Toxic waste site near Kettleman City to pay $311,000 in fines

A toxic waste dump near the San Joaquin Valley farming community of Kettleman City has agreed to pay $311,000 in fines for failing to report...

Federal plan aims to help wildlife adapt to climate change

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Tuesday announced a nationwide plan to help wildlife adapt to threats from climate change.

Limiting hospital intern shifts may not cut errors, studies find

It's been 15 years now, but Dr. Sanjay Desai remembers the brutal hours he worked as a young medical intern and how he struggled with...

Social isolation increases risk of early death, study finds

People who are socially isolated are more likely to die prematurely, regardless of their underlying health issues, according to a study of...

State urged to turn over parks to local governments, nonprofits

SACRAMENTO — California's first attempt to run a park more than a century ago was a disaster. Over a campfire in the backcountry, John...

Genetic modification strains old food and drug laws

When is a fish not a fish but a drug? When government regulators take old laws and twist themselves into knots trying to apply them to new...

Edison may try to avoid public hearings before San Onofre restart

The operator of the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant might request a license amendment before restarting the plant through an expedited...

Battery recycling plant in Vernon ordered to cut emissions

A battery recycling plant in Vernon is being told to reduce its emissions after recent tests showed it is posing a danger to as many as 110,...

Volcano-induced die-off paved way for dinosaurs, study suggests

More than 200 million years ago, toothy crocodile-like creatures stalked a hot, dry mega-continent while squid-like mollusks with spiral...

Sequestration will take big bite from medical research funding

Research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease and influenza may lose crucial funding even as scientists say they are on the cusp of medical...

Toddlers tend not to share, but give it time

What parent of a young child has not experienced the stinging shame of seeing her sweet toddler — who knows all too well that...

Voyager 1 has left the solar system — almost

It was welcome news to Earthlings: The Voyager 1 spacecraft had seemingly crossed a momentous threshold and become the first man-made object...

Autism diagnoses on the rise, study finds

U.S. schoolchildren are being diagnosed with some form of autism at a record rate of 1 in 50, according to a new government study.

Bill aims to tighten restrictions on painkiller hydrocodone

Taking aim at "America's most abused narcotic," congressional lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday that would place tighter...

False-positive mammograms take mental toll, study finds

Long after learning that a troubling reading on a screening mammogram was just a false alarm, women continued suffering negative...