BBC News

Former astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, dies aged 95. Pallab Ghosh looks back at the day he made history.

A sample of the smallpox virus from a 17th Century victim challenges current thinking.

Giraffes have been classified as vulnerable to extinction. Chester Zoo says humans are to blame.

The population of the world's tallest land mammal, the giraffe, is shrinking. Chester Zoo says humans are to blame.

The tail of a feathered dinosaur has been found perfectly preserved in amber from Myanmar.

Historians unveil a digitally-reconstructed image of the face of Scottish king Robert the Bruce nearly 700 years after his death.

Donald Trump picks an outspoken critic of Obama climate policies to head the environment body.

Red fire ants could wreak more damage than rabbits, cane toads and foxes combined, experts warn.

A dramatic drop in the giraffe population over the past 30 years leaves them vulnerable to extinction.

Humans may in part owe their big brains to a DNA "typo" in their genetic code, research suggests.

People in west Siberia have captured footage of what is believed to be a small meteorite.

Scientists in the US have unveiled an athletic robot which takes its inspiration from bush babies.

For a second day, Paris is cutting car numbers according to odd or even licence plates. Do such schemes work?

Poultry keepers have been told to keep their birds inside to protect them from avian flu in Europe.

The Cassini spacecraft has sent back the first views from its new orbit around Saturn.

The regular use of Caesarean sections is having an impact on human evolution, say scientists.

Research has cast doubt on a UN-backed project to reduce pollution-induced illness in the world's poorest children by providing 100 million homes with a smoke-free stove.

Insurance experts warn of a $100bn global "protection gap" due to increased climate change risks.

Google reveals it is on track to offset 100% of data centre and office electricity use with renewable energy.

Donald Trump's plan to erect a huge sea wall at his Irish golf course has been withdrawn in the light of stiff opposition.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport signs an agreement with Houston Spaceport as it continues its bid to become the UK's first launch site.

A project is underway to record the underwater behaviour of Britain's grey seals.

Fossils of possibly the earliest backboned four-legged animals to walk have been found in Scotland.

Robot aircraft are to be tested in UK airspace to help refine systems that control autonomous planes.

Although progress is being made, up to US $906bn of company turnover is still tied to global deforestation, an assessment suggests.

The UK has bought the capsule which sent Tim Peake into space and returned him to Earth.

Flooding across parts of the UK last winter was the most extreme on record, experts say.

A huge alligator snapping turtle got stuck in a blocked drain pipe in Houston, Texas.

Hunter Mitchell raised thousands of dollars to save Osita the rhino.

European research ministers meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, emphatically reaffirm their commitment to putting a robot rover on Mars in 2021.

The leaders of four major global cities say they will stop the use of all diesel powered cars and trucks by the middle of the next decade.

Europe's research ministers negotiate over funding for the space station and a rover that would land on Mars to search for life.

The Russian space agency confirms the loss of an unmanned cargo ship heading for the International Space Station.

Global food policy needs to shift way from focusing on feeding people enough calories to nourishing people, say leading food experts.

Analysis of black organic fragments found in the Sutton Hoo boat burial reveals they are bitumen from Syria.

Proposals by the Trump administration to roll back US environmental regulations are likely to foment opposition, say analysts.

Europe’s research ministers are meeting to decide whether to try to land a robot rover on Mars.

A proposed private space mission is planning to visit Apollo 17's landing site on the Moon.

The President of the UK's Royal Society warns that onerous restrictions on immigration of scientists would spell "disaster" for the UK economy

A warming world will release vast amounts of soil carbon into the atmosphere, which in turn risks triggering dangerous climate change, scientists warn.

New proposals from the European Commission see binding targets for energy efficiency as key method of curbing carbon.

Australian researchers say platypus venom could pave the way for new type 2 diabetes treatments.

The Cassini spacecraft is beginning the end phases of its mission to Saturn that will eventually see it disposed of in the giant planet's atmosphere.

The giant manta ray could be a "predator of the deep" preying on other fish, say scientists.

Data shows the volume of Arctic sea-ice is heading for a record-equalling low for the month of November.

The new satellite that Europe and Russia put in orbit at Mars on 19 October has sent back its first images of the planet.

Scientists have made a rare find: a new species of beetle from Antarctica.

Scientists might have found the root cause of vision problems that affect some astronauts.

Japan estimates the cost of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear disaster has doubled, reports say.