Researchers have figured out a missing link in the evolution of reptiles into flying birds, a new study shows how a protein involved in the development of cancer functions in normal cells, and other news of modern science.

ARLINTGON, Va., Dec. 11 (UPI) -- American naval research soon could shift its cruise missile development from ultra-expensive superpower tools to relatively inexpensive weapons, but terrorists or rogue states probably will not be able to copy this capability, an analyst said Wednesday.

The Navy is using enhanced kinetic energy to boost defense warheads, a Rhode Island researcher has come up with a faster and less expensive way of finding underground contaminants, and other stories of modern science.

The military is studying underwater robotic gliders powered by changes in their buoyancy or by different temperature layers in the ocean, space technology is being adapted to fight crime on Earth and other scientific discoveries.