Science News

"My heart starts to race, I can't breathe, I get all sweaty, and I feel very scared - like I am about to die."   [More]

Editor's Note: William Gilly , a professor of cell and developmental biology and marine and organismal biology at Stanford University, is traveling with a group of students on board the Don José in the Sea of Cortez. They will monitor and track Humboldt squid and sperm whales in their watery habitats. This is the group's sixth blog post. [More]

Despite weighty concerns such as aging, planning for retirement or caring for older friends and family, people in the U.S. seem to get happier with age. A new study reports that these changes are consistent regardless of whether individuals were employed, had young children at home or lived with a partner. [More]

The advent of the artificial heart has spurred scientists to pursue synthetic kidneys and pancreases as well. Still, one key obstacle to realizing such devices is powering them after they have been implanted. Instead of having to constantly recharge them by hooking them up to some external system--or, worse, periodically removing them and replacing their batteries--researchers would prefer that these machines somehow harvest energy from their hosts. [More]

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Scientists exploring a remote Indonesian forest say they have uncovered a collection of new species, including a Pinocchio-nosed frog, the world's smallest known wallaby and a yellow-eyed gecko.

An international group of scientists found the species in the remote Foja Mountains on the island of New Guinea in late 2008 and released the details, including pictures, on Monday ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.

How do baby coral find a new home in the open ocean? They listen--very closely--for reef sounds.

Scientists at the University of Bristol in England had already discovered in the last few years that baby fish who live among coral use sound to find the reefs. So they decided to check out the coral larvae themselves. These are tiny creatures, the size of a flea.

By Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn

OSLO/LONDON (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has chosen Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres as the new U.N. climate chief to head stalled, international talks, sources close to the matter said on Monday.

By Stefano Ambrogi

Seasonal flu epidemics account for as many as half a million deaths worldwide each year. And the rapid spread of new strains can cause many more (the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic alone killed more than 16,000 people, according to the World Health Organization ). Quickly detecting a regional rise in flu-like symptoms such as coughs, sore throats or high fevers can help public health officials take steps to dampen the impact. However, it can take days--even weeks--for trends spotted in clinics to be reported more broadly.