Science News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Tropical Storm Dolly grew into a category one hurricane Tuesday as it headed toward the US-Mexican border, forcing the evacuation of thousands in Mexico while the US Navy sheltered aircraft.

MIAMI (AFP) - Tropical Storm Dolly grew into a category one hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as it headed toward the US-Mexican border, the US National Hurricane Center said.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Dolly became a hurricane on Tuesday and bore down on southern Texas, but forecasters don't expect it to pack too much of a punch when it comes ashore near the Mexican border on Wednesday.

As humans look farther into the universe and discover more and more planets beyond the sun, many wonder how typical our own solar system is. Often astronomers in the planet-hunting business say discoveries of Earth-like worlds are just around the corner.

With wildfires raging on the West Coast of the United States and hurricane season approaching its busiest months, emergency workers should be checking their mobile satellite communications equipment to make sure they have adequate coverage, warns a Futron Corp. white paper.

A dwarf planet circling the sun out beyond the orbit of Neptune has been rechristened Makemake after a Polynesian god and designated the third of the solar system's new class of plutoids, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced Saturday.

HELSINKI (AFP) - The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday criticised the European Union's illegal wood imports, singling out Finland as the top offender and calling for EU-wide legislation to tackle the issue.

BEIJING - Only seven pandas remain at China's most famous breeding center, after a final group of 13 animals were transferred from the earthquake-damaged facility, an official said Tuesday.

ROME (AFP) - One of Italy's leading animal rights groups said Monday it was launching an Internet petition to demand Pope Benedict XVI stop wearing fur during religious ceremonies at the Vatican.

PARIS (AFP) - The belief that dinosaurs underwent explosive species diversification just before they were wiped out is an illusion, for the beasts' main evolutionary shifts took place millions of years before, a study says.

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Scientists in Panama have unearthed hundreds of animal fossils dating back 20 million years, which could shed more light on how and when the American continent became connected.

The Jurassic Period's Archaeopteryx is famous as the world's first known bird, but now-extinct reptiles such as pterosaurs and kuehneosaurs were flying as far back as 225 million years ago, during the Triassic and before large dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

CHICAGO (AFP) - Scientists have isolated two genes which may prevent people from contracting HIV or at least slow the rate at which they develop AIDS, a new study has found.

PARIS (AFP) - French researchers on Tuesday said that gene therapy, tested on lab animals, showed promise in combatting the tragic neurogenerative disease known as Huntington's.

BEIJING (AFP) - China has said it must urgently step up the development of genetically modified crops as it faces mounting challenges to feed its 1.3 billion people due to shrinking arable land and climate change.

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia's plan to build a series of hydroelectric dams on Borneo island threatens the World Heritage status of a key national park, environmentalists warned Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed charging energy companies wanting to squeeze oil out of vast shale deposits in the West lower royalties than they pay for drilling on other federal lands, including offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

In an energy speech last week in Washington, former Vice President Al Gore might have surprised a few people by identifying geothermal energy, along with wind and solar, as the one of the country's most promising alternative energy sources.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Viagra, a popular anti-impotence pill, may help some women on antidepressants have better sex, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Several studies reveal how Americans shop in irrational ways, and increasingly scientists are figuring out how easily we can be duped. Retailers in turn use these tricks to get inside our heads, encouraging window shoppers to become real shoppers, driving purchases of sales items regardless of real value, and helping buyers feel good about the things they walk out with ... often for no good reason.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People infected with parasitic worms may be much more susceptible to the AIDS virus, according to a study published on Tuesday that may help explain why HIV has hit sub-Saharan Africa particularly hard.