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A 52-million-year fossil of a "perching bird" has been found in Wyoming with its feathers still attached, a discovery that "no one's ever seen before." Also known as passerines, the perching bird was discovered in Fossil Lake, WY. Passerines are well-known for eating seeds, as most modern-day birds do and account for approximately 65 percent of the 10,000 different species of birds alive today. "This is one of the earliest known perching birds. It's fascinating because passerines today make up most of all bird species, but they were extremely rare back then. This particular piece is just exquisite," said Field...

Deep beneath the desert and scrub of northern Darfur, Sudan, lies a vast hidden cache of water, experts said this week. The newfound aquifer could turn the arid conflict zone into a broad oasis of farms and watering holes, according to Farouk El-Baz, director of Boston University's Center for Remote Sensing. In April El-Baz's team had announced that they had found signs of a huge ancient lake in Darfur. At that time they had speculated that the long-gone lake's water may be lurking underground. After further testing, El-Baz said, "we know there's water." However, "we don't yet know how much,"...