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Global warming and decades of outmoded fire prevention strategies are merging to set the stage for massive "mega-fires" that scar communities' homes and pocketbooks, according to a new assessment. Preliminary findings from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released this week trace the circumstances around eight mega-fires across the world in a quest to uncover clues on how best to ward them off and minimize their damage.

Imagine that you want to send a secret message to your colleague at the CIA. You can encrypt it to prevent counterspies from reading it

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. task force examining the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant expects to find ways to improve safety at the country's 104 U.S. nuclear plants but has not found any major problems in its first 30 days of work

By Ayesha Rascoe WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. offshore drilling regulator has approved a Royal Dutch Shell plan for deepwater oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re a seasick crew. Sara, Nastassja and I take turns leaning over the railing while the three surfers on board--JP, Justin and Mary--lay supine on the deck trying to move as little as possible. When the boat jolts from side to side I grip the railing tighter, fending off images of capsizing

By James Pomfret NEW BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - China has hailed reconstruction efforts since a massive earthquake leveled parts of Sichuan province three years ago as a major victory, but a lack of jobs and crippling debts to pay for new homes are making life difficult for many. [More]

Key concepts Cells [More]

African Anopheles mosquitoes find us by our carbon-dioxide-rich exhalation. But when they get close they turn away from our heads and dive for our feet--apparently their preferred snack spot

Most forms of cancer still must be spotted visually to be diagnosed. But if a newly devised virus can do the job, it could track down cancer cells too small or well hidden to be seen in scans. It might also help shrink tumors , too.

By Heidi Ledford of Nature magazine Cells taken from the tips of mouse tails and genetically reprogrammed to mimic mature liver cells can repair damaged livers.

With the market for hybrid automobiles picking up steam , it makes sense for tomorrow's engineers to get a feel for designing and building cars powered by a combination of internal combustion and electricity. Hybrid technology is far from an exact science, however, as student engineers found out last week at the Formula Hybrid International competition held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. [More]

By Marian Turner of Nature magazine When a research team started analyzing the genetics of micro-organisms from their university pond, they might have expected to find a couple of new species. [More]

BALTIMORE--Dark matter pervades the universe, giving shape to the cosmos on the grandest scales. So perhaps it is fitting that physicists are turning to a large-scale physics experiment to uncover what dark matter is made of. [More]

Even in the information age, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still gathers much of its data the old-fashioned way. Workers make phone calls to find out what dentists charge for pulling teeth, and they visit stores to write down the prices of CDs and Russet potatoes.

By James Mitchell Crow of Nature magazine Fossilized dinosaur tracks that dot a remote 80-kilometre stretch of Western Australia's coastline are under threat from a proposed natural gas facility, say paleontologists. The tracks were made by multiple species of sauropod, theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs as they walked across mud flats around 130 million years ago.