WRAL.com - AP Science News

Shuttle Atlantis leaves space station, headed home

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:17:09 -0500

Shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station early Wednesday, headed home with one astronaut eager to hold his newborn daughter for the first time and another who's been away from her young son since the summer.

Icebergs head from Antarctica for New Zealand

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:12:14 -0500

Ships are on alert and maritime authorities are monitoring the movements of hundreds of menacing icebergs drifting toward New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean, officials said.

Big Bang atom smasher starts speeding proton beams

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:57:22 -0500

The world's largest atom smasher used its accelerator Tuesday to speed up proton beams for the first time as scientists moved ahead in efforts to learn more about the universe.

CO2 curve ticks upward as key climate talks loom

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:30:27 -0500

The readings at this 2-mile-high (3-kilometer-high) station show an upward curve as the world counts down to climate talks: Global warming gases have built up to record levels in the atmosphere, from emissions that match scientists’ worst-case scenarios.

Comatose for 23 years, Belgian feels reborn

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:30:21 -0500

Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.

Grand Canyon to change 'unfair' permit system

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:09:49 -0500

Getting one of the roughly 11,500 permits granted each year to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon has become so competitive and "unfair" that managers at the national park have decided to change the system.

Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:15 -0500

Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated - beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

EU: US should spell out long-term climate goal

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:56:14 -0500

The United States should be ready to spell out its long-term vision for reducing carbon emissions over the next two decades, not just until 2020, the European Union said Tuesday.

Rare Charles Darwin book found on toilet bookshelf

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:03:35 -0500

An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England.

Ukraine’s ‘hot air’ bedevils global climate deal

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:31:05 -0500

Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he’s a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance.