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Two billion years ago-- eons before humans developed the first commercial nuclear power plants in the 1950s-- seventeen natural nuclear fission reactors operated in what is today known as Gabon in Western Africa [Figures 1 and 2]. The energy produced by these natural nuclear reactors was modest. The average power output of the Gabon reactors was about 100 kilowatts, which would power about 1,000 lightbulbs

Our diets are unhealthy, that much is clear. Now, an increasing number of scientists and physicians wonder if our propensity for unhealthy, obesity-inducing eating might be tied to the food choices made during our first weeks and months of life

By Zo

Obesity is associated with a host of health problems. But a new study finds that obese people may actually have an advantage in a specific medical situation: they’re less likely to die after surgery from certain respiratory complications than are their non-obese counterparts.

At Al Shaqab in Doha, Qatar, science is bringing a new life to the ancient bloodlines of Arabian horses--the breed that carried historical figures such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon and George Washington. [More]

It's not unusual to fumble when trying to recall one's family medical history --especially in the absence of integrated electronic health records (EHRs). But those cumbersome forms and recitations help doctors to predict patients' risks for disease later in life, especially for partially heritable afflictions, such as breast or colorectal cancers.

By David Cyranoski of Nature magazine After the Fukushima nuclear disaster spewed radiation across northern Japan in March, some feared that farming there would be shut down for years.

Would you buy a product that promised that 60 percent of the time it works every time? Maybe for caricature news anchors like Ron Burgundy , there is no question that a method (exotic cologne) with this type of track record (for attracting women) would be a good investment

By Meredith Wadman of Nature magazine The contentious issue of drug-industry influence over medical-research writing erupted on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia this week. [More]

Citizen scientists with birding experience can help New Jersey study its migrant shorebird habitats [More]

Recent media attention to coyotes snatching up and eating pets in New Orleans has highlighted spring flooding as the possible culprit. While flooding may be playing a minor role, it's really Hurricane Katrina that is to blame, according Kenny Ribbeck, chief of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries' wildlife division. [More]

Successful batters often report that the baseball looked “huge” just before they hit a home run. This effect, dubbed action-specific perception, has been noted for years in all kinds of physical activities. Yet questions remain about why the illusion happens

Medea, the sensual and ravishing sorceress of Greek mythology, enters the royal chambers.

The 1988 arrival of viral hemorrhagic disease (VHD) in Spain devastated that country's European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) population and, in the process, possibly doomed the local species most adapted to hunt rabbit, the Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus ). [More]