Winds on Neptune, Uranus may shed light on exoplanet atmospheres

Los Angeles — Inscrutable ice giants Neptune and Uranus have only a thin rind of windy weather over their fluid contents, a team of planetary scientists say. The research published in the journal Nature relies on decades-old data from the Voyager 2 spacecraft and may help scientists understand the atmospheric dynamics of alien gas-giant exoplanets beyond our solar system.

Dark, massive asteroid to fly by Earth on May 31

Los Angeles — It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.

NASA: New pump resolves big space station leak

Cape Canaveral, Fla. — NASA says an impromptu spacewalk seems to have fixed a big ammonia leak at the International Space Station.

Scientists recover stem cells from cloned human embryos

New York — Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.

Idaho spud giant bets on biotech potatoes

Boise, Idaho— A dozen years after a customer revolt forced Monsanto to ditch its genetically engineered potato, an Idaho company aims to resurrect high-tech spuds.

3-man space crew returns safely to Earth

Moscow — A Soyuz space capsule with a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Experts: CO2 record illustrates 'scary’ trend

Washington -- The old saying that "what goes up must come down" doesn't apply to carbon dioxide pollution in the air, which just hit an unnerving milestone.

Astronaut makes music video aboard space station

Cape Canaveral, Fla. — In a high-flying, perfectly pitched first, an astronaut on the International Space Station is bowing out of orbit with a musical video: his own custom version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."

Project aims to track big city carbon footprints

Los Angeles -- Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward.

Sun unleashes strongest solar flare of 2013 so far

Los Angeles — The sun has fired off a massive flare, the strongest solar eruption this year.

Scientists seek to corral asteroid for study

San Jose, Calif. — Scheming to rearrange the heavens, scientists are busy planning how to pluck, push and park a spinning asteroid between here and the moon.

West Michigan lawmaker: State rejects dune road request

A western Michigan lawmaker says the state Department of Environmental Quality has rejected a proposal to build a 1,200-foot private driveway across a strip of government-owned Lake Michigan dune habitat.

Lake pollution, weeds growing problem for St. Clair Shores

The waterways running along the shoreline of Lake St. Clair were a selling point for homeowners — giving them direct access to the lake for their boats, as well as a place for a quick dip.

Project aims to track big city carbon footprints

Los Angeles — Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward.

Carbon dioxide level sets record

Washington — Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by ...

Spacewalking astronauts hope new pump stops leak

Cape Canaveral, Fla. — Astronauts making a rare, hastily planned spacewalk replaced a pump outside the International Space Station on Saturday in hopes ...

NASA: Space station power system radiator leaking

Washington — The International Space Station has a radiator leak in its power system. The outpost's commander calls the situation serious, but not life- ...

Wearable robots offering new hope

Chicago — When Michael Gore stands, it's a triumph of science and engineering. Eleven years ago, Gore was paralyzed from the waist down in a workplace ...

‘Ring of fire’ eclipse crosses Australia, Pacific

Sydney — The moon glided between the Earth and sun, blocking everything but a dazzling ring of light, for the few skygazers lucky enough to see Friday's ...

Fracking debate heats up as drilling projects begin

The expansion of gas and oil drilling through a process called “fracking” is back as a hot-button issue in Michigan — along with petitions, protests and armed ...

Monitoring for Asian carp to increase in Illinois

Chicago — Federal and Illinois officials said Thursday they will intensify efforts to find Asian carp in Illinois waterways this year but cut back on DNA ...

Thousands around the world applying for one-way ticket to Mars

Los Angeles — Do you dream of living on Mars? Then turn on your webcam. You've got an application video to make.

Shippers, activists clash over ballast water rules

Detroit — Michigan’s shippers and environmentalists clashed at a Senate hearing here Monday about a proposal to end a state law on ballast water that companies ...

Cicada brood to bug East Coast

Washington — Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. The ...

Stolen dino fossil returned to Mongolia

New York — It may be the first time a dead dinosaur is flying for free. U.S. authorities in New York are returning a 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus skeleton ...

Scientist: Cassava disease spreading at alarming rate in Africa

Johannesburg — Scientists say a disease destroying entire crops of cassava has spread out of East Africa into the heart of the continent, is attacking ...

Scenic, struggling S. Illinois braces for oil rush

Vienna, Ill. — This is the Illinois that many people never see — the sparsely populated southern tip where flat farmland gives way to rolling hills, ...

NH auction to feature EKG of Armstrong's heartbeat

Amherst, N.H. — A New Hampshire auction house will soon accept bids on space and aviation artifacts, including an electrocardiogram of Apollo 11 ...

Solar plane on milestone trip

Mountain View, Calif. — A solar-powered airplane left Northern California on Friday for the first leg of a planned cross-country trip that its co-pilot ...