BBC News

African lions are set to gain greater international protection this year in the wake of the killing of Cecil in 2015.

Fog on Mars, storms on Jupiter and fiery flares on the Sun

The next ice age may have been delayed by more than 50,000 years because of the greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere by humans, scientists in Germany say.

A vast, previously unrecognised canyon system could be hidden under the Antarctic ice sheet, say scientists.

Most seagrass meadows around the British coast are in a poor condition, say scientists.

A prehistoric giraffe that died out 10,000 years ago might have been the largest ruminant that walked the Earth.

A special vault has been built in the Arctic to store thousands of seeds, as scientists fear the impact of climate change and prolonged conflicts could have devastating consequences on food crops around the world.

Astronaut Tim Peake demonstrates what happens to water in space for the Stargazing Live programme.

Science editor David Shukman goes deep inside an Arctic mountain to see the world's most important seed store.

Birds from Russia and eastern Europe form what is known as murmurations, grouping together to create a spectacular show in the Middle Eastern sunset.

Archaeologists in Cambridgeshire uncover Britain's "Pompeii" with what they describe as the "best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found".

Giant icebergs could be responsible for the processes that absorb up to 20% of the carbon in the Southern Ocean's carbon cycle, a study suggests.

US researchers say they have developed a technique that can significantly improve the efficiency of the traditional incandescent lightbulb.

The first children with debilitating, "mystery" diseases have finally been given a diagnosis as part of a huge scheme to analyse people's DNA.

Senior MPs accuse David Cameron of double standards over climate change, ahead of his appearance before a Commons committee.

Chris Hadfield says he felt that David Bowie's Space Oddity showed the singer "recognised what it was going to be like" to be in space.

Space data is used to draw the deep anatomy of last year's devastating quake in Nepal, detailing how the rocks under the country ruptured and providing new insights on how the Himalayas are built.

Environment Agency chairman Sir Philip Dilley, who faced criticism during the recent floods, resigns.

A mountain lion killed in the US state of Idaho had a set of fully-formed teeth growing out of its forehead, wildlife officials say.

Scientists make microscopic 3D maps of the tracks carved by comet dust when a Nasa spacecraft collected samples in blocks of gel.

The growth in number of seal pup births on a public beach in Norfolk is described as "spectacular".

By measuring the age of 70,000 stars across the Milky Way, astronomers make a "growth chart" for our galaxy.

Fracking firms exploring for shale gas are to be allowed to sink boreholes and set off explosive charges without planning permission.

The evidence suggesting we have entered a new geological epoch defined by humanity's impact on the Earth is now overwhelming, believes an international scientific panel.

Astronomer Feryal Ozel speaks to the BBC's Jonathan Webb about the Event Horizon Telescope.

Sandringham School in St Albans makes a small piece of history by making the first amateur radio call from the UK to a British astronaut on the space station.

Scientists at Newcastle University fit tiny 3D glasses on praying mantises in experiments which could help visual perception in robots.

A global network of nine radio telescopes is set to take the first ever picture of a black hole's event horizon in 2017.

Bacteria recovered from Oetzi the Iceman shed light on his health and also human history, scientists report.

The late French explorer Jacques Cousteau's famous ship, Calypso, will sail again following renovation work, its owners reveal.

We may owe our ability to fight disease to our extinct relatives - the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Farmers in Cumbria have been hard hit by the floods, including one who watched his flock drown.

British researchers use diamonds to compress hydrogen very close to the conditions where it ought to start behaving like a metal.

A plan to pay farmers in England for allowing their land to be flooded, in a bid to protect towns downstream, is to be considered by the government.

Will refugee crisis hurt Sweden's green energy plans?

Two astronomers argue that ancient, dense clusters of stars at the fringe of the Milky Way are a good bet in the search for alien intelligence.

Researchers identify dozens of fast-moving stars in the Milky Way by combing the galaxy for the curved waves of material they plough before them.

2015 was a momentous year for space exploration, with high-profile missions to Pluto and Ceres giving us unprecedented images.

Astronomers spy two huge waves of gas being "burped" by the black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy.

A woman who has gradually been losing her sight for years has been describing the joys of being able to see again after being fitted with a bionic eye.

A lighthouse is "perilously close" to falling into the sea after being exposed by coastal erosion, a charity warns.

Tim Peake is to carry out the first ever spacewalk by a British astronaut, Nasa has confirmed.

Increasing yields produced in UK fields and using the spare farmland to plant trees and restore wetlands could greatly reduce emissions, says a study.

This is the year Bloodhound aims to go supersonic

December was the wettest and warmest month on record - but the Met Office says this sort of extreme weather 'won’t become the new normal for decades'.

December 2015 was a double record-breaking month according to figures from the Met Office.