motion sickness on tilting trains can be essentially eliminated by adjusting the timing of when the cars tilt as they enter and leave the curves. They found that when the cars tilt just at the beginning of the curves instead of while they are making the turns, there was no motion...

Over one-third of the world's population already lives in areas struggling to keep up with the demand for fresh water. By 2025, that number will nearly double. A new Yale University study argues that seawater desalination should play an important role in helping combat worldwide fresh water shortages -- once conservation, reuse and other methods have been exhausted -- and provides insight into how...

There is a new way to design computer chips and electronic circuitry for extreme environments: make them out of diamond.

The current severe drought in East Africa is being attributed to La Niña conditions that prevailed in the Pacific until May 2011. The waxing and waning of rainfall in eastern tropical Africa in unison with El Niño-Southern Oscillation is not unusual and existed already 20,000 years ago, though the region's last 3,000 years have seen a less stable climate, according to a study published by an...

A discovery by scientists at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University could increase the chances for an effective combination of drug therapy to treat the second most common type of brain tumor. For years scientists have been looking for the primary cancer genes involved in the development of oligodendrogliomas. Scientists knew the two chromosomes that held the probable...

Stretching for thousands of miles beneath oceans, optical fibers now connect every continent except for Antarctica. But although optical fibers are increasingly replacing copper wires, carrying information via photons instead of electrons, today's computer technology still relies on electronic chips. Now, researchers are paving the way for the next generation of computer-chip technology: photonic...

For 20,000 years, climate variability in East Africa has been following a pattern that is evidently a remote effect of the ENSO phenomenon (El Nino Southern Oscillation) known as El Nino/La Nina. During the cold phase of La Nina, there is marginal rainfall and stronger winds in East Africa, while the El Nino warm phase leads to weak wind conditions with frequent...

For the last 10,000 years, summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been far from constant. For several thousand years, there was much less sea ice in The Arctic Ocean -- probably less than half of current amounts.

Neuroscientists have identified the parts of the brain we use to remember the timing of events within an episode. The study enhances our understanding of how memories are processed and provides a potential roadmap for addressing memory-related afflictions.

Researchers have made a critical review of the state of seawater desalination technology.

Scientists have completed a comprehensive map of genetic mutations occurring in the second-most common form of brain cancer, oligodendroglioma. The findings also appear to reveal the biological cause of the tumors, they say.

Numerous potential anti-malarial candidate drugs have been uncovered by researchers. Researchers used robotic, ultra-high-throughput screening technology to test more than 2,800 chemical compounds for activity against 61 genetically diverse strains of lab-grown malaria parasites. They found 32 compounds that were highly effective at killing at least 45 of the 61...

Researchers have discovered a way to prevent light signals on a silicon chip from reflecting backwards and interfering with its operation. Otherwise, the light beams would interfere with lasers and other photonic components on the chip and make the chip unstable. The breakthrough marks a significant achievement in the development of integrated photonic chips that could replace electronic chips as...

Dark, narrow features running down slopes in the warmer regions of Mars point to the possibility of salty water as the causing agent. Never observed before and strongly associated with the warmer seasons on Mars, the features show growth, suggesting they may form near the surface today in rare times and places.Never observed before and strongly associated with the warmer seasons on Mars, the...

New research reveals that two entirely different species show similar perception of auditory cues that drive basic biological functions; that these perceptions may be universally shared among animals; and that such perception may also limit the evolution of communication...

Striking new images from the mountains of Mars may be the best evidence yet of flowing, liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, says Nasa.

An orbiting camera spies evidence of seasonal water on Mars' surface.

Reuters - Canada's environment ministry will cut or reassign around 10 percent of its workers, unions said on Thursday, prompting fears that services like weather forecasting and environmental protection will suffer.

Some of the appliances in ravaged houses can be recycled. Forget about refrigerators in which food has been rotting for months, though.

Nasa's Juno spacecraft is scheduled to reach the gas giant Jupiter in 2016 to begin probing the interior of the planet and its magnetosphere. This video explains Juno's scientific mission and its mythological roots...