BBC News

Entrepreneur Elon Musk outlines his vision for establishing a human colony on Mars for people that can afford a $200,000 ticket price.

A blue topaz stone, thought to be the largest-ever, is to go on permanent loan to the Natural History Museum in London.

Scientists have pre-programmed materials to change their shape over time.

The first footage of a rare giant jumping rat born at Chester Zoo is released.

Professor Michele Dougherty explains the importance of the water plumes on Jupiter's moon

Delegates at the Cites meeting in Johannesburg have defeated an attempt to set up a process to resume sales of ivory.

Scientists extract fossil proteins - some of biological tissue's building blocks - in a 3.8 million year-old ostrich eggshell.

Nasa says jets of water spotted spurting from Jupiter's moon, Europa, take them a step closer to finding out if there is life in space.

Further evidence has been obtained to show that Jupiter's icy moon Europa throws jets of water out into space.

Private company SpaceX has carried out its first test of the Raptor rocket engine designed to send humans to Mars.

A "colossal" wasp nest the size of a "barrel" with a 1.4m tunnel attached is found in an attic.

China’s Geely auto group has become the main sponsor behind the British Bloodhound supersonic car project, enabling an assault on the land speed record.

Monday's successful launch of eight satellites into space proves India's commercial space programme is booming, writes Yogita Limaye.

As the Cites conference on endangered species meets in Johannesburg, Matt McGrath travelled to Zambia to hear the voices of people with first-hand experience of conflicts between humans and wildlife.

A conference in South Africa could make the trade in pangolin illegal.

Elephant populations in Africa have declined by around 111,000 over the past ten years according to a new study presented at the Cites meeting in South Africa.

The world's largest radio telescope has received its first signals from space and is now entering an intensive testing phase.

As the population grows over the next 20 years half the world will be left malnourished, an independent panel of experts on food and agriculture warns.

President Barack Obama has created the first underwater national monument off the US east coast, protecting a vast ecosystem of canyons and extinct volcanoes. It is home to thousands of rare species, but is also a source of controversy.

A hedgehog officer explains how to help hedgehogs in your garden

The world's biggest conference on species protection has opened in South Africa amid differing views on the survival of elephants.

Horses have joined a select club of animals that can communicate by pointing to symbols, say scientists.

The body tasked with managing trade in endangered species will oppose efforts to increase global protection for elephants, saying it could spark a new trade in ivory.

Flu carried by migratory birds poses a risk to penguins living in Antarctica, scientists warn.

Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened habitats on the planet, yet remain overlooked by scientists and conservationists, warn researchers.

The government is to outline its plans to strengthen collaborative research between the UK and China.

A British man who lived in the Swiss Alps as a goat for three days wins one of this year's Ig Nobel prizes.

Four rare white lion cubs have been born in a zoo in Poland.

Scientists bring singing fish into their lab to work out the biological secret of an aquatic creature that hums at night.

Scientists solve the bizarre mystery of the fish that hums at night.

The Duke of Cambridge has called on world leaders to do more to combat the illegal wildlife trade.

Evidence for an early exodus of modern humans from Africa may have been detected in living humans.

China's first space station is expected to fall back to Earth in the second half of 2017, amid speculation authorities have lost control of it.

How the government is trying to trace nests of invasive hornet which kills honey bees

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says trading ivory not verified as antique should be banned

The British Veterinary Association warns would-be dog owners to think twice before buying breeds with fashionably "flat-faced" features - because of growing concerns for their welfare.

Watching a tragic film could have an unexpected benefit in triggering a feel-good chemical, research suggests.

A park in Bangkok has been overrun by monitor lizards.

Meet the planet's hardiest animal - the tardigrade - that has just revealed a genetic secret that could help protect human cells.

A deer has been filmed bouncing along a beach in Poole Harbour.

An invasive hornet that kills honey bees is spotted in Britain for the first time, experts confirm.

Dr Peter Marra explains why pet cats should not be allowed to roam free.

A parliamentary inquiry recommends video monitoring to tackle abuses in abattoirs, after secretly filmed videos shocked the French public.

Physicists have set a new bar for quantum teleportation - transferring information from one place to another without anything physically travelling between the locations.

Archaeologists believe they have found a lost Anglo-Saxon royal palace about four miles (6km) from one of Britain's best known finds.

Outdoor exercise delivers an estimated £2.2bn of health benefits to adults in England each year, a study suggests.

China has been building two wind turbines every hour, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has told BBC News.

Allowing mangrove forests to recover naturally result in more resilient habitats that benefit both wildlife and people, say conservationists.

Engineer Naveen Rabelli has completed a 6,000 mile journey from India to the UK in a solar-powered tuk-tuk.

A BBC team finds rare Java hawks for sale, as environmentalists say more must be done to tackle Indonesia's illegal bird trade.