BBC News

SpaceX was fuelling the unmanned Falcon 9 rocket for a test engine firing when the blast happened.

Scientists in China find that a dog vaccine can also protect large livestock against rabies infection.

An annular eclipse delivered a memorable spectacle across several African countries, as the moon's movement creates a "ring of fire" in the sky.

One of the world's rarest stick insects successfully breeds at Bristol Zoo - the first time the species has done so outside Australia.

Free movement between the US and Mexico - the hottest of topics in the 2016 US presidential campaign - is not just a human issue.

A look at Kenya's fast-growing crocodile farm industry, which is enjoying a big rise in demand for the animal's meat, led by China.

A drug that destroys the characteristic protein plaques that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's is showing "tantalising" promise, scientists say.

Some of the world’s earliest life forms may have been captured in squiggles found in ancient rocks from Greenland.

A "smart energy" revolution could help ensure that the UK does not suffer blackouts, according to National Grid's new UK chief.

A pink cockatoo, thought to be the oldest bird of its kind in captivity, has died at a US zoo.

African forest elephants have an extremely slow birth rate, putting them under greater pressure from poaching, a study suggests.

Astronomers in the US have uncovered previously unknown objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System.

A genetic study uncovers signs that wild Tasmanian devils are rapidly evolving to fight back against the infectious face cancer threatening them with extinction.

DNA has been successfully sequenced in space for the first time.

Luxembourg-based SES says it is going to be the first satellite operator to launch a spacecraft on a "second-hand" rocket - a Falcon 9 that previously sent supplies to the space station.

One of Australia's best-known landmarks, Uluru, has been filmed from a new perspective.

Badger culling is rolled out to more parts of England, in a bid to tackle bovine TB.

Scientists investigating whether we have entered a new geological age are seeking a suitable "spike" in the environmental record that betrays significant human influence.

Monsoon floods in the Ganges river have broken previous records in four locations in northern India, officials tell the BBC

Thirty years ago, India discovered the dreaded HIV virus had reached its shores when blood samples from six sex workers tested positive.

Can an algorithm turn you into an efficient sock-sorting machine?

Air pollution in UK cities has failed to improve because politicians prioritise road safety and economic growth instead, research suggests.

New evidence suggests that the famous fossilised human ancestor dubbed 'Lucy' by scientists may have died falling from a great height - probably from a tree.

More than 300 reindeer have been killed in a lightning storm on a mountain plateau in Norway.

Researchers at Stanford University have designed a unique bird tunnel to observe how tiny birds fly.

Turbines installed off the coast of Shetland could herald a "new era" in tidal energy, according to the company running the project.

A Nasa team has emerged from a Mars simulation in Hawaii, where they lived in near isolation for a year.

A team of six people complete a Nasa-funded Mars simulation in Hawaii, after living in a dome in near isolation for a year.

Proponents say new, greener jet fuels made from waste wood could significantly reduce airline CO2 emissions but environmentalists say it's a "pipe dream".

Europe’s Sentinel radar satellites map Italy's Apennine mountains, revealing the scale of ground movement in Wednesday's big earthquake.

The US space agency’s Juno probe makes its first close approach to Jupiter since going into orbit in July.

US President Barack Obama expands a national monument off Hawaii, creating the world's largest marine reserve.

Researchers track a particular type of tiny vibration for the first time, as it wobbles through the Earth from the Atlantic to Japan.

How 98 aftershocks rocked devastated areas of central Italy in the first 36 hours after the earthquake.

A tiny marsupial lion, extinct for at least 18 million years, is named after Sir David Attenborough after fossilised remains are found in remote Australia.

Scientists have used satellite images to study how the water on the Earth's surface has changed over the last 30 years.

The first almost complete skeleton of a dodo to come up for sale in nearly 100 years is expected to fetch a six-figure sum at auction.

Amateur rocket enthusiasts have gathered in Scotland to mark 30 years of aiming for the skies.

A lawnmower has been blamed for wrongly triggering sensors that predict when the Northern Lights will be visible in the UK.

Microsoft's Excel has been blamed for some errors in academic papers on genomics.

Engineers in the US have built the first self-contained, entirely soft robot - in the shape of a 7cm octopus.

For the first time, a soft robot has been built that moves on its own with no batteries or cables.

How do astronomers decide whether a planet is potentially habitable?

The UK records its highest temperature of the year so far - 33.9C (93F) at Gravesend in Kent - as experts warn of possible health risks.

Scientists have discovered a planet similar to Earth that is orbiting our Sun's nearest neighbour, Proxima Centauri.

Scientists identify a planet only slightly larger than Earth that is orbiting Proxima Centauri - the closest star to our Solar System.

Prof Ed Bullmore from the University of Cambridge discusses a potential revolution: immunopsychiatry

MPs have recommended banning the tiny particles of plastic called "microbeads" which are used in a number of cosmetics and cleaning products. But why have they taken the move?

Historian and author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari speaks about the future of humanity.

China gives the world a first glimpse of the space probe and rover it plans to use in its first mission to Mars in 2020.