NASA remains on track for a Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis. Even the weather is looking great.

The seals can stay and play at a La Jolla swimming cove.

A plant that converts cow dung into energy for homes opened in the Netherlands Friday.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped nearly 46 percent from August 2008 to July 2009 — the biggest annual decline in two decades, the government said Thursday.

NASA on Thursday outlined a rescue plan to try to free the Mars rover Spirit, which has been bogged in a sand trap on the red planet for half a year. The risky operation is expected to last several months.

Chimps, our nearest relative, don't talk. We do. Now scientists have pinpointed a mutation in a gene that might help explain the difference.

Much like its death-defying dives for fish, the brown pelican has resurfaced after plummeting to the brink of extinction.

Obama, whose popularity at home and abroad has boosted the image of the United States according to numerous surveys, topped the list that also features al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey as people wielding some influence over the world.

A new scientific documentary by the Forestry Bureau reveals the unusual behavior of the Oriental Honey Buzzard, a rare large bird of prey that rips open wasps' nests, battling with the stinging insects just to taste the sweet pupae.

An Italian inventor has combined faith and ingenuity to come up with a way to keep church traditions alive for the faithful without the fear of contracting swine flu — an electronic holy water dispenser.