Oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill that devastated Alaska's Prince William Sound still lies trapped beneath its beaches, continuing to pollute once pristine shores, scientists reported Sunday. As climate change opens the Arctic region to oil exploration and shipping, the findings could prove crucial in devising effective methods for cleaning up future spills, the researchers said. Up ...

Scientists on Wednesday unveiled the genome of the soybean, saying it was an achievement that should deepen understanding of one of the world's most important crops, help to boost yields and defend the plant against pests. The study, published by the British weekly science journal Nature, provides a springboard for research into soy's DNA structure and protein-making machinery ...

Researchers on Sunday said they had identified more than a dozen genes that help modulate heart rate, a finding that one day may lead to smarter cardiac drugs. Three teams, working separately, netted the genes after comparing the DNA codes of tens of thousands of people of European and Indian descent. The genes control electrical impulses that drive the muscles ...

Fossilised footprints, found in a Polish quarry, of an enigmatic, long-extinct creature have prompted palaeontologists to reopen the file of how life in the sea moved to the land. A key theory in evolutionary biology is that tetrapods -- four-limbed land-loving vertebrates -- emerged from fishes with pairs of lobed fins. The intermediate stage in the process was fishes called elpistostegids, whose ...