Poaching and illegal trade in protected species like elephants, rhinos and tigers has boomed into a $19-billion-a-year industry that threatens security and stability in many countries, the World Wildlife Fund warned Wednesday.

"Besides driving many endangered species towards extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal networks (and) undermines national security," the WWF said in a statement.

Pupils in smaller, prosperous nations and territories in East Asia lead the world in math, science and literacy, according to a set of global studies released Tuesday in the United States.

Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan were the top performers in both fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

In an unusual mating strategy, hard-up males of a tiny, promiscuous fish species engage in homosexual acts in a bid to entice females to copulate with them, a study said Wednesday.

And it works.

Biotech pioneer Amgen Inc., in a bid for a big edge in using people's genetic information to find better ways to attack diseases, is buying human genetics research and analytics leader deCODE Genetics for $415 million.

Amgen, the world's largest biotech company by revenue, and deCODE, based in Reykjavik, Iceland, announced the all-cash deal Monday.

In the Colorado mountains, a spike in air pollution has been linked to a boom in oil and gas drilling. On the plains of north Texas, there's a drilling boom, too, but some air pollution levels have declined. Opponents of drilling point to Colorado and say it's dangerous. Companies point to Texas and say drilling is safe.

The good news, nearly all sides agree, is that the technology exists to control methane gas leaks and other air pollution associated with drilling. The bad news is that the industry is booming so rapidly in the U.S. that some companies and some regulators can't seem to get ahead of the problems, which could ultimately cost billions of dollars to remedy.

Professor Alan Alda has a homework assignment for scientists. Yes, that Alan Alda.

The actor known for his Emmy-Award-winning work on the TV show "MASH," is a founder of the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University on eastern Long Island.

Greenpeace said Monday it had filed a lawsuit against the South Korean government for denying entry to half a dozen key campaigners and seeking to "silence" criticism of its nuclear policies.

The environmental group said it wanted recognition from the court that Seoul's decision to bar six Greenpeace staff was a violation of freedom of expression and international human rights.

A team in Japan are hoping pedal-power will beat the world record for a human-propelled plane -- in a flying machine made from polystyrene, they said Monday.

Team Aeroscepsy say a professional mountain biker will pilot their "Gokurakutombo", which has a wingspan half that of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, in a voyage they hope will clock up 120 kilometers (75 miles).

Geologists said Monday a Japanese nuclear plant may be sited over an active seismic fault, indicating that it will probably be scrapped.

All five experts tasked by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) with investigating the tectonic situation underneath Tsuruga plant in Fukui prefecture said it showed signs of geologically recent movement.

2012 will go down in history as a landmark year, when physicists discovered a fundamental particle that may answer one of the greatest riddles of all.

Investigators believe their discovery to be the long-coveted Higgs Boson, an invisible particle that explains the mystery of mass.