A group of wine cooperatives in southwest France has joined forces with leading scientists to "liberate" the flavors most prized by consumers in growing wine markets, from China to the U.S.

Russia's drastic ban on food imports from Europe has claimed it first victims -- the rather choosy animals at Moscow zoo.

Keepers at the zoo, one of Europe's oldest, are scrambling to adjust the menus for its animals, which rely heavily on Dutch vegetables and Polish apples.

Sending heavier vehicles and, eventually, humans to Mars requires first testing new technologies to see if they actually work.

But it's infeasible to conduct experiments on the red planet, so to mimic Mars' low-density atmosphere, NASA sent a saucer-like test vehicle high above the Earth.

Canada has sent two icebreakers to the High Arctic to gather scientific data in support of its plan to bid for control of the sea floor under and beyond the North Pole.

The coast guard vessels Terry Fox and Louis St. Laurent set out Friday on a six-week journey that will take them to the eastern side of the Lomonosov Ridge, a long undersea feature that runs from near Ellesmere Island in Nunavut northward over the pole.

Paleontologists are completing their first excavation in 30 years inside an unusual U.S. cave thought to hold the remains of tens of thousands of ancient animals that fell to their deaths.

Bones they've found in the Wyoming cave could include those of North American lions, short-faced bears and other now-extinct species from 25,000 years ago.

The last raindrop fell three months ago, forcing Carlos Roman to take his cattle further and further away to find water and keep them alive in Nicaragua's northeastern farmlands.

Widespread use of sleeping pills by slumber-deprived astronauts could hamper vigilance in the high-risk environment of space, a study warned on Friday.

Researchers Thursday unveiled a powerful new postage-stamp size chip delivering supercomputer performance using a process that mimics the human brain.

The Audubon Society wants bird lovers to contribute research to a project scientists hope will help save Atlantic puffins from starvation in Maine.

There are about 1,000 pairs of the seabirds, known for their multi-colored beaks and clownish appearance, in Maine. Audubon says the number of puffin fledging chicks has declined in the last two years, possibly because their key food source, herring and hake, are leaving for cooler waters. Puffins are on the state's threatened species list.

Levels of the metal mercury in much of the world's oceans are double to triple what they were before the industrial revolution, a new study says.

Researchers found there's more mercury from human sources — mostly burning fossil fuels and mining for gold — than scientists had thought.