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Gray whales survived many cycles of global cooling and warming over the past few million years, likely by exploiting a more varied diet than they do today, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, and Smithsonian Institution paleontologists.

Mammoths were one of the "megafauna" that went extinct during the Pleistocene extinction. According to the first study of mammal range and diversity in "deep time" from the Eocene to the Pleistocene, the mammoth family did not show any sign of being predisposed for extinction.

A number of threatened species in the developing world are entirely dependent on human agriculture for their survival, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Populations of Fraser River sockeye salmon are so fine-tuned to their environment that any further environmental changes caused by climate change could lead to the disappearance of some populations, while others may be less affected, says a new study by University of British Columbia scientists.

Japan relies on nuclear power for about 30% of its electricity. It has few natural resources and imports large quantities of coal, gas and oil at an ever increasing cost. Some Japanese people are not in favor of nuclear power, but when the dust settles the nation might not have any real choice, writes Professor George Dracoulis.

There are few things journalists like to discuss more than, well, themselves and the long-term prospects for their industry. How long will print newspapers survive? Are news aggregation sites the future? Or are online paywalls - such as the one the New York Times just launched - the way to go? As media organizations plot their future, it's worth discarding some misconceptions about what it will take to keep the press from becoming yesterday's news.

World population will reach 7 billion this year, prompting new concerns about whether the world will soon face a major population crisis.

Stopping people fishing around Caribbean coral reefs by designating them legally protected marine reserves could help some of them survive the effects of a changing climate by more than 50 years.

Parasitic worms that infect fish, and have a devastating effect on fish reproduction, grow four times faster at higher temperatures - providing some of the first evidence that global warming affects the interactions between parasites and their hosts.

Tropical birds are moving to higher elevations because of climate change, but they may not be moving fast enough, according to a new study by Duke University researchers.