Astronomers hope that new tools will enable them to capture the first image of one of the 300 known planets orbiting distant stars.

An innovative research technique has led researchers to conclude that well-informed voters often use simple rules of thumb to sift through mountains of campaign information and pick the candidate who best reflects their own political views.

The Arctic tundra is under assault from trees, with serious implications for global climate change.

Scientists are investigating how to use the human breath to diagnose diseases and environmental ills.

Astronomers have discovered the first known system of three superEarths beyond the solar system.

Pluto and its dwarf planet neighbors are christened plutoids, the International Astronomical Union rules.

Sacrificial offerings in an ancient Mesopotamian building included a beheaded acrobat, a new skeletal analysis suggests.

Humans may have been walking around what is now central Mexico 40,000 years ago

When lifestyle factors like smoking were taken into account, coffee drinkers had lower death rates than their non-drinking peers, according to a study of more than 120,000 people.

Small tumors can be detected using a new technique that safely, reliably and noninvasively measures tissue chemistry.

Men with lower concentrations of vitamin D have higher risk of heart attack.

A radically different form of contraception would prevent pregnancies with small molecules of RNA.

A full recovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica in the coming years could significantly boost warming of the atmosphere over and around the icy continent.

Leaves mostly keep their cool (or warmth) wherever they live, a finding that might affect reconstructions of past climates.

New evidence suggests that the South American mountain chain shot up 2.5 kilometers in a geological blink of an eye.

Scientists find an odd mineral that could offer clues to the solar system's origins.

Spheres of fat suggest a way that life on Earth could have gotten started.

Woolly mammoths roamed Siberia in two distinct clans, and the split between the groups, scientists say, is surprisingly deep, occurring more than 1 million years ago.

Capuchin monkeys can reason with tokens as they do with different foods, demonstrating a basic capacity for thinking symbolically.

Date palm pit found at Masada sprouts at age 2,000, becoming the oldest known seed to germinate.