Associated News.net

Mark McGwire fell far short in his first try for the Hall of Fame, picked by 23.5 percent of voters while Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. easily gained baseball’s highest honor.

A new study suggests that the famous "Pillars of Creation" in the Eagle Nebula might have toppled long ago, and that what the Hubble Space Telescope actually captured was their ghost image.

If you’re looking for a space-age way to propose marriage, a black-diamond ring might be the way to go.  Long baffled by their origin, scientists now have evidence that these charcoal-colored gems formed in outer space.

Call it the energy dividend. After 2006 tore a big hole in consumer’s wallets and took a bite out businesses bottom lines, a sharp reversal in prices may help make up for some of that pain. By MSNBC.COM's John W. Schoen

Seeds and plant remains preserved in a well at America's first permanent English settlement suggest the Jamestown colonists were not just gentlemen with few wilderness survival skills, as they are often portrayed, but tried to live off the land by gathering berries and nuts.

With the new Democratic-led Congress flexing its muscles in opposition to the unpopular Iraq war, a leading Democratic senator proposed on Tuesday to block U.S. President George W. Bush from sending more troops to Iraq unless Congress specifically approves. [!]

IBM Corp. didn't throw a lavish casino party or set up an over-the-top booth to mark its return to the International Consumer Electronics Show for the first time in a decade. Rather, the company reserved its most ambitious consumer initiative for the virtual world.

Supporters of expanded stem cell legislation predicted victory Tuesday, saying they have a tide of public opinion to boost them and perhaps enough votes in Congress to override an expected veto from President Bush.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs shows off the touchscreen for the iPhone at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Sen. Tim Johnson's condition has been upgraded from critical to fair, four weeks after he was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage, his office said Tuesday. [!]