Iceland's volcanic eruption the longest in half a century

It will be six months on Sunday that the volcanic eruption currently mesmerising spectators near Reykjavik first began, making it the longest Iceland has witnessed in more than 50 years.

What life is like aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule

The first space tourism mission by Elon Musk's SpaceX blasted off from Florida on Wednesday and the four crew members—a billionaire and three other Americans—have already seen more than 25 sunsets and sunrises.

US firefighters optimistic over world's biggest tree

Firefighters battling to protect the world's biggest tree from wildfires ravaging the parched United States said Friday they are optimistic it can be saved.

California wildfires burn into groves of giant sequoia trees

California wildfires have burned into at least four groves of gigantic ancient sequoias in national parks and forests, though cooler weather on Friday helped crews trying to keep the flames away from a famous cluster containing the world's largest tree.

Tom Cruise gets sneak preview from SpaceX's 1st private crew

Tom Cruise got a sneak preview of what it's like to circle Earth in a SpaceX capsule.

Yeast and bacteria together biosynthesize plant hormones for weed control

Plants regulate their growth and development using hormones, including a group called strigolactones that prevent excessive budding and branching. For the first time, scientists led by UC Riverside have synthesized strigolactones from microbes. The work is published in the open-access journal, Science Advances.