National Geographic News

WEEK IN PHOTOS: Lion Rides Horse, Knife in Head, More
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A lion mounts a horse, a skull is knifed, China celebrates its first space walk, and more in our picks of the week's news photos.

Smart Slime, Ovulating Strippers Among 2008 Ig Nobels
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The annual Ig Nobel Prizes are given to scientists whose work made readers both laugh and think. This year's honors went to research on everything from puzzling placebos to spermicidal soda.

Male Songbirds Are High on Love
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Singing to females lights up reward centers in male zebra finches' brains, a new study shows. The effect possibly "addicts" the birds to courtship.

Eagles "Cannibalizing" Other Birds as Otters Disappear
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Some bald eagles are turning to seabirds as their main food, and in a roundabout way, the new diet is traceable to a 1990s otter collapse, researchers say.

Steve Fossett's Plane Found in Bear Country
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The U.S. adventurer's plane "disintegrated" when it hit a California mountain, experts said. The presence of bears and other scavengers may help explain why so few remains have been found.

VIDEO: A Bear Walks Into a Restaurant ...
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A bear wandered into a Subway sandwich shop in Canada, startling an employee, and sampling some food before letting itself out.

THE ROUNDUP: Science and Nature News Around the Web
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Chicken poop to power thousands of homes; urban bears live fast and die young; and more.

Sun Gets Fatter "Waist" During Magnetic Peaks
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Periods of high solar activity create features that make the sun appear to have bigger "love handles," according to a new study of the star's true shape.

VIDEO: Tasty Fungus Falling to Warming?
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Truffle hunters in France believe global warming has led to an increase in parasitic attacks on wild truffles—spurring a boom in hothouse versions of the luxury fungus.

NEW JUPITER IMAGE: Sharpest View Ever From Earth
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The entire planet comes into stunning focus using a new technique that removes atmospheric distortion.

VIDEO: Ice Age People in Florida?
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People may have lived in Florida over 10,000 years ago—earlier than previously thought—according to evidence uncovered by National Geographic researchers.