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NASA’s MERRA-2 climate model reveals that the Arctic stratosphere has reached a 40-year record low for December, creating a sudden appearance of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) far beyond their usual Arctic confines. Recent observations have revealed a remarkable surge in polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), often referred to as the most beautiful clouds on Earth due to their aurora-like colors. This sudden increase is attributed to a 40-year record low in temperatures within the Arctic stratosphere for the month of December, as indicated by NASA’s MERRA-2 climate model. PSCs form under extremely cold conditions, typically around -85 °C (-121 °F), in...

California governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced that he has signed a law banning hotels from providing guests with the small, disposable plastic bottles containing personal-care products such as shampoo and conditioner that are a common staple of the industry. The ban on plastic bottles holding less than six ounces will go into effect on January 1, 2023 for hotels with more than 50 rooms, and one year after that for hotels with 50 or fewer rooms. The law allows a local agency to conduct inspections and issue citations if hotels do not comply. A first violation carries a $500...

NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.

Cato Institute scholars Malou Innocent, Chris Edwards, Neal McCluskey, Ilya Shapiro, Jerry Taylor, Dan Mitchell and Dan Ikenson respond to President Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address.

Preliminary experiments in a handful of people suggest that it might be possible to reverse Type 1 diabetes using an inexpensive vaccine to stop the immune system from attacking cells in the pancreas.

Police are arresting more and more suspects wearing Obama t-shirts…. is this the change we wanted?

Dec. 11, 2009: There's a storm brewing -- a storm of information, that is, in climate and environmental research. People are wading through the turbulence, trying to make sense of it all. At the eye of the storm is a unique new web site called Climate One-Stop (http://climateonestop.net). "It's a 'calm spot' where scientists, decision-makers, nonprofit workers, and officials can find all the latest research," says Dan Irwin of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. "We unveiled the site at this week's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen."

Why is it that whenever Microsoft tries to have a little "fun" it comes across as creepy or overly controlled? This time it's Microsoft's Mission Viejo Store employees engaged in a fit of awkward boogie that some would call the Electric Slide. Oh boy, corporate fun... it's a bit like corporate rock only less natural. Now go ahead and view the entire 4 minutes and 44 seconds of the video after the break, we double-dog dare you.

In case you were not aware, you can listen in real-time to a replay of the first moon walk, just about to happen...

WHEN it came to protecting Jenna and Barbara Bush, the Secret Service truly had its hands full, with President George W. Bush's wild and crazy daughters doing everything in their power to escape them, a new book reveals.

Government should ensure we all have enough, but not too much, to eat. One of the great scandals of our age is the fact that America spends more on food than any other nation. Many political leaders are now calling for urgent reform to bring spending on food under control. While food spending is rapidly increasing and many Americans are overweight, some do not have enough to eat. Despite this high spending, the United Nations reports that, according to surveys they sent to government officials around the world, the quality of U.S. food is ranked very low. Officials in France...

What I Wish For The World … we use plants for electricity … we make college free for everyone … we give health insurance to all who need it … we connect everyone by cell phone or computer Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where we invite K-12 students to play around with our homepage logo and see what new designs they come up with. This year we're inviting U.S. kids to join in the doodling fun, around the intriguing theme "What I Wish for the World."

NEW YORK — Current Media Inc, parent of Current TV, the youth-focused television network launched by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, has withdrawn plans for an initial public offering. In a letter on Friday advising U.S. securities regulators of its decision, the company cited "current market conditions." Only two IPOs have launched so far in 2009, while 16, including, Current Media, have been canceled. "It's still early for a young company in this sector to be coming to market with a new issue at this point," said David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. "Generally, the market...

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania — The Dalai Lama said that "it's totally wrong, unfair" to call Islam a violent religion. The Tibetan spiritual leader, appearing Sunday at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, offered a defense of Islam in response to a question about the rise of violent religious fundamentalism. He added that he has made a point of reaching out to Muslims since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: World War II, I read today, those of you from the greatest generation, you World War II vets still alive, apparently Monday night PBS is going to run a documentary on World War II in which the whole notion that we were the good guys is going to be turned upside down, that we used totalitarian dictatorship tactics to win World War II, that all we did was bomb the innocent in Dresden and Hamburg and, of course, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that we were not the valiant and valorous victors that we were made out to be,...

It's not every day that a NASA scientist can wake up and think, "Hey, I did something for world peace." But on Monday, Dec. 10, many NASA Earth scientists did exactly that. In Oslo, Norway, the King of Sweden presented the shared 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and to representatives of a United Nations panel that has spent two decades assessing Earth's changing climate and predicting where it is headed. Hundreds of NASA scientists, including some from JPL, contributed to the United Nations effort, working with thousands of their colleagues from more than 150...

The question was fairly straightforward. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stood before an auditorium filled with Latino journalists about a month ago at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists annual conference, and was asked what could be done to improve the academic performance of Latino students. Hmmm, let's see. He could have tackled any of an array of problems plaguing our school system: the lack of resources for teachers, high student-to-teacher ratios, the lack of academic counselors to guide students, or the dearth of advanced placement courses in schools that serve low-income and minority students. No, instead our governor chose to wag...

Backed by the largest Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S., a massive campaign by Latino media and grass-roots groups to spur millions of eligible Hispanic residents to become U.S. citizens is showing results that could influence the agenda and outcome of the 2008 election. More than eight million green-card holders — that is, legal permanent residents — are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and the majority are immigrants of Latin American origin, according to U.S. government data. Now, Univision Communications Inc. is using its considerable clout with the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. to turn this latent voting bloc into...

BRUSSELS -- In a legal milestone, American trial lawyers have reaped their first big payday in Europe: $47 million in fees from settling a securities-fraud case with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Europe's largest oil company by market capitalization said Wednesday it would pay $352.6 million to settle claims brought in the U.S. by European shareholders, who accused Shell of defrauding them by overstating its reserves. The Netherlands-based oil giant also agreed to pay attorneys' fees to three American law firms that represented the European investors, the paper reported. The agreement marks the first time...

LONDON — Intel Corp. has linked up with two Saudi Arabian software companies to develop an electronic version of Islam's holy book, the Quran, and a training computer to help teach a Saudi government-approved curriculum, according to an Associated Press report.