WRAL.com - AP Science News

W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:03:13 -0500

A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil.

China sends panda expert to Taiwan to aid breeding

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:55:17 -0500

Nothing like a little time apart to rekindle the affections that could lead to a baby panda.

Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:54:21 -0500

A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space - an idea spurred by science fiction novels.

Prized mushroom collection returns to China

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:27:14 -0500

A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later.

Sea lions killed, but Columbia salmon toll rises

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:03:13 -0500

Killing or removing 25 California sea lions over the past two years has not reduced the toll on salmon at the base of Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River.

Genetic tests for UK asylum seekers draw criticism

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:15:27 -0500

Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups.

World leaders needed at talks to cut climate deal

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:26:13 -0500

After two years of tough U.N. climate talks often pitting the world's rich against the poor, negotiators said Friday a new global agreement now rides on industrial nations pledging profound emissions cuts next month in Copenhagen.

Caribbean, Gulf spared widespread coral damage

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:07:39 -0500

Lower-than-feared sea temperatures this summer gave a break to fragile coral reefs across the Caribbean and the central Gulf of Mexico that were damaged in recent years, scientists said Thursday.

New gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain disease

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:13:07 -0500

French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene.

Study: Man-eating lions consumed 35 people in 1898

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:34:19 -0500

The nightly attacks by two man-eating lions terrified railway workers and brought construction to a halt in one of east Africa's most notorious onslaughts more than a hundred years ago. But the death toll, scientists now say, wasn't as high as previously thought.