WASHINGTON - The recent flyby of Mercury by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has given scientists an entirely new look at a planet once thought to have characteristics similar to those of Earth's moon. Researchers are amazed by the wealth of images and data that show a unique world with a diversity of geological processes and a very different magnetosphere from the one discovered and sampled more than 30 years ago.After a journey of more than 2 ... [full story]

At the MSNBC Florida presidential debate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney posed a very significant question. "As we compete with China, how do we make sure that trade is done in a way that levels the playing field? How do we ... protect American industry and American jobs, and do not cause a departure of jobs from this country?" Good question, but neither Romney nor anyone else answered it. Answering a question about the bipartisan ... [full story]

Perhaps you've heard about the country club that posted two lists near its entrance. One contained the names of members in arrears with their dues, the other of members recently deceased. One elderly golfer quipped, "If I don't find my name on either list, I go on in." Things in California's upcoming primary election aren't quite that simple for political independents - people who haven't decided whether to register as Republicans or as Democrats. The ... [full story]

There was once a crowded field of presidential candidates from both parties. Well, don't look now but the crowd is thinning - and fast. It's a safe bet that when Democrat John Edwards and Republican Rudy Giuliani launched their campaigns for president, they were filled with confidence and never imagined that they would come to an end on the same day. But that's what happened Wednesday, when both men withdrew from the race after suffering ... [full story]

In his State of the Union speech Monday, President George W. Bush urged Congress to "fund new technologies that can generate coal power while capturing carbon emissions." It's a familiar theme for Bush. He's been touting so-called "FutureGen" clean coal technology since 2003. Last month, an industry group announced it would build a $1.75 billion plant to demonstrate that technology in Mattoon, Ill., hard by the southern Illinois coal fields. Apparently, Samuel W. Bodman, Bush's ... [full story]

A con­tro­ver­sial the­o­ry, that strange red rains in In­dia six years ago might have con­tained mi­crobes from out­er space, has­n’t died. In fact, things might be get­ting even weirder.A new study sug­gests the claimed con­nec­tion be­tween scar­let rain and ti­ny ce­les­tial vis­i­tors may be con­sist­ent with his­tor­i­cal ac­counts link­ing col­ored rain to me­te­or passings. These would seem to ech­o the In­dia case, in which or­gan­isms are pro­posed to have fall­en out of a break­ing me­te­or. ... [full story]

John Edwards' departure from the Democratic presidential field will undoubtedly cause the two remaining candidates to focus even more fiercely on one another as the Wisconsin primary approaches. If Bill Clinton, unleashed and unfiltered, remains a substantive part of that equation, this is bad news for the quality of the discourse. There are those who invest in the Clintons far too much connivance, cleverness, calculation and conspiracy. But the former president's comparison recently of Sen. ... [full story]

So, whom have you endorsed for president? No one yet? You're kidding. You had better get on that. Everyone else is doing it. It's the battle of the endorsements. Newspapers typically endorse one candidate over another, but that practice is usually reserved for the general election. This year, perhaps the presidential races are so contested because there is no incumbent running or even a vice president considered to be the heir apparent to the sitting ... [full story]

Predictably, President George W. Bush's last State of the Union address Monday night did not contain grand initiatives, though he urged Congress to pass a much-needed economic stimulus package already negotiated with the House. Given that his other grand initiatives included remaking Social Security and invading a country without weapons of mass destruction and no involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, the case could be made that the nation should be thankful. But this absence ... [full story]

In one way, President George W. Bush's final State of the Union speech had no modern analog. Other recent two-term presidents (Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower) gave their swan songs knowing their vice presidents were seeking to succeed them and thus would presumably defend their legacies over their final 12 months in office. But Vice President Dick Cheney long ago declared he would never seek the White House. And so the president took the ... [full story]