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(Reuters) - Violent crime in the United States, including murder and robbery, dropped 4.4 percent in the first half of 2009 and property crime like car thefts also dropped, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.

The latest statistics suggest U.S. violent crime
could drop for a third full year in a row, a steady decline despite the harsh economic recession that some policymakers and police groups had feared would lead to an upward spike.

The FBI report did not offer an explanation for the declining crime rates.

Last week, delegates in Copenhagen were concerned that the leaking of an unfair climate-mitigation proposal would cause a rift between rich and poor countries and derail talks. Today increased tension brought negotiations even closer to the brink.

With the end of the conference just two days away, thousands of activists and credentialed advocates turned up the heat, storming Copenhagen's Bella Center, the venue hosting the talks, to protest the lack of a foreseeable agreement between top emitters by the week's end. Conference organizers went into scramble mode, cracking down with something resembling martial law.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2009) New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region -- the Central Valley -- and its major mountain water source -- the Sierra Nevada -- have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite data, reflect California's extended drought and increased pumping of groundwater for human uses such as irrigation.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2009) Radiation doses from common CT procedures vary widely and are higher than generally thought, raising concerns about increased risk for cancer, according to a new study led by UCSF imaging specialists.

"In day-to-day clinical practice, we found significant variation in the radiation doses for the same type of computed tomography procedures within institutions and across institutions," said lead investigator Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, a professor of radiology at UCSF. "Our results highlight the need for greater standardization because this is a medical safety issue."

Thousands of spectators and surfers are flocking to Hawaii's beaches to see the biggest waves in years crash ashore. A legendary big wave surfing contest may be held Tuesday for the first time sin...

Thousands of spectators and surfers are flocking to Hawaii's beaches to see the biggest waves in years crash ashore. A legendary big wave surfing contest may be held Tuesday for the first time since 2004 if waves reach a minimum of 40 feet. (Dec. 7)

PORTO VELHO, Brazil (Reuters) - Straddling one the Amazon's main tributaries and flanked by dense jungle, a construction pit the size of a small town bustles with bulldozers and nearly 10,000 workers blasting huge slabs of rock off the river bank.

While blue-and-yellow macaws fly overhead, a network of pipes fed by a constant flow of trucks pours enough concrete to build 37 football stadiums.

The $7.7 billion Santo Antonio dam on the Madeira river is part of Brazil's largest concerted development plan for the Amazon since the country's military government cut highways through the rain forest to settle the vast region during its two-decade reign starting in 1964.

Warmed, overfished and polluted, the small Mediterranean Sea is giving scientists a look at what the future may hold for the rest of Earths oceans and its not pretty.

Beneath its surface, a transformation is taking place. Food webs are shrinking, with rich ecosystems that supported valuable commercial fisheries giving way to barrens dominated by jellyfish and tiny invertebrates. Mass die-offs and disease are now common.

ABC's Joohee Cho reports:

No matter how paranoid North Korea is when it comes to keeping their borders shut, it is now obvious they simply can not stop the H1N1 virus from crossing their borders. They blame South Korea for the flu spreading in their territories, despite the fact that communication and travel between the two Koreas is almost non-existent these days.

This week, the 'rich brother nation' South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak offered to send flu medication to the North. Today, Pyongyang finally accepted the offer of Tamiflu doses that could save the lives of millions of malnourished children.

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ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2009) A new scientific study warns that sea level could rise much faster than previously expected. By the year 2100, global sea level could rise between 75 and 190 centimetres, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The authors, Martin Vermeer of Helsinki University of Technology in Finland and Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, based their analysis on measurements of sea level and temperature taken over the past 130 years. In those data they identified a strong link between the rate of sea level rise and global temperature.