Science
Latest stories
Florida Indian Tribe's Last Alligator Wrestler Bows out

On billboards across the Florida Everglades, a burly Native American man pries open an alligator's mouth, pressing his face dangerously close to the reptile's 80 glinting teeth. "Adventures Await," the ads promise, as motorists whiz by.

The man's name is Rocky Jim, Jr., a 44-year-old Miccosukee Indian who has been wrestling alligators for 31 years, entertaining countless tourists from a sand pit and pond beneath a chickee hut along the Tamiami Trail, a two-lane road linking Miami to the port city of Tampa.

W140 Full Story
N. Korea Leader Opens 'Sci-Tech Complex' in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has opened a science and technology complex in Pyongyang, the North's state media said Saturday, adding another ostentatious building to the impoverished country's showcase capital.

His attendance at the ceremony on Friday marked his first public appearance since his New Year address, when he vowed to raise living standards in the struggling one-party Stalinist state.

W140 Full Story
Swimmer Mauled in Suspected Australia Shark Attack

A swimmer Saturday suffered wounds to his arms and legs after he was mauled in a suspected shark attack off Queensland state on Australia's east coast, officials said.

The latest reported attack comes during the busy summer season, and as authorities in neighboring New South Wales implement a range of shark-prevention measures to reduce encounters after a spate of maulings in the state last year.

W140 Full Story
Gene-Editing Technique Heals Mice with Muscular Dystrophy

Researchers have succeeded for the first time in reversing a degenerative illness in mice, using a revolutionary gene-editing technique that one day may help cure similar diseases in humans.

Three studies published Thursday in the journal Science said researchers employed a technique known as CRISPR -- clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats -- to cure an adult mouse model suffering Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disorder that affects one in every 5,000 baby boys.

W140 Full Story
Giant Squid Makes Rare Appearance in Japanese Port

A giant squid that wandered into a Japanese port has been guided back out to sea almost a week after it was spotted, giving enthusiasts and experts a rare glimpse of the mysterious creature.

The massive invertebrate, four metres (13 feet) in length, was discovered by fishermen on December 24 at a port in the city of Toyama on Japan's northwestern coast.

W140 Full Story
Colombia Hoping to 'Repopulate the Skies' with Condors

A pair of Chilean condors have been brought to a zoo in Medellin as part of an effort to reintroduce the majestic birds in Colombia, where they have become all but extinct.

"Condors are a very endangered species," said Sandra Correa, director the Santa Fe Zoo in Medellin, who said the goal is to mate the birds to help replenish the population in Colombia, where only about 100 condors remain.

W140 Full Story
Astronomers: Giant Comets May Threaten Earth

Planet Earth could be at higher risk of a space rock impact than widely thought, according to astronomers who suggested Tuesday keeping a closer eye on distant giant comets.

Most studies of potential Earth-smashers focus on objects in the asteroid belt roughly between Mars, Earth's outside neighbor, and Jupiter on its other flank, said the researchers.

W140 Full Story
SpaceX Succeeds in Historic Rocket Launch, Landing

SpaceX successfully landed its powerful Falcon 9 rocket in an upright position on Monday, a historic first in the company's bid to make rockets as reusable as airplanes.

"The Falcon has landed," a commentator said above the screams and cheers of people gathered at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

W140 Full Story
Snakes Alive! Missing Species Found off Australia Coast

Australian scientists Tuesday hailed the discovery of two sea snake species feared to have become extinct years ago off the Western Australia coast.

The short-nose sea snake and the leaf-scaled sea snake had not been seen since disappearing from their only known habitat on Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea more than 15 years ago, James Cook University researchers wrote in the Biological Conservation journal.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Spacewalkers Will Aim to Move Stalled Rail Car

Two American astronauts will step out on a short spacewalk Monday to move a stalled rail car that is stuck outside the International Space Station, NASA said.

Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra will float out of the orbiting lab to move the mobile transporter rail car "a few inches," NASA said in a statement on Sunday.

W140 Full Story