Astronauts grab Hubble, prepare for tough repairs
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Atlantis' astronauts grabbed the Hubble Space Telescope on Wednesday, then quickly set their sights on the difficult, dangerous and unprecedented spacewalking repairs they will attempt over the next five days.... more

Group says 3 more birds close to extinction
GENEVA (AP) -- An Ethiopian lark, a Galapagos finch and a spectacularly colored hummingbird only recently discovered in Colombia have been added to the list of the world's most threatened species, an environmental group said Thursday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature - the producer each year of a Red List of endangered species - said the Sidamo lark could soon become Africa's first known bird extinction as the Ethiopian savanna becomes overgrown by bush, farmland and o... more

Ivory sculpture in Germany could be world's oldest
BERLIN (AP) -- A 35,000-year-old ivory carving of a busty woman found in a German cave was unveiled Wednesday by archaeologists who believe it is the oldest known sculpture of the human form. The carving found in six fragments in Germany's Hohle Fels cave depicts a woman with a swollen belly, wide-set thighs and large, protruding breasts.... more

Space junk raises risks for Hubble repair mission
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Space shuttle Atlantis is now in a rough orbital neighborhood - a place littered with thousands of pieces of space junk zipping around the Earth at nearly 20,000 mph. There are more pieces of shattered satellites and used-up rockets in this region than astronauts have ever encountered. And the crew must be there for more than a week to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. As soon as the job is complete, the shuttle will scamper to safety.... more

Project launched to fight frog-killing fungus
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Zoos in the U.S., Panama and Mexico are deploying researchers in Central America to develop new ways to fight a fungus blamed for wiping out dozens of frog and amphibian species as part of a project announced Monday.... more

Mexican genomes show wide diversity
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The most detailed look yet at the genetics of Mexicans is showing significant diversity, a finding that could help point the way to customized drugs and identification of people prone to certain diseases.... more

Spirit rover's wheels stuck in soft Martian dirt
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The Mars rover Spirit has become stuck in loose dirt while ambling around a low plateau, NASA said Monday.... more

Study: Bad boy doesn't always get the girl
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Apparently the bad boy doesn't always get the girl. At least in a South American tribe with the highest known murder rate, it turns out that the most aggressive guys end up with fewer wives and children than milder men, according to a report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.... more

Hubble: From cosmic joke to cherished eye in space
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Using the power of pictures, the Hubble Space Telescope has snapped away at the mystery of the universe.... more

NM farmers work to preserve native chile varieties
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Gene Lopez has just finished planting his chile field in the same way he's planted his heat-packed crop for three decades. But as the years pass, there seems to be more immediacy behind each seed he places in the ground.... more