Happy the elephant is anything but in her 1-acre enclosure at New York’s Bronx Zoo, according to attorneys with the Nonhuman Rights Project. Late last month, her lawyers asked a judge to grant legal personhood to the 48-year-old pachyderm. The group hopes not only to gain freedom for Happy but to elevate the legal status of all elephants.

Scientists keep discovering new wonders in outer space that defy human understanding of the universe. Three recent discoveries beyond the boundaries of Earth testify to the magnificence of creation.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen discovered that bacteria survive by sacrificing to benefit the entire community. The finding contradicts Darwinian evolution’s dog-eat-dog view of the world, in which individuals compete against each other and only the strongest survive to pass on their DNA to the next generation.

At a secret summit in Moscow this summer, some of Russia’s top geneticists and health officials met to debate whether the nation should produce human babies with modified DNA.

Environmental activism heated up last week ahead of Monday’s United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City. The week kicked-off with Emma Lim, a 19-year-old from London, Ontario, who encouraged young people not to have children until policymakers can ensure their safety from the predicted ravages of global warming. More than 3,500 people have already joined the movement #NoFutureNoChildren.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a plan to end scientific testing on mammals by 2035, but some researchers and doctors worry humans are not ready for the change.

Want a child with blue eyes and a 130 IQ who is a super athlete? Given the pace at which scientists are rushing to edit the human genome, made-to-order babies could exist sooner than we imagine. Though the World Health Organization called for a global ban on editing human embryos in March, a team of reproductive biologists in New York City has found a way around the restriction.