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January 4, 2013 Developed by British researchers, Larry the robot has helped scientists see that a little vomit can go a long way. He vomits on command. And his barf can be tagged with fluorescent dye that makes it easy for scientists to track.

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January 4, 2013 Since 1900, citizen scientists across the Americas have braved bad weather and lack of sleep to participate in the yearly count — essentially, a bird-watching marathon. In the process, these birds have created the world's longest-running database in ornithology and given scientists a great tool for assessing the health of bird populations.

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January 4, 2013 Whether you're a homeowner who bought an energy-saving refrigerator last year or a company hoping to build a wind farm, the tax package Congress just approved may give you a reason to cheer.

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January 3, 2013 People generally fail to appreciate how much their personality and values will change in the years ahead — even though they recognize that they have changed in the past, according to fresh research.

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January 3, 2013 Uncertainty over the credit had lingered for a while, causing the industry to put off long-term planning. So while the now-approved tax credit revives prospects for an industry facing tens of thousands of layoffs, don't expect to see many new turbines coming up soon.

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January 3, 2013 Humans have a long tradition of sharing food with strangers, and it turns out bonobos do it, too. In fact, the bonobos in a recent experiment were more likely to offer fruit and nuts to a stranger than to a familiar ape. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're altruistic.

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January 2, 2013 A controversial self-defense statute appears to produce more killings, according to a new study. Advocates for the law say it's working as designed. But researchers have different explanations about what might be happening.

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January 2, 2013 Here's an animal that's really, really old on our planet, a true survivor. But to keep going, it has been forced to move, over and over, till it has almost out of moves. The story of a bug that ran away from flowers and learned to live on ice.

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January 2, 2013 Many people turn to superfit models for weight-loss inspiration. There's growing evidence that this is a mistake. New research from the Netherlands explores whether repeated exposure to images of skinny models helps or hinders dieters.

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January 1, 2013 A Shell oil drilling rig holding more than 150,000 gallons of diesel, oil, and hydraulic fluid has run aground near Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska, after breaking away while being towed during a storm. The crew was evacuated before the rig was incapacitated.

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January 1, 2013 The discovery of the Higgs boson will likely be hailed as the most important scientific discovery of 2012. But many ideas that change the world don't tend to spring from flashy moments of discovery. Our view of nature — and our technology — often evolve from a sequence of more subtle advances.

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December 31, 2012 To a significant degree, you are the sum of the stories you tell yourself about yourself. Take away your memories, the connective tissue of your life, and what's left?

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December 31, 2012 When scientists figured out how to make the deadly H5N1 virus more contagious, a debate ignited about whether to publish the research and do more experiments. Over the past year, scientists published the contentious work, but they still can't agree on the field's future.

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December 31, 2012 Here are a few things to look for if you're trying to distinguish the age of your bottle of bubbly or the method by which it was made. And if you just want to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to preserving the bubbles, consider how you pour.

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