Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks

Backers of raw milk are pushing to make the potentially dangerous product more widely available and easier to obtain, even as a new disease outbreak – one of at least five in the past year – sickens U.S. children. More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation.

Did you find an animal nesting near your house? Here's what to do

For four years, a mallard has nested behind a bush near the front door of Caitlin Deal’s home in a Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb, offering an up-close glimpse of nature for her young son and lessons for how people can coexist with wildlife.

Humpback whale 'Timmy' released in the North Sea

BERLIN (AP) – A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.

Scientists trace comet's home to isolated corner of the Milky Way

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday.

Trump reclassifies medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s acting attorney general on Thursday signed an order reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a major policy shift long sought by advocates who said cannabis should never have been treated like heroin by the federal government.

UK passes bill that will eventually ban cigarette purchases

LONDON (AP) – Opponents of smoking got a breath of fresh air as Parliament passed a bill that will put cigarettes out of reach for future generations. “The end of smoking, and the devastating harm it causes, is no longer uncertain – it’s inevitable,” Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health said.

Earth Day started as a US 'teach-in' 56 years ago. Now it's a global event

Millions of people around the world will pause Wednesday, at least for a moment, to mark Earth Day. It’s an annual event founded by people who hoped to stir activism to clean up and preserve a planet that is now home to some 8 billion humans and assorted trillions of other organisms.

Petroleum infuses a multitude of everyday items that could be more expensive

NEW YORK (AP) – It might be hard to imagine the Iran war weighing on stuffed toys with names like Snuggle Glove, Bizzikins and Wobblies, but even plush playthings are not immune when oil shipments from the Middle East are constrained.

Blue Origin's rocket is grounded after launching satellite into wrong orbit

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, blamed a bad engine Monday for a failed weekend launch that left a satellite in the wrong orbit, dooming it.