Most scientists agree that global warming presents the greatest threat to the environment. If our planet's ice caps and glaciers continue to melt the sea level will rise and submerge vast territories, from entire countries to large parts of the United States.
Last year, cosmetic plastic surgery procedures increased 32 percent. According to one Beverly Hills clinic, Nicole Kidman's nose, Catherine Zeta-Jones' eyes, and Angelina Jolie's lips topped patient requests. Related stories air Wednesday on our U.S. cable television channel.
William Shakespeare died 388 years ago this week. With words like "sanctimonious" and "fashionable" to his credit, among others, the playwright exerted a lasting influence on the English language.
An upstart Los Angeles-based limo service has earned rave reviews from the rich, eco-friendly Hollywood set for its fleet of "green" SUVs. The swanky rides feature bars stocked with organic snacks and soy vodka and, perhaps better still, engines powered by natural gas.
The expected emergence of billions of cicadas in more than a dozen U.S. states has gardeners worried. Nursery attendants, entomologists, and horticulturists are united in their advice: Don't panic; think of the flying insects as nature's own pruning shears. But to protect young trees from damage, wrap them.
Fancy a dish of poisonous fugu fish? How about ram-testicle pâté? Or if it's an aphrodisiac you seek—why not try a carefully prepared bull penis? All of these foods are delicacies on menus around the world. A related story airs Thursday on our U.S. cable television program Taboo: Delicacies.
Beginning late tonight and stretching into the predawn hours of Thursday morning, more than 20 meteors an hour will streak across the sky during the first notable meteor shower of the year, known as the Lyrids.
Cicada mania is breaking out in a large part of the United States. In the great tradition of U.S. entrepreneurship, restaurants, bars, hotels, and others are preparing for the tourists who will swarm to see the insects. National Geographic Traveler magazine reports on the best things to see and do during the great cicada invasion.
The crewmen of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley will be buried with full military honors tomorrow in Charleston, South Carolina—139 years after the Civil War. Their remains were in the submarine when it was raised from Charleston harbor four years ago. All eight submariners have been identified (see photo gallery).
Pyramids, mummies, tombs, and other icons of aristocracy and the afterlife dominate our images of ancient Egypt. But love poems composed thousands of years ago may provide a more intimate glimpse of the lives of everyday ancient Egyptians.
The emergence of billions of cicadas in the U.S. next month has some people drooling in anticipation of snacking on the insects. While most Americans balk at dining on bugs, few realize that they unknowingly eat insect eggs, larvae, and body parts in their everyday food. Most of the world's people eagerly munch on insects, which are low in fat, high in protein—and available in great supply.
Humans may have been wearing jewelry as far back as 75,000 years ago, about 30,000 years earlier than previously thought, suggests a find in South Africa. The discovery is stoking the debate over when and where modern thinking first emerged—in Europe 45,000 years ago or in Africa thousands of years earlier.
For hundreds of years, Nepalese men in the Himalayan foothills have risked life and limb to harvest the honey of a native, cliff-dwelling bee. Now a team of scientists is racing to keep the bees and the honey hunter's traditional livelihood alive.
In the 1930s Animal Farm author George Orwell feared the unique and often baffling rhyming slang spoken by the Cockneys of inner London would soon disappear. Yet today it's used more widely than ever in Britain, with new, celebrity-inspired expressions joining those from the past.
Astronomers believe they have already identified some 700 of the 1,100 "Earth-killer" asteroids in the solar system—and none of them is on a collision course with our planet. But what's not known is how many smaller rocks are out there. Smaller asteroids might slam into Earth with only a few hours' notice, devastating a city or generating giant tidal waves.
