Douglas Main

Unprecedented warming has taken place in the Arctic. But just how unprecedented? New research shows that temperatures over the last century are the highest they've been in at least 44,000 years.

So much for "Rat Island." A remote island west of Alaska has been renamed to Hawadax Island since the birds have returned more quickly than expected.

Scientists have shown that both exposure to cold and the ingestion of chemicals in chili peppers increase the amount of energy the fat cells burn, and can help lead to weight loss.

The staff at a Southern California educational facility stumbled onto a surprise when an 18-foot-long (5.5 meters) sea creature washed near the shore.

Sea lampreys use a digestive enzyme called a bile salt as a sexual pheromone, excreting it through their gills after not eating for weeks.

A fossil of a mosquito from 46 million years ago has been found in Montana. The specimen contains fossilized blood in its abdomen, proving that these animals sucked blood.

Biologists study jaguars by getting them to approach remote camera traps in the jungle. The product used to attract them may surprise you.

Cyclone Phailin is bearing down on India, and certain to bring a "catastrophic" storm surge. Here is an explanation of how it got to become so strong and why the region is prone to deadly cyclones.

Where do people use the Internet the most? The least? A new study charts the patterns of Internet use by country and has come up with some surprising results.

A blog post written by organizers of a UN climate talk in Poland has angered some campaigners, who say that it brings shame upon the meeting.

Although we'll never know, it seems likely that invasive insects would be happy about the the government shutdown, since it hampers efforts to eradicate them.

Pufferfish make circles on the seafloor to attract mates. The circles help the females decide which males to reproduce with.

In the stream below a plant that treats wastewater from fracking, scientists found large amounts of metals and salts, and elevated levels of radioactivity.

Bad breath is annoying, but it's not that hard to fix with the right attention. Here are five ways to treat halitosis.

More mercury will be released to the atmosphere and the oceans due to wildfires and violent storms, which are more likely to occur in a climate change scenario.

Small-scale gold mining is responsible for most current mercury pollution. But overall, the largest source of the heavy metal is "legacy mercury" emitted by humans decades or centuries ago.

Could it be possible to store carbon dioxide in the rock deep beneath the New York City region? Researchers are drilling deep into the ground to find out.

A cane toad has been photographed with a bat in its mouth in the coastal forests of Peru, perhaps the first time that this has been photographically documented.