Science News

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, does not harbor alien life as far as anyone knows, but the prospects for extraterrestrial biology there are about as good there as anywhere else in the solar system. [More]

Curiously, the cancer rate is 10 percent higher in the left breast than in the right. This left-side bias holds true for both men and women and it also applies to the skin cancer melanoma. Researchers Örjan Hallberg of Hallberg Independent Research in Sweden and Ollie Johansson of The Karolinska Institute in Sweden, writing in the June issue of the journal Pathophysiology , suggest a surprising explanation that not only points to a common cause for both cancers, it may change your sleeping habits. [More]

On Colombia's La Guajira Peninsula , an arid stretch of land that forms the northernmost tip of South America jutting into the Caribbean Sea, life for the indigenous Wayúu people in many ways remains as it has for centuries. The Wayúu men fish each morning, returning home to their settlements (known as "rancherías") shortly after sunrise, before the sun heats the surrounding desert to 40 degrees Celsius. The Wayúu women weave woolen shoulder bags called "mochilas," which they sell in neighboring towns. Far from the major cities of Colombia's interior, potable water is scarce in La Guajira and electricity is a luxury. [More]

How much is too much to spend on saving an endangered species? In the case of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis ) $1.25 million seems to be the breaking point.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) recently announced it would spend that much to protect the squirrels from cars near two dangerous roadways where several of the animals die every year.