The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Republic of Korea has claimed its first two fatalities. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the nation's government officials are working to prevent its spread and cope with the outbreak.
Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) have discovered two new species of marsupials whose sexual practices often kill them off. One is already threatened with extinction thanks to habitat loss, feral pests, and climate change.
Females of a critically endangered sawfish species have taken a drastic step toward survival: parthenogenesis, or asexual reproduction. This is the first time that a vertebrate that typically reproduces sexually has been observed engaging in parthenogenesis.
Finnish researchers have discovered a link between an increased rate of committing homicide and the use of drugs that affect the central nervous system (CNS). Use of tranquilizing benzodiazepines and painkillers carries the highest association with committing homicide, while there was only a slightly greater risk for users of anti-depressants.
Researchers from the Israel Center for Disease Control and the University of Haifa have discovered that breast-fed babies have a reduced risk for childhood leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer. The study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, shows that breast-fed children and teens-who were breast-fed for at least six months-are 19 percent less likely to develop childhood leukemia than their counterparts breast-fed for less than six months.
We all know Earth as a blue marble of a planet from space; but even on the Red Planet, you can see vivid blue splotches. On Mars, however, the blue patches aren't oceans. The European Space Agency (ESA) explains that the blue areas we see are created by incredibly strong winds and the way they appear on the planet's craggy surface.
Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner has completed her transition to womanhood. The transgender athlete made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair in a beautiful photo set entitled, "Call me Caitlyn" taken by Annie Leibovitz.
458 people aboard a Yangtze River cruise in bad weather lived out terrifying hours trapped inside the capsized ship Dongfangzhixing, or Eastern Star. At the time of this writing, only 14 have been rescued, and five bodies have been found so far. The ship, within its capacity and sporting appropriate safety equipment, sank so quickly after encountering a cyclone that rescuers worked feverishly to detect the sounds of living victims inside the sunken hull.
