Life is tough for the top baboon.

Oh sure, you're No. 1 so you get the best food and girl baboons. But there's also all that pressure to defend your status.

Large predators like sharks, lions and wolves are on the decline worldwide, a trend that is disrupting the Earth's ecosystem in all kinds of unusual ways, researchers said Thursday.

If you have been to the the beach, chances are you have experienced an unfortunate rite of summer: The sunburn. Skin so swollen it hurts to bend. The heat that rises from reddened shoulders. The "ow, ow, ow" from the shower after you thought the pain had faded.

For all the creams that promise to soothe, there aren't super treatments for a sunburn. Dermatologists say the best bet: Some of the same pills you pop for a headache — like the ibuprofen found in Motrin and Advil, or naproxen brands such as Aleve.

Environmental campaigners Wednesday accused suppliers to major clothing brands including Adidas and Nike of poisoning China's major rivers with hazardous chemicals linked to hormonal problems.

Greenpeace said eight samples of wastewater discharge from two factories in the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas, identified as suppliers for the brands, contained "a cocktail of hazardous chemicals".

Scientists on Tuesday offered a slender piece of good news about global warming, reporting that cities can be of surprising help in soaking up carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas.

Around four percent of the world's land surface is defined as urbanized, a figure expected to surge as the planet's human population rises from seven billion this year to as much as 9.5 billion by mid-century.

Millions of tons of plastic debris dumped each year in the world's oceans could pose a lethal threat to whales, according to a scientific assessment to be presented at a key international whaling forum this week.

A review of research literature from the last two decades reveals hundreds of cases in which cetaceans -- an order including 80-odd species of whales, dolphins and porpoises -- have been sickened or killed by marine litter.

She's the last northern white rhinoceros on view anywhere in Europe — but zoo keepers are hoping lonely Nabire will find solace with a southern rhino 11 years her senior.

Another northern white — Nesari — died here in her sleep in May aged 39, further reducing the world's dwindling population of the critically endangered animal.

Dinosaurs have captivated the public for decades, but a new U.S. exhibit aims to show that there is still much about the giant reptiles that baffles experts and amateurs alike.

The 1,300 square meter (14,000 square foot) gallery at the Los Angeles natural history museum is set to open on July 16 and is seen as an important step in upgrading the museum ahead of its 100th anniversary in 2013.

Atlantis blazed a path into history Friday as it rocketed off the launch pad for a final time, marking the last-ever liftoff of the 30-year-old American space shuttle program.

The storied spacecraft is carrying a crew of four U.S. astronauts toward the International Space Station on a 12-day mission to re-stock the orbiting lab.

It began as a bright white dot in Saturn's northern hemisphere. Within days, the dot grew larger and stormier.

Soon the tempest enveloped the ringed planet, triggering lightning flashes thousands of times more intense than on Earth.