By DAVID PERLMAN, San Francisco Chronicle

Salamanders are disappearing from a volcano in Guatemala and the mountains of Mexico -- possibly another victim of climate change, researchers say.

California scientists have discovered a huge, hot, gassy planet that goes through wild temperature changes in a matter of hours as it makes its eccentric orbit around a distant star in the Great Bear constellation.

Trees are dying faster than ever in the old-growth forests of California and the mountains of the West, a phenomenon scientists say is linked to rising regional temperatures and the destructive forces of early snowmelt, drought, forest fires and deadly insect infestations brought on by global warming.

In spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love ... but whither when the year is young?
It matters not, for as long as the hormones are in tune, love can bloom at any time, say scientists who study the genetics and neurobiology of animals whose family lives shed new light on human sexuality.

Volcanoes on a distant moon of the planet Saturn are erupting and spewing a gassy slurry of icy ammonia, water and methane into Titan's thick red, tar-like atmosphere, NASA scientists are reporting this week.

What are the pills in your medicine cabinet, and how do you know they are best for you?
When drug companies seek approval to market new medicines, they must show the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the results of all the tests they've run on volunteer patients -- at first on only a few, then on dozens, and finally on hundreds or sometimes thousands.

A high-flying telescope has detected the strongest evidence yet that water -- the essential ingredient for any life we know -- exists on a giant gassy planet orbiting a far-away star.

Vanishing Arctic sea ice brought on by climate change is causing the crucially important microscopic marine plants called phytoplankton to bloom explosively and die away as never before, a phenomenon that is likely to create havoc among migratory creatures that rely on the ocean for food, Stanford scientists have found.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A carefully limited pilot study of 30 prostate cancer patients by scientists and doctors at University of California San Francisco and a Sausalito, Calif. research institute indicates for the first time that major lifestyle changes may prevent early cell death and lengthen human life.