For decades, people referred to the non-coding bits of DNA between genes as junk DNA. Then, in the eighties scientists discovered that some of that junk DNA served an important purpose. The DNA attracted or repelled transcription factors and RNA, greatly enhancing or inhibiting the potency of adjacent genes. Now scientists have just found that one of those gene enhancers may be what separates humans and chimps.

Who would think to make explosives more eco-friendly? After all, if enough explosives are used, one may argue, there won't be any environment left to be friendly to. But a team of scientists in California are trying to keep the environment safe even while producing a material that helps blow it up.

A new crime-fighting technique could make avoiding capture more difficult for even the most fiendish gunsels.

The technique, developed by British scientists, allows police to lift fingerprints from bullet casings, even if the casing has been wiped clean. The typical method for recovering fingerprints relies on the sweat from fingertips left on the casing by the criminal. If the casing is wiped clean, then recovering a fingerprint from sweat becomes next to impossible. However, the new technique relies on a substance in sweat that doesn't wipe away so easily: salt.

There's some good news as hurricane season is getting under way: an MIT graduate student has developed a computer model that helps evacuation managers make better decisions, and possibly save lives in the process.

Weeks before Hurricane Gustav slammed into the Caribbean and the Louisiana Gulf Coast, hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University continued to warn of the higher-than-average probability of at least one intense (or major) hurricane making landfall in the United States in the remaining months of this year's hurricane season.

A new study released by the University of Colorado at Boulder claims that a global sea rise of more than six feet by the year 2100 is nearly impossible.

The researchers used conservative, medium, and extreme scenarios for Greenland, Antarctica, and the world's smaller glaciers and ice caps. Each scenario produced a result from two feet of sea rise to no more than six feet of sea rise. When factoring in thermal expansion due to warming waters, the team concluded that the most plausible scenario would result in a total sea rise of roughly three feet to six feet by 2100.