Los Angeles Times -- Science & Environment

Polar bear's long swim illustrates ice melt

By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times

In one of the most dramatic signs ever documented of how shrinking Arctic sea ice impacts polar bears, researchers at the U.S. Geological...

Map: Swimming Alaskan polar bear

Will Obama's 'Sputnik moment' fly?

By Don Lee and David Pierson, Los Angeles Times

In his State of the Union call to revitalize the economy, President Obama suggested that Americans...

Breast implants still plagued by safety concerns

By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times

For years, Michell Anne Kimball of San Diego considered breast augmentation but worried about the...

Alternatives to recalled cold medicines for children

By Jessica Pauline Ogilvie, Special to the Los Angeles Times

When kids begin sniffling, the first thing many parents reach for is Children's Tylenol. But that...

Health

Cities try to cut the fat with weight-loss programs

Jack LaLanne was a healthy showoff to the very end

Pros, cons of reality TV's approach to weight loss

The Atkins diet, updated

In search of lasting happiness

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Earth in crisis

Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyo.

Trade in rare plants sows trouble for endangered species

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

Rare plants are increasingly finding their way outside their normal habitats because of commercial sellers and citizen conservationists, two...

Health authorities viewed medications skeptically

Though the absence of familiar cough and cold medications has been upsetting for many families, parents may take some comfort in the fact...

Astronomers find what may be the oldest galaxy ever seen

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times

Astronomers said this week that they found a distant galaxy that could be the oldest object ever observed in the universe.

'Bath salts' latest drug to raise alarms

By Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times

The website that hawks the "concentrated bath salts" warns in red letters: "Not for human consumption."

On a school lawn, protests over solar panels

By Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times

To the students at Dwyer Middle School in Huntington Beach, the grassy area below the stairs is the spot.

Tesla plans to roll out electric SUV in 2014

By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times

Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, has begun planning for a small sport utility vehicle that will be called Model X and enter the market...

Ancestors may have left Africa earlier than thought

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

Some unlikely tools unearthed near the Persian Gulf show that our ancestors may have migrated far out of Africa as early as 125,000 years...

Obama's clean-energy goals have industry questioning feasibility

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times

President Obama has grand plans for a green nation — 1 million electric vehicles on the road within four years and clean power sources...

Santa Monica council OKs plastic bag ban

By Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times

Come September, that oft-repeated query "Paper or plastic?" will no longer be uttered in supermarket checkout lanes in Santa Monica.

Chemical in dispersants endured long after gulf oil spill, study finds

By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times

A key ingredient of the chemical dispersants released last summer at BP's spewing wellhead persisted in the Gulf of Mexico's deep waters for...

Republicans confront White House official over regulations

By Neela Banerjee, Washington Bureau

Republicans fired an opening salvo at federal regulations Wednesday, telling a White House official the administration's proposed rules...

FDA explores possible link between breast implants, cancer

By Andrew Zajac, Washington Bureau

The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has begun investigating the possible connection between breast implants and...

Abortion does not increase risk of mental health problems, study says