As nest eggs shrink, many defer retirement

As financial markets have ravaged his savings, Gary Laursen, 62, has put his retirement on hold. He is one of millions of Americans confronting a stark reality about retirement.

Teen lives 118 days without a heart
An American teenager survived for nearly four months without a heart, kept alive by a custom-built artificial blood-pumping device, until she was able to have a heart transplant.

G'day! Hugh Jackman is new Sexiest Man Alive

Hugh Jackman, People's 2008 Sexiest Man Alive, is a romantic in a hard body who leaves women saying "Oh ... my ... God."

New penguin found, 500 years after extinction

Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

It's North vs. South in Big Three bailout fight

Should taxpayers in Alabama be asked to help bail out Big Three automakers whose plants are concentrated in Northern states such as Michigan and Ohio? How the auto industry pits North against South.

Spacewalker learns from tool mistake

The astronaut who lost her tool bag on a spacewalk admitted Wednesday that she made a mistake by not checking to see if the sack was tied down, and said she's still smarting over the whole thing.

Scientists spot hints of dark-matter blast

A balloon-borne instrument soaring high over Antarctica has found potential evidence of a large clump of mysterious dark matter relatively close to our solar system, scientists said Wednesday.

Mayor sorry for kids' anti-Obama chant
The mayor of an Idaho town where second- and third-grade students on a school bus chanted "assassinate Obama!" has publicly apologized, saying there's no excuse for such behavior.

Senate leader calls off vote on auto bailout

The Senate's top Democrat has called off a planned vote this week on a $25 billion auto industry bailout.