As Hong Kong vendors slit the throats of their chickens and ducks and the government gassed farm poultry, there were reports Tuesday that the "bird flu" that has killed four people in Hong Kong may have spread to mainland China.
CSIRO researchers have produced the world's first prawn gene map, which is the first step in assisting prawn farmers to grow bigger, faster growing prawns in the future.
If you can get past the notion that bats are kind of Halloween-like and scary, they are amazing creatures. As Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins says in his book, "The Blind Watchmaker," "They are like miniature spy planes, bristling with sophisticated instrumentation."
Spokesman Joe Lockhart confirmed a New York Times story that said Clinton would seek a 35 percent increase in spending for AIDS drug assistance programs which help pay for new medications that slow or arrest the progression of the infection.
Whether or not you realize it, if you don't buy organic foods, pesticides are an integral part of your family diet. And of the 300 pesticides approved by the federal government, 73 -- including some of the most frequently used -- have been found to be "probable" or "possible" carcinogens.
A pioneering method of treating cancers by freezing tumours with liquid nitrogen is on trial at a London hospital, and could help maintain the quality of life for sufferers.
Researchers have now determined the structure of protein that plays a vital role in putting the brakes on cell growth, according to a new report. The protein, known as p18INK4c is a member of INK4, a family of molecules that can result in cancer if mutated or disabled.
A national seniors group filed suit yesterday in federal court hoping to block enforcement of a new law that would ban physicians from the Medicare system if they privately negotiate their fees with patients whose treatment otherwise would be covered by Medicare.
A cocktail of respiratory viruses caused as many as 17 Houston health-care facilities to request some form of drive-by status for at least part of Tuesday. In most cases, intensive-care units were filled when people with chronic lung and heart diseases developed complications after they contracted some kind of respiratory ailment, he said.
 
Physics, Astronomy
& Astrophysics, Space, Aeronautics, and Aerospace
About one minute after United Airlines Flight 826 was violently rocked by air turbulence over the Pacific Ocean Sunday night, a Northwest Airlines plane flew safely 4,000 feet higher thanks to turbulence prediction methods used by Northwest.
 
Chemistry
Computers, Computer Science,
and the Internet Issues
IBM scientists have developed a computer disk drive that can store 11.6 billion bits per square inch -- about the same as all the letters in 1,500 novels.
 
Anthropology, Archaeology,
Linquistics, and Paleontology
Environmental Sciences &
Issues, Geology, Meteorology, and Oceanography
An Indian "mystery bird" unseen for 113 years and suspected to be extinct has been photographed by American scientists, who also uncovered a bird-watchers scandal.
The population boom is still booming in the world's poorest countries, even as it levels off in richer nations that encourage the education and employment of women, the Population Institute reported on Tuesday.
As 1997, the "International Year of the Reef," draws to an end, scientists are warning that 12 months of especially intense research has shown that more must be done to protect the "rain forest of the ocean."
In Corea, Maine, and other coastal towns, lobstering has been a way
of life for generations, but a sea change is under way By Jim Doherty,
photographs by Richard Howard
Begun as a co-op for climbers, REI now has gear for everyone from skiers
to bikers and folks who just like to look the part By Scott McCredie, photographs
by Regis Lefebure
In Europe and America, politics, a maiden's honor, even the pronunciation
of a word, were worthy reasons to fight a duel By Barbara Holland, illustrations
by Peter De Sève