Yahoo! News: Science News

Cleanup of Mich. river oil spill will take months (AP)

Veterinarian Scott Ford, left, feeds a rescued goose with a liquid nutritional supplement as volunteer Sarah Klepinger assists in Marshall, Mich., Friday, July 30, 2010. Volunteers and government officers scrambled on Friday to save geese and other wildlife damaged by an oil spill in a southern Michigan river as the Canadian company that owns the ruptured pipeline said the crude had been contained. Enbridge Inc. said its focus was shifting to cleaning up the spilled oil in the Kalamazoo River, which it estimates at 820,000 gallons. The Environmental Protection Agency puts the total at more than 1 million gallons. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP - Officials investigating the cause of a huge oil spill along a major river in southern Michigan say it will take months to clean up the mess, and damage to wetlands and wildlife may last considerably longer.


Expo shows illegal pet trade rampant in Indonesia (AP)

In this Thursday, July 29, 2010 photo, visitors look at tortoise on display during an annual flora and fauna expo in Jakarta, Indonesia. Critically endangered tortoise are being sold openly at a plant and animal exposition in the heart of Indonesia's capital, highlighting concerns about the rampant — and growing — illegal pet trade. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)AP - The most threatened tortoise in the world is being sold openly at a plant and animal exposition in the heart of Indonesia's capital, highlighting concerns about the rampant — and growing — illegal pet trade.


Judge: FWS plan excluded possible lynx habitat (AP) AP - A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arbitrarily excluded "critical habitat" that could be occupied by the elusive Canada lynx.

Icebreaker Ships to Map Arctic Seafloor (LiveScience.com) LiveScience.com - The U.S. icebreaker ship Healy is about to set sail on its way to the Arctic, where it will burst through the sea ice in order to map the seafloor below. The map will help set the record straight on how much of the seafloor a country can claim as its own.

AP EXCLUSIVE: Salazar tours rigs, keeps drill ban (AP)

The surface blowout preventer on the Rowan Ralph Coffman oil rig is seen as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tours the rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, Wednesday, July 28, 2010. The House passed a bill to boost safety standards for offshore drilling and remove a liability cap for oil spills Friday, July 30, 2010, but a partisan fight in the Senate will likely delay action on a response to the Gulf oil spill until Congress returns from its summer recess. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - The helicopter passes over the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico — with surprisingly little oil visible on its surface — when out of the sea rises a skyscraper-like structure nearly 350 feet above the waves. The $600 million rig, nearly 100 miles off Louisiana's coast, has a hull larger than a football field and can drill more than 5 miles beneath the ocean floor.


BP may sell German gas stations for $2.6 billion: report (Reuters) Reuters - BP Plc is seeking to sell its German petrol station chain Aral for around 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), German magazine Wirtschaftswoche reported on Saturday, citing investment bankers familiar with BP's plans.

Whole New Mercury Promised by NASA Spacecraft (SPACE.com) SPACE.com - NEW YORK – A NASA spacecraft aimed at Mercury has already returned valuable observations from the planet closest to our sun, despite still being months away from entering orbit around the small, rocky world, the mission's lead scientist said.

EU clears six types of GM maize for animal feed (AFP)

One of Monsanto's genetically-modified maize cobs, seen here in July 2007. European regulators authorised on Wednesday the import of six types of genetically-modified maize for use in animal feed after governments were deadlocked over whether to ban or approve them.(AFP/File/Jean-Pierre Muller)AFP - European regulators authorised on Wednesday the import of six types of genetically-modified maize for use in animal feed after governments were deadlocked over whether to ban or approve them.


Scientists say global warming is continuing (AP)

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday, amid global climate warming worries.(AFP/NASA/File)AP - Scientists from around the world are providing even more evidence of global warming, one day after President Barack Obama renewed his call for climate legislation.


NYC looks to stop spreading bedbug infestations (AP)

FILE - In this undated photo released by the University of Florida, a common bedbug is engorged with blood after feeding on a human. One of every 15 New Yorkers battled bedbugs last year, officials said Wednesday, July 28, 2010, as they announced a plan to fight the spreading infestation, including a public-awareness campaign and a top entomologist to head the effort. (AP Photo/University of Florida, File) NO SALESAP - One of every 15 New Yorkers battled bedbugs last year, officials said Wednesday as they announced a plan to fight the spreading infestation, including a public-awareness campaign and a top entomologist to head the effort.