Biologists literally give fish a bath to try and eliminate parasites in the sea near a coral reef in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

See National Geographic News's most popular individual photos of 2008, including pictures of a giant stingray, a "smiling" sky, a lizard-snake standoff, and more.

For the first time on record, humans have made contact with molten rock in its natural environment deep inside Earth, a breakthrough that came as a surprise to drillers.

Climate change is threatening the way of life of Africa's Maasai herders—even forcing some to take their cattle to feed at garbage dumps.

Scientists in Australia are trying to learn more about koalas' breeding habits by listening to the animals' bellows.

A seemingly yuletide celestial display, a planetary first, and a Saturn moon's "tiger stripes," are among the week's best space images.

National Geographic News asked leading advocates what U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama and his new environmental team should do first to stave off climate change and protect Earth's resources.

High-resolution sonar images have identified three huge coral reefs 1,300 feet below the surface that could host thousands of species and a goldmine of new pharmaceutical and chemical compounds.

An alien-like squid with "elbows" is caught on video, unknown "structures" are detected tugging at our universe, and more--2008's most read stories by National Geographic News.

See National Geographic News's most popular photo galleries of 2008, starring an "alien" squid with "elbows," an electric eruption, a welcoming whale, and other natural wonders.

Human trafficking protestors ride airport luggage belts, devilish creatures roam the streets of Germany, a white lion is born, and more in this week's best news photos.

Born this week in a Serbian zoo, the cubs are from an uncommon subspecies that is nearly extinct in the wild.

Scientists are working to halt or even reverse the decline of one of the only coral reefs on the continental United States, near the Florida Keys.

Nearly 3,700 World War II shipwrecks lie submerged in the Pacific, some containing oil, chemicals, and unexploded ordnance. Concern about corrosion is prompting increased investigation.

If carbon dioxide emissions remain unchecked, many of the remaining reefs will be lost in the next few decades, experts said today at a U.N. meeting in Poland.