Opening a scientific frontier miles under the Antarctic ice, Russian experts drilled down and finally reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake, an achievement the mission chief likened to placing a man on the moon.

NASA astronaut Janice Voss, who first worked for the space agency as a teenager and flew five shuttle missions in seven years, has died. She was 55.

Roger Boisjoly, a NASA contractor who repeatedly voiced concerns about the space shuttle Challenger before it exploded, has died. He was 73.

The man who warned his employer of the equipment quirk that led to the deadly explosion of the space shuttle Challenger has died. Roger Boisjoly was 73.

Smokers not only have more problems with their teeth than non-smokers, they also go to the dentist less often.

Vienna's mayor on Tuesday promised compensation for anyone injected with the parasite that causes malaria after two former foster home children claimed to have been given such shots in the 1960s.

Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as salty junk food like potato chips.

Students at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania can get the "morning-after" pill by sliding $25 into a vending machine, an idea that has drawn the attention of federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be.

Venezuelan health authorities are investigating the deaths of 11 newborns within four days at a single public hospital.

President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for millions of dollars in new funding to improve math and science education, an effort he said would be crucial to the nation's long-term success.

The Obama administration is increasing spending on Alzheimer's research - planning to surpass half a billion dollars next year - as part of a quest to find effective treatments for the brain-destroying disease by 2025.

Good news for budget-minded travelers: There's no proof that flying economy-class increases your chances of dangerous blood clots, according to new guidelines from medical specialists.

Junk food remains plentiful at the nation's elementary schools despite widespread efforts to curb childhood obesity, a new study suggests.

Detecting early warning signs of dementia can be difficult, but there are several types of cognitive screenings - quick, simple tests of memory and thinking skills - that can help a doctor decide if it's time to recommend a more in-depth exam.

Alexis McKenzie's mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife's sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store.

Chile declared a public health alert Monday over a hantavirus outbreak that has killed three people and infected at least 10 others.

Scientists for the Food and Drug Administration say that an Amgen drug slowed the spread of cancer to the bone in men with hard-to-treat prostate cancer, though the drug did not extend life and carried significant side effects.

Television already has "The Biggest Loser." Dr. Mehmet Oz is looking for the biggest number of losers.

Texting while driving, speeding and back-seat hanky-panky aren't all that parents need to worry about when their kids are in cars: Add secondhand smoke to the list.

When Dorothy Twinney first saw a Race for the Cure walk for breast cancer - "a sea of pink" traveling through her hometown of Plymouth, Mich. - she was so moved she sat in her car and wept.

To many people, breast cancer screening means a mammogram. But for millions of poor, mostly young women who visit Planned Parenthood, it is usually just a physical exam by the only health professional they may ever see.

Researchers who spent three years dragging sheets of fabric through the woods to snag ticks have created a detailed map they claim could improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

An outbreak of bacterial infections on the East Coast illustrates the popularity of raw, unpasteurized milk despite strong warnings from public health officials about the potential danger.

The Obama administration's decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control was bound to cause an uproar among Roman Catholics and members of other faiths, no matter their beliefs on contraception.

For leaders of the nation's pre-eminent breast-cancer charity, it was a firestorm they didn't see coming - and couldn't withstand.

Malaria may be killing around twice as many people as experts previously thought, and it could also be hitting older children and adults - long considered the least susceptible - a new study suggests.

A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes - and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a huge tumor.

NASA says it still has confidence in the quality of Russia's manned rockets, despite an embarrassing series of glitches and failures in the Russian space program.

Fifteen teenage girls report a mysterious outbreak of spasms, tics and seizures in upstate New York. But tests find nothing physically wrong.

The World Health Organization says the highest levels ever of drug-resistant tuberculosis have been found in Russia and Moldova.

A Vietnamese official on Thursday confirmed the country's second human death from bird flu in less than a month, after it went nearly two years with no reported fatalities.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the renowned breast-cancer charity, faced an escalating backlash Thursday over its decision to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood. Some of Komen's local affiliates are openly upset, and at least one top official has quit, reportedly in protest.

British researchers say parts of England and Wales with more suicide prevention programs had bigger drops in deaths than regions with fewer services.

Birth control pills are known to be nearly 100 percent effective when taken properly, but a recall of the drugs could send a shudder through women of childbearing age.

Snow has been missing in action for much of the U.S. the last couple months. But it's not just snow. It's practically the season that's gone AWOL.

New research offers hope for the first pill to treat a common problem in young women: fibroids in the uterus. The growths can cause pain, heavy bleeding and fertility problems, and they are the leading cause of hysterectomies.

Snow has gone missing in action for much of the U.S. the last couple months. But it's not just snow. It's practically the season that's gone AWOL.

A federal judge is considering whether Washington state can require pharmacies to stock and sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, even in the face of religious objections by druggists who believe they destroy human life.

Snow has been missing in action for much of the U.S. the last couple months. But it's not just snow. It's practically the season that's gone AWOL.

A proposed settlement in the W.R. Grace and Co. bankruptcy case would pay $19.5 million into a trust for people sickened by asbestos exposure from the company's now-shuttered vermiculite plant in Libby, Mont.