Off-course rocket destroyed by NASA

NASA destroyed an unmanned experimental rocket carrying a pair of research satellites Friday when it veered off course shortly after an early-morning liftoff from Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast.

There were no injuries or confirmed reports of property damage, according to NASA, but the agency warned that debris from the explosion could be hazardous. NASA believes most of the wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean.

Officials said the rocket -- a prototype made by Alliant Techsystems Inc. -- was destroyed by remote control 27 seconds into the predawn flight. Officials said they do not know why it went off course.

Venezuela tar pit yields a surprise

An ancient tar pit exposed when Venezuelan oil workers laid a pipeline has yielded a rich trove of fossils, including a type of saber-toothed cat that paleontologists had never before found in South America.

The fossils are 1.8 million years old and include the skulls and jawbones of six scimitar-toothed cats -- a variety of saber-toothed cat with shorter, narrower canine teeth than other species.

Researchers led by Venezuelan paleontologist Ascanio Rincon announced the discovery this month, saying that in addition to proving the cat once lived there, the find also should offer a rare window into the environment shortly after North and South America became connected following an age of separation.

U.S. sees spike in measles cases

The number of measles cases in the United States is at its highest level since 1997, and nearly half the cases involve children whose parents rejected vaccination, government health officials reported Thursday.

The number of cases so far this year is still small, just 131. But that compares to 42 cases for all of last year.

As of July 30, the country had seen seven outbreaks, including one in Illinois with 30 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of the 131 patients died, but 15 were hospitalized.

Angioplasties via wrist are helpful

The best path to a clogged heart may be through the wrist.

About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual method is to thread a tube to the heart through an artery in the groin.

Now a major study shows that going through the wrist instead can significantly lower the risk of bleeding -- without the discomfort of lying flat for hours while the incision site seals up.