The 5-year-old female southern sea otter was first seen hijacking surfboards in Santa Cruz last September. Officials successfully drove the otter away from the area, but she has since returned.

The snake, stretching 19 feet, was caught in the Big Cypress National Preserve. The invasive species runs rampant through southern Florida, wreaking havoc on the state's native animal populations.

Phil Stringer was the only passenger on his long-delayed flight from Oklahoma City to Charlotte, N.C. He credits crew members for their positive attitude — and is planning a trip to visit them soon.

The Devils Hole pupfish's natural habitat is a single water-filled hole in a cave in the Nevada desert. Its numbers at one point dwindled to just 35 animals. How does it manage to survive?

The Titan Arum has become a rockstar in the plant world for its unpredictable displays, and more notoriously, its putrid stench of rotting flesh.

An obscure bit of brain tissue appears critical to both out-of-body experiences and our sense of being anchored to a physical self.

The oscillating Fireball was just sliding down from its vertical loop at a festival in Crandon, Wis., on Sunday when it stopped unexpectedly, suspending its passengers for hours.

Over the last few decades, states and counties across America have liberalized the use of fireworks. It's just one reason why sales of fireworks have exploded.

A new study of astronaut blood finds that space travel reduces the expression of 100 genes related to the immune system.

A Chinese Crested pooch born with backward hind legs — a rescue once destined for death — has been crowned the "World's Ugliest Dog."

The Nuclear Ship Savannah offers a snapshot of a nuclear future that never quite came to pass.

Chemical physicist Stafford Sheehan invented a process that can turn carbon dioxide into yeast. It's now a finalist in the NASA-sponsored Deep Space Food Challenge.

The California two-spot octopus can edit the RNA in its brain to produce different proteins as ocean temperatures fluctuate, a new study finds.

A Barbie production designer said "the world ran out of pink" because of how much paint the movie set needed. It had apparently been in short supply to begin with.

The scary spectacle was captured on video by the body camera of a sheriff's deputy who was helping with another crash on the highway.